A crisis can happen at any time. It doesn’t have to be the pandemic that the world is currently going through.
But I know the current pandemic doesn’t help much.
What happens if you get sick and can’t work in your business?
Or what if you get pregnant and have to take maternity leave after your baby is born?
Or a family member gets sick and you need to take time off to help take care of that family member?
A crisis really can happen at any time.
And when you own your own business, you are solely responsible for your income.
You may have a business that doesn’t generate income unless you are actually doing work in it almost daily.
Or maybe your business is set up to continue generating income whether you actually work or not.
There are still things that a crisis can teach us about having better money habits in our businesses.
Have a Business Emergency Fund
You know that you should have a personal emergency fund just in case something were to happen and you needed the extra money.
Well, you should also have one in your business too.
This emergency fund should cover at least 6 months worth of business expenses, but you will be much better off if you have a year’s worth of expenses covered.
Keep this fund somewhere other than your main checking account so that you are not tempted to use it to buy that shiny new course that just opened up since you see extra money in the bank account.
And if you do have to borrow from this fund, make sure to replace the money you borrowed as soon as you can.
Have a Business Plan for When Something does Go Awry
Do you have your Standard Operating Procedures written out for all of the areas of your business and saved where they can easily be accessed by anyone that may need them?
Do you have your usernames and passwords in a safe place that can also be accessed?
Have you told someone how to access this information in case it is needed (like a partner or spouse or sibling or other family member)?
Have you written out a document that explains how to run your business in case you no longer can run it?
In the case that something does go awry, you will need to have these things readily available for someone to access.
No we don’t want something to go awry, but if it does, you really should be prepared.
Have Multiple Sources of Income
If you are a coach and rely on private 1 to 1 clients, then suddenly you are no longer available to coach those clients, your income source is going to dry up pretty quickly.
Having multiple sources of money coming into your business is a smart money move whether there is a crisis happening or not.
Do you have email funnels set up so that when someone opts in to your free gift they get put through a series of emails that also lets them know of a product or two or three that they can buy from you? This funnel takes some work up front, but can continue to work for you for years down the road.
Do you have affiliate sales set up where anyone is able to continuously buy from your affiliate links and you can continue to profit? Maybe something like blog posts or recurring social media posts.
Do you have products and courses that can be bought at any time and don’t require a launch for people to continue to buy them? Are they easy for potential buyers to find and access?
The more sources of income you have set up and the more readily available they are, the easier it is for you to continue to bring in money for your business. This will also help you whether there is a crisis going on or not.
Plan Ahead in Your Business
Do you regularly plan ahead in your business and know what you are going to be selling and when? Or do you just fly by the seat of your pants and choose when you will sell something in your business when you feel like it?
When you plan ahead and have a profit plan, cash flow plan and marketing plan in place, it’s much easier to keep your business running smoothly.
You’ll always know ahead of time what work needs to be done to promote the next sale.
You’ll always have ways to bring in income.
And in the case of an emergency, you can have things already set up and even scheduled ahead of time so the sale can continue without you, if you need to step away and not be present in your business.
These things may take time
Yes these things may take time to get set up and running smoothly. But they are still lessons that can be learned from the current world crisis that is going on.
They are lessons that you can still take and implement in your business anyway and plan for the future.
You really never know what the future may hold.
Over the past month, I witnessed one of my fellow entrepreneurs who had to drop everything in her life to be with her mother who suddenly had a stroke.
But she had many of these things set up in her business, that her business was able to still run while she wasn’t able to be present in her business.
Running a business isn’t always going to be easy. But you chose to be an entrepreneur and run your own business.
Get things set up so that things can happen whether you need to take the time off or not. Allow yourself the freedom of being able to take time off when you need to and even when you don’t need to.
What Lessons Have You Learned?
What are the biggest lessons that you’ve learned from the current pandemic with your business money habits?
What do you need to change? Or add to your business?
How can you use this pandemic to your benefit?
It really doesn’t matter what type of crisis it is that is happening in your business. The more proactive you are and have things set up in your business, the easier it will be to get things done and keep things moving in your business.
