Setting the scene
You have a target. You've created your scenario plans with clear cost cutting targets. You know you are in the middle of the storm and tough times are ahead, for your business, your employees and yourself. Reducing costs and raising cash is never easy. But you and your team are ready to jump to action tackling this crisis head-on, grabbing the bull by the horns, determined to not let go until you have emerged victorious. So what do you need to do next?
You need to add substance to your targets. You need to get from a target to a plan. Fast. At sea, any captain can say: 'We need to get out of this storm in the next 2 hours", but that does not mean the crew on the ship knows what to do or what course to take. Likewise, anybody can say: "We need to reduce our cost base by 20%", but again that doesn't help your employees take actions and actually reduce costs.
What you need is to be able to say: "We will cut our cost base by 20% over the next 4 weeks. The largest savings are going to come from Initiative one, which is going to save XX in cash each week. In parallel, we are also working on Initiative 2, which is going to save YY in cash each week." And so on and on.
But you might be asking yourself: "Where can I start saving cash fast? How do I need to think about my cost structure? Where do I even begin? And when I have a list of initiatives, how do I prioritise?" and lastly "How do I reduce salary costs? And how do I talk with my employees about it?".
If you are asking yourself these questions right now, you are not alone. Few business owners have gone through a crisis like this before in their career, and had to reduce costs so substantially so quickly.
The video and tools in this module will help you figure out WHERE and HOW to start to improve your runway and cash flow quickly. It will provide guidance on how to improve your company's cash position and how to improve, how to think about cutting costs and cover how you can address salary reductions and layoffs with your employees. This toolkit includes all the tools you will need, and guidance on how to use them, to help you turn your targets into concrete plans fast.
