Unlike Alex, I don’t freaking work from home so I’m stressing because this ain’t no vacation! I work on humans in a studio and COVID is breaking my business and draining my bank account. Yeah I’m hustling with all the online sales and digital stuff I’m trying the alternative things, but I am not making what I was before and my bills are still the same, so let’s talk strategy on what we can do about it.
First Make a Financial Plan of ACTION!
Get your financial house in order. I know it’s stressful. No one wants to do this. Looking at our bills and knowing how the sausage is made is scary and time consuming, but if you don’t know you can’t fix stuff! So lets do this!
Get your last three months of bank and credit card statements out. Find all the stuff that comes out monthly. You’ll be surprised what they are. Oh yeah that $2.99 for online storage, that $5.99 for marketing app do you even still use that??? $25 Starbucks auto reload etc. Whole Foods seems to be a weekly visit of $349 (eek!)
Put the info in three columns: Finite, Need, Wants. You can use a program like Mint or Quick Books or a spreadsheet to do this. I’m old school and just use paper because it’s just faster for me so I don’t get bogged down in tech. You do you people. Just get this done and get it done NOW.
Finite – This is all the stuff that comes out monthly that you HAVE TO PAY. Like you have zero choices about. Mortgage. Rent. Car Payment. Credit Cards Minimums that never change and you can’t change them (though we will circle around to this in a second!)
Need – This column is obvious needs like groceries, gas, utilities, advertising.
Wants – These are things that are optional but we like such as Netflix, starbucks, that olive oil of the month club, gym membership.
So now that we have our columns let’s talk about them.
Finite Can be changed
We are living in a world where you can ask to reduce costs on these finite things. Call you credit card companies and request reduced APR. Ask to waive late fees if you have them. Defer loans. Request a freeze on your rent or rent forgiveness for a month. What about a reduction of rent for one month? If you don’t ask you can’t receive so ASK! At the end of this article I have a script I use to ask for stuff. ASK! Many companies already have COVID policies in place.
Needs Change As You Get Broker
I was once told by a good friend that “The things you need change as you get broker.” Truer words were never spoken. I want you to imagine that this pandemic keeps you out of work for a year. Seriously do this. What comes off your needs list? How do you move things around and rethink what you “need” when you are down to $100 in your bank account? I just dropped all my marketing and advertising.
I stopped all my autoship supplies etc. I’m making plans for a business siege and the ammunition is savings and customer care because at the end of the day we don’t know how long we are going to be out of work. We don’t know if our customers are going to feel safe coming back to us. And worst of all, we don’t know if COVID will have rolling waves that will put us out of work again. So plan now for the just in cases. It’s how my business has weathered hard times.
Strip Back Those Wants NOW
I’m all for living for the now and the little pleasures. But refer to my note on Needs above. If you can’t even pay for your Needs can you even have wants? Well yeah you can, but strip them waaaaaay back. You want to drink wine – heck yay! Two Buck Chuck or something like it is your new drink of choice. You love the Starbucks? Me too….I now am making all my boba at home. Eat out a lot? Well if you go out for those $1 tacos that seems awesome. See how you can give yourself the small pleasures but still strip back anything unnecessary.
To be honest, it’s actually the stuff we get lazy about canceling or doing away with because they seem so small. It’s just too annoying to figure out how to cancel that $2 subscription for that monthly app or researching how to get all our info to sync onto one server instead of paying for 4 systems. Maybe you have subscriptions to Netflix AND Hulu AND Stars AND… why not have just Amazon for now until you’ve watched everything possible then switch? Or Use the local library streaming service which is free with your library card??? Once again, $100 left in your bank account. Get to reading those books, or spend more time starting that digital business…
Get a Side Hustle
Speaking of digital businesses, you need to think about a side hustle. The world is changed forever. We need to adapt as business owners. Think about your future strategy. What does your future business model look like?
The Script I Use When Asking for Help
You can use this script to reduce payments, waive fees, defer payments, reduce your credit cards monthly APR (always a good bet no matter what), or just ask what they are doing to assist COVID business owners struggling if you aren’t getting the thing you are asking for. Here is a script I use.
first blank = your name
second blank = companies name
third blank = length of time with company even if vague
fourth blank = what you are asking to do ie waive fee, reduce payment, etc
YOU: Hello. My name is ____________________ and I’ve been a good customer of __________________ for _____________. As you know with the COVID crisis people are struggling. I am one of them. I was hoping you could help me ______________________ . Is that something you have the authority to help me with?
Customer Service Rep: No. (or if YES have this same conversation as if it was a supervisor)
YOU: In that case, could I please speak with someone who can?
CSR: Just a moment.
SUPERVISOR: Hello?
YOU: Hi as I said to the last representative, my name is ____________________ and I’ve been a good customer of __________________ for _____________. As you know with the COVID crisis people are struggling. I am one of them. I was hoping you could help me ______________________.
(Many companies have policies in place for right now so before you give a sob story give the CSR space to offer you something. If you would like something more ASK. Make a case for why you’re a good customer and how your situation warrants a better offer only if you don’t like the one they’ve given you or if you think it unfair. )
Be sure the conversation ends like this.
SUPERVISOR: Let me see what we can do for you OFFER
YOU: I appreciate your help and your time. Could you please send me an email with the details of this conversation.
SUPERVISOR: Of course.
YOU: Once again, thank you for your help and time.