Now we are getting used to the idea that the various vaccines will provide some defence against COVID outbreaks, what would a vaccine for our businesses attempt to prevent?
We have listed below a few strategies that you might like to consider that would help you survive any more periods of lockdown that governments may be forced to consider.
Retain profits
If you are fortunate and can reopen your business as lockdown restrictions are eased, and you manage to re-establish profitability, try and hang on to some of those profits.
Retained profits (after tax is paid) are the fat on the bone of your business. If retained profits are growing this must mean that your business assets are increasing. Should a further period of lockdown or similar reductions in trade be experienced, these retained profits may provide you with the resources to weather any downturn in trade.
Retain cash
Don’t take this advice literally. What we mean is try and save some of your hard-won profits in your bank.
During periods of low activity these cash reserves will help to maintain liquidity, and during times of rapid increases in turnover, they will insulate you from the down-side of overtrading – when money due from customers does not come in fast enough to meet payments to suppliers and settle other overheads.
These two simple tactics are worth considering as the regional UK governments take steps to ease current lockdown restrictions. And while they are unlikely to immunise your business against all aspects of COVID disruption, they may offer you the resources to fight-off the worst effects.
