Problem Solve, Pivot and Plan
Your Financial Life
Post COVID-19
Shift Your Money Mindset
Shift your mind from scarcity and lack to abundance by starting your day listing 5 things you’re grateful for. Take everything that’s scaring you and make it an opportunity.
For example:
“Even if I’m behind on rent, I am grateful to have food and shelter today.”
“Though I’m fearful of the future, I can still make payroll this month.”
“Even though I’ve lost a client, I can use my new bandwidth to service another client.”
Keep a morning practice of some form of prayer, meditation or exercise to focus your mind and listen to the God or Goddess within you.
Everything may not be ok but it’s up to you to decide that “Money will come to me and I will be okay”.
Maintain Relationships
Now is a time for togetherness. Call your employees, vendors and clients. Check in on their current state and ask how you can be of service right now.
Communicate your plan to navigate this stage to each employee or independent contractor and don’t assume you know the choices they’ll make. Ask if anyone can afford to be furloughed. Some people may welcome time away from the job.
Facts Fight Fear.
Talk to your creditors – see if they will allow you to defer payment for 60 or 90 days.
Talk to your insurance carrier to vet your options.
For example, your business interruption insurance may cover your business in case of a pandemic. If you trigger disability insurance, ask if you can still apply for unemployment or be eligible for the government funding designed to cover your payroll.
Roadmap Your Cash
Cash is King, Queen, Knight, and every nobility you can think of right now!
Manage your cash by building a financial roadmap to visualize your cash flow for the next 8-12 weeks.
Do not be afraid to call clients who have outstanding payments. You may not know their financial situation, but you can find out.
Remember, Facts Fight Fear.
Make payments seamless by:
§ Requesting a form of payment that will not be charged for 60 or 75 days versus 30 days (no late fees).
§ Splitting payments evenly across 2-3 months.
§ Splitting payments such that 20-30% is paid now and 70% is deferred or paid over an agreed upon period of time.
§ Giving a 10-20% discount if the client pays all upfront.
§ If the project happens in phases, pausing work and getting paid for what is already done.
If you want an alternative way to manage your income, expenses, and cash flow, try the Profit First Method (based on the books by Mike Michalowicz).
Interested in learning more? Download the first two chapters here.
Plan with PPP
To stave off a mindset of scarcity and fear, we must rise to the occasion.
Start by using the PPP plan (no, not the government-funded PPP):
Problem Solve, Pivot, Plan.
1. Problem Solve
Look at the current state of your business. Decide what/whom to keep and what/whom no longer serves you. A good method to complete this is a S.W.O.T analysis.
Ask: What are my and my business’s strengths and weaknesses?
§ What could make life easier – should I rethink my business processes and put new systems in place?
§ Who are the MVPs I want to keep on my team?
§ Is it time to cut the clients that bring in the least but cost the most time?
2. Pivot
If you look at the opportunities that COVID-19 presents, this may be the perfect time to pivot.
Offer complementary services/products of create a service for a niche industry.
Outsourced CFO Tricia M. Taitt certainly did. In the midst of this craziness, she launched the Power HER Financials initiative to educate, engage and empower women entrepreneurs around their business financials so they level up to 7 figures.
She is even planning an online kickoff event on Thursday, April 30th to help people manage
their $ and overall business during this pandemic.
Lean more at PowerHerFinancials.com
3. Plan – and be BOLD
Make room for what is right, right now. Visualize what life looks like post-COVID-19.
We will make it through this.
About Our Authors
Tricia M. Taitt
As founder of The Art of Money Matters, Tricia M. Taitt she has spent the last 10 years helping
small and mid-sized businesses improve their profitability, cash flow and operations in preparation for major growth or a sale.
She recently launched Power HER Financials, an initiative focused on educating, engaging and empowering women entrepreneurs and executives to grow from six to seven figures.
Learn more at
www.Powerherfinancials.com
Ean Price Murphy
Ean Price Murphy founded Moxie Bookkeeping & Coaching Inc to make your financial information accessible and actionable, even if you don’t think of yourself as good with bookkeeping.
