The NOW Guide: Dealing with Disruption
Immediate Actions and Considerations for Companies Across Critical Financial and Operational Areas
The NOW
Many companies are acutely feeling the effects of the pandemic on their business. From declining revenue to broken supply chains, and the inability to quickly access financial data, companies must deal with disruption by taking immediate steps to stabilize their business.
Steps to Stabilize Your Business
As your management works to immediately stabilize the business, four key principles should guide your decision-making process in dealing with disruption.
LIQUIDITY MANAGEMENT
Launch an aggressive cash triage program focused on quick wins, including deferral of all non-critical spend and working capital optimization.
- Understand near-term liquidity position
- Optimize available credit
- Pursue incremental liquidity
- Optimize working capital
COST CONTROL
Adopt an operator’s mindset that holds your team accountable for savings—bias should shift from growth mode to “fight for survival” mode.
- Optimize supply chain costs
- Manage workforce expense
- Minimize CapEx
- Control technology spend
- Rationalize strategic initiatives
- Address other SG&A expense
OPERATIONAL CONTINUITY
Establish a crisis management team to refresh your business plan for current crisis environment while ensuring resiliency across sales, operations, and other essential functions.
- Protect revenue
- Reforecast and refine reporting
- Expand remote work capabilities
- Execute demand planning adjustments
- Stabilize supply chain
- Strengthen operational redundancies
STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
Communicate and align with key stakeholders, as success or failure will ultimately be driven by how management chooses to lead.
- Align with sponsor and board
- Hold leadership accountable
- Engage with lenders/creditors
- Manage external communications
- Distribute internal communications
- Encourage employee connectivity
Is your business stable?
While it is still uncertain what the long-term business impacts from COVID-19 will be, one thing is clear: companies must act now to deal with the disruption. Download our guide for immediate actions and considerations across critical financial and operational areas.