People are often the most expensive part of running a small business. Of course, employees are also the source of much of the value of your business. Slashing costs while boosting employee productivity is not easy to pull off. However, businesses that manage it are the ones that will survive.

The business environment in this pandemic is very different from the good years. Consumers spend differently or are not spending at all, which forces you to adjust accordingly. If you have read the other recommendations, they are all precursors to this as the hope is that business will return to normal. We believe that once this pandemic is over, business will come back at a roaring pace; only the companies that took big steps to handle the fallback of business, have increased cash on hand or reduced expenses will be in position to handle the demand.

After slicing your expenses and cash outflows, the next step is to increase and speed up the inflow of cash. Like many other businesses, you may be facing plunging revenues so having cash on hand is the best possible way to avoid further collapse of your hard-earned business. These may come as a harder shock than the reduction of expenses; these ideas go against the grain of most business practices but at this time, no business is immune to the downturn.

At Ntare Consulting, we believe and have been telling all our clients and friends that as the world stays in place to avoid the spread of COVID-19, there is a worldwide economic slowdown that is affecting EVERYONE. The idea is that once this cloud lifts, the business world is going to jump into action and there will be a huge demand for services; more jobs will be offered and governments around the world will be working tirelessly to reignite their economies. Those smart businesspeople that took the survival tips seriously will be the ones standing and ready to cash in on their solid preparation.

We all have a responsibility to adhere to strict measures of social distancing and stringent hygienic measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19. We have compiled a few points to help business owners, entrepreneurs and managers in their daily operations.

We understand that this may be a frustrating period but as soon as a cure is developed or a vaccine approved for use, the imminent risk posed by the corona virus will be alleviated and life will slowly start to get to normal. Think long term and avoid the impulse to buy large positions that may not materialize in profits in the short term.

As a small business owner, this is a time like no other. You are surely worried about your health but also more about your business. We have compiled some ways that you can manage your money more effectively to save yourself a small headache in the upcoming weeks.

A minute last update from Ntare Consulting is going to be the initiation of a hiring freeze for all the positions that were to start in April 2020. Again, we must emphasize the need to protect each other from the spread of this illness as these positions mainly involved travel and meeting with other small business owners. We value your contribution to our team and will be sure to communicate directly to each affected party on Monday March 16th 2020.

We understand the need to be cautious in investing in any new projects and welcome the careful treading our partners are taking; we are therefore letting you know that all the interviews and meetings we had sent you emails about in the following weeks through the end of March 2020 have been cancelled effective Friday, March 13th 2020 4pm.