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30 Oct 2020
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Even in normal circumstances, keeping a business going is tough. And now come on with a global pandemic crushing through the entire commercial and industrialized world, making it through with your business intact is more complicated than ever. However, there are some tried and true techniques that you can use to give yourself a fighting chance.
Three activities specifically can help you move through these tough times. First, don't be afraid to pawn things or equipment. If you need cash fast, utilizing pawn services is a great way to achieve a fair liquidity level. Second, take this opportunity to reset your business plan. If the global business environment has changed, your goal should change along with it. And third, aimed for greater efficiency in your day-to-day operations. Use data-driven analysis to see where you can improve on your cost-effectiveness.
Don't Be Afraid to Pawn Things
One underutilized way to make money quick is to pawn some items or equipment. And for your business, you probably have some expensive things that you don't use all that often. Or, they may even be personal items that have a high value. The point is that you can get liquid cash very quickly by selling them to a pawn shop. It may be easier to do this then take out a loan of similar value. Knowing that pawning things is an option gives you a greater sense of freedom when making decisions to mitigate risk.
Reset Your Business Plan
When was the last time that you updated your business plan? It was probably before the pandemic. Because so many things have changed, especially with things like staffing and supply chains, now would be a good time to revisit all of your structural elements. It probably took you several months to create your first business plan. Now, to update it, it might just take a few days to a week. But you'll feel much better about your prospects once you have all of these statistics and plans back in place in a way that fits the current business environment. Without adjusting your business plan, you might miss something important about your finances, especially in the relationship between short and long term profit margins.
Aim for Greater Efficiency
Another thing to do when times get tough is to try to focus on efficiency. If you've never studied Six Sigma, now might be the time to do it. It can make a lot of difference at enterprise-level decisions, but it also makes sense for small businesses. You might not be able to do an entire restructuring based on efficiency principles, but you can look at your most common day-to-day operations and figure out if you can save a few dollars at a time regularly. Businesses will often cut staff before they look at making their processes more efficient. This is not something that's going to help you in the long run.
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