COVID-19 Resources for Businesses

UPDATE: Here are the latest updates from the Governor regarding Phase 1 of reopening.
Executive Order 61
Phase One Business Guidelines	Business Guidelines By Sector

We’ve compiled these resources on behalf of the Roanoke County business community. For further assistance, please contact the Economic Development Office at econdev@roanokecountyva.gov.

The best source for up-to-date information from Roanoke County can be found at www.roanokecountyva.gov/coronavirus as well as the County’s social media channels. For updates on COVID-19’s impact in Virginia, please see Governor Northam’s website and most recent releases. Email us if you want your business included in any of the lists above.

Note: The following information is courtesy of economic development colleagues, Business Oregon.

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Operational Planning During Crisis

First off, DO NOT panic; you are not alone. Seek the advice of people you trust and then think things through carefully.
Be proactive and respond, do not be reactive. Deal with what is in front of you and that which you have control over. Let the rest go. Worry and fear never solves the problems and can actually exacerbate them.
Nobody wins if your business fails, so involve your partners and employees in the solution.
No one will manage your business like you do. It is important that you stay active in the day-to-day management. The outcome of your business is dependent on the decisions you make.
Preserve thy capital. Living to fight another day is priority #1.
You don’t have to come up with all of the solutions. Seeking the advice of others and holding a brainstorm meeting can be very helpful. Work with your CPA, Small Business Development Center, financial institution, key employees and even other business owners to come up with ideas. In turn, share with others what is working…and what is not working.
Who are your key employees? Do they know the plan? Now is not the time to hide or to go silent; it is the time to communicate, communicate and communicate some more.
Work with key employees and involve them in implementing the plan. Many of them will have sound solutions that you might not have thought of. Some of the best solutions can be developed and implemented by those closest to the problem and who have a vested interest in a positive outcome.

Cash Flow Planning
Managing Cash Flow
Increase Cash Inflow
Managing Payments
Lower Cash Outflow

Cash flow modeling is the critical tool. Work with your CPA and or Small Business Development Center in putting together a cash flow plan. Stress test it for a 25% and 50% reduction in revenue. Develop a weekly cash flow model going out a minimum of three months, possibly six. Longer is less useful and not as critical. Not that you shouldn’t look out further, but first focus on what is immediately in front of you. Use the cash flow projections to help develop your survival strategy.
Pay attention to your financials. They are neither good nor bad, just a tool to show you where you are. They are like indicators on your vehicle. Pay attention to them. Manage your business based on what you are seeing. Work with your CPA or financial professional to better understand them and to understand what actions can impact them.
Work with your partners to get through this. It should not be a surprise to anyone that companies may be starved for cash. Talk to you bank/credit union, suppliers, customers and start working on solutions driven by your cash flow modeling. For instance, if through your modeling it looks like a key to your survival is getting extended terms from say 45 to 90 days that may become a specific request of your vendors to extend their terms to you. Conversely, get your big customers to expedite payments.
Do an honest assessment of how long your business can stay viable with little or no revenue.
Build up an emergency cash reserve fund and keep it as strong as possible. Cash is king.