Small Businesses: Before You Shut Your Doors For Good...

These tips are for all of our small business owners: if you are on the verge of shutting down your business permanently, consider these three things first. Just ask for the help you need-- it’s humbling but it’s worth it for you to stick around! We’re all in this together!

1. Rent / Mortgage:

It’s likely one of your biggest expenses — so now is the time for you to talk to your building owner or lender and ask for some relief. They are likely expecting it. There could be a few different ways they might work with you-- if you’re renting they might be open to extending your lease term (so for the next three months you don’t pay rent but then you’d pay for three extra months at the end of your existing term). If you have a mortgage your lender might, in essence, pause your amortization schedule so you’d just pay interest. Just ask. 

2. Insurance Premium:

Ask your agent if COVID-19 counts as a Disruption of Business and is that included in your coverage. Or for many of you the thing that makes insurance so expensive is the liability you incur, but has the way you’ve changed operating (example: if a restaurant, you aren’t having people dine in) changed your liability so that your payment could possibly be reduced for a period of time. Just ask.

3. Current Debt Payments:

Contact your lender and ask for a suspension in payment and interest. It really never hurts to ask. You might be part of the few biz owners that have a sizable emergency fund-- but you don’t want to spend all of that now-- you’ll want to use that once you’re ready to get back up and running.