No one could have anticipated the unprecedented effect of the coronavirus on our economy. Local and state governments enacted stay-at-home orders across the country, which forced nonessential businesses to close their doors. Considering about half of small businesses say they can survive for only two months under current conditions — and one-third say no more than six months — it’s no wonder small business owners are in a state of distress.
Some business owners and leaders have found themselves paralyzed by fear, and that fear has kept them from responding well to this crisis. They’ve drawn inward and failed to reach out to their best customers. They haven’t planned how they will react to the different world that will inevitably exist after the pandemic; instead, they plan to decide on a course of action later and repair the damage when they start back up.