So you own a small business and the World is ending... now what?

Corona and a market meltdown. That's pretty tough if you're running a small business. And the outlook is worrying, to say the least. What now?

For what it's worth, a few thoughts for owners and entrepreneurs of small businesses, especially the young ones. At Happen we were just over a year old when we went through a similar global economic collapse in 2008 when Lehman Brothers fell.

Daily business seemed to evaporate overnight. Everything changed, just like it will in the coming few weeks. Back then, we survived and eventually thrived. Plenty of luck and good business friends, obviously. But what else?

• First and foremost: be aware you have control. As a small, self-owned business, you can respond much quicker (and in your own favour) better than you ever could as a large business. That said, if you're over your eyeballs in VC then it's someone else's money at stake and you might as well walk away now. Screw 'em and start over. Or make an offer to buy back your business for peanuts, in full. You know your business better than they do.
• Throw your old business plan out the window, if you even had one to start with. Its assumptions will prove mostly nostalgic, even laughable a few years from now.
• The paranoid survive. By that I do not mean that taking risks or changing track is bad, on the contrary. But you can only go bust once, and the threshold for going bust will now be much much lower.
• The market will get much worse before it gets better because second-order effects still need to kick in. In fact this time it is worse to start with, given Corona prevents people interacting normally outside of the financial markets.
• Things will not return to the old state, the new normal will be different when it settles down 2-3 years from now. Which might be a longer waiting period than you've even been in business for.
• Your client portfolio will need to change quickly, as all of them will be going through frantic change themselves now. Your current largest client might disappear, a tiny one might become huge. As long as you're willing to change quickly yourself.
• Business development before delivery. This should actually always be the case if you intend to grow, but it's even more true now. Do you have a team who can convince clients to continue to work with you? Are they just mouths to feed, or are they feeding you back? Take a hard, honest look.
• Immerse in the debt situation of your clients, and the fragility of the industry they are in. Then be brutal in your choice which ones to stay away from, or ask up-front payment from. Your pockets probably aren't very deep. So your time and resource is better spent on finding new clients that represent the new normal, than potentially losing everything on a fragile client taking your revenue down with them.
• Adapt your offer to what matters in the new world, to keep your clients' projects moving. Prevent stalling, your clients will love you for being nimble. Pretty obvious, but it might be hard to let go of old jewels in your services. For us, the main new innovation methodologies we developed in those days were 'Sweating Assets', ie innovate asset-out from the factory to guarantee 'zero CapEx required' for your innovation. Also, it triggered us to develop online research tools (radical in 2008) which eventually led to the birth of our Winkle team in 2009; now Happen Research & Analytics.
• Cash is King... hold on to it, EVERY PENNY. Spread it across multiple banks, as even banks can topple. Any expense not serving your primary purpose is an expense wasted. Also "Leaders eat last", as per ancient adagium. Your own salary can wait, as that's also cost to the business, one that you can choose to raise again in better times.
• Know your 'uncle point' and act on it. Instead of trying to predict how the next couple of weeks will unfold (no one can) make 100% clear to yourself what your worst acceptable situation is, the rock-bottom at which you pull the kill switch. This might be ahead of a next round of monthly payments. This is important because entrepreneurial optimism might drag you deeper into trouble than you can afford.
• Pay your suppliers on time, all of them. As a small business, your survival might be dependent on them as much as vice versa. Also, you'll probably know them personally, and they know your business and category deeply. They are the best sounding board for evolving your business into the new reality.
• Prepare for longer payment terms to become standard. Back in 2008, most of our clients went up from 30 to 60 or even 90 days and have stayed there since. I wouldn't be surprised to see that go up to 90 and 120 across the board. Organize your business to be able to deal with this, and keep the clients who do pay faster close to your heart with extra service. Equally, be merciless in chasing outstanding invoices. Hiring someone to chase them for you is likely a better investment than you think.

Again, remember that as owner you are in control, and most likely surrounded by entrepreneurial employees who enjoy the hustle of being in a small business. A team who will be more willing to change track and try new things with you than you might think!

That's it for now, I might be updating this a couple of time over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, stay safe and prosper.