Hello Fellow Business Owners,

These are uncertain and scary times for small business owners. This pandemic has gripped the world like no other in recent history. Some businesses may not make it through. I’m not even sure of my own business making it as businesses have less need for bookkeeping and payroll services. Regardless, we must persevere and not give up! We have poured our heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears into our businesses and to lose it would be a tragedy. What can you do to help increase the survival rate of your business? Consider the following:

• Engage your customers on social media to keep you front of mind.
• Keep in touch with your customers by phone, email or virtual meetings.
• Think outside the box. How can you serve your customers during this time? What problems might they be having that you could help with?
• If you can’t work in your business, work on your business. Now is a great time to not only plan to mitigate the effect this will have on your business, but think of what the future holds for your business and how you will recuperate.
• The world as we know it will be forever changed when this is over. Ponder what changes you may have to make in your day to day business practices in this new reality.
• Take time to update policies and procedures to reflect changes that will be made.

Finally, although this may be a biased opinion, now is not the time to let your bookkeeping go. We stress to clients and non-clients on a regular basis that in order for your business to survive, good record keeping is imperative. This is even more true during these troubled times. It may be a small thing but it is an important thing to increase the chance of survival. Once this is over, and it will be over at some point, business will resume and your books will need to be up to date and remittances will still be due.  You will be glad you kept up.

On a more personal note, take care of yourself. Practice self care. Stay healthy. Self isolate and practice social distancing when you do need to go out for necessities. When we are back up and running, your business will need you to be your best self. If you have children, model patience, calmness and kindness rather than panic. Keep them busy with the onslaught of new online resources like virtual zoo or museum tours. Watch documentaries on the internet or TV on channels like NatGeo. Go for walks to keep up their activity level. There are numerous companies who have put out online learning resources to keep your little one’s mind active.

We will get through this together, one way or another.

Wishing you luck and health.

Sherry