Introduction

The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked financial havoc around the globe, leaving many small-business owners struggling in its wake. Having an exit strategy in place for after COVID-19 can help you be prepared to hit the ground running and rebuild. If you’re not sure what your coronavirus exit plan should include, this guide can help with getting your business back on track.

#1. Assess the Financial Damage

The first step in developing a rebuilding plan for COVID-19 is determining just how deeply your small business has been affected.

There are different layers involved, starting with the hard numbers. If you haven’t updated your financial statements—such as profit and loss or cash flow statements—recently, it’s helpful to do that now. You can then compare them to last year’s numbers to see how much your business may be down. And while only a small percentage of business owners have benefited from the pandemic, it’s possible that the damage might not be as bad as you think. Aside from the hard numbers relating to sales, profits and cash flow, consider other ways in which your business has been affected. 

#2. Take a Second Look at Your Business Plan

Your business model may have worked perfectly fine pre-COVID-19, but coming out of it may mean you have to do some fine-tuning. Specifically, you may need to consider how your business can pivot to adjust to a new normal. For example, if you previously relied on foot traffic to a brick-and-mortar location for sales, you may need to look at a digital expansion to accommodate the higher numbers of people who are shopping from home.

#3. Consider Whether You’ll Need Funding to Recover

Unless you had a large amount of cash on hand going into the pandemic, it’s likely that you may need some working capital to jump-start your business operations coming out of it. When it comes to financing your small business during a COVID-19 rebuilding period, there are several options to consider. Look for one that suits your business.