Put your business into safe mode

As entrepreneurs are now focused on how to practically relaunch into a very uncertain marketplace, taking a ‘safe mode’ approach will make sense for many. It is right to think about ‘cash flow’ now, not just ‘profit’, although everyone wants to make money. But after the months of lockdown, a small loss beats a big loss, a small profit is better than no profit, and cash flow is everything. You need to generate ready cash to pay your bills as they fall due – as this will keep you solvent. Getting sales through the door is obviously the priority, but in a tough marketplace, this will be hard in the short term. In safe mode, you need to think smartly about how you could sweat your assets to generate much-needed cash flow. Do you have excess stock that could be sold on elsewhere – even at a small loss? Can you sell your products and services directly to customers instead of going through your normal supply chains? Can you cut your physical retail or service presence to save costs and instead focus on digital sales? Can you trim budgets that are no longer relevant or effective, for example, traditional media advertising - could you switch to social media to promote your business instead? Safe mode also means going back to focus on your core business.