March 26, 2020

This paid piece is sponsored by FiveFour.

A Sioux Falls consulting and training firm is offering resources for local businesses to prepare for life after the coronavirus crisis.

Nathan Unruh, co-founder of FiveFour, said it’s vital for businesses to “turn into the storm” during hard times.

“Hope and worry won’t make it better,” Unruh said. “We firmly believe that business leaders must be realistic and prudent while also taking the opportunity to look at what they’re doing. How solid are your systems and procedures? We have to tighten the screws and prepare to launch when this crisis passes because it will pass.”

FiveFour is offering companies the Crisis Survival Course, a collection of interactive training covering mind-set, leadership, crisis management and customer experience. The package also includes a presentation by Unruh and FiveFour co-founder Nathan Schock.

The Crisis Survival Course is available now for no charge or obligation and includes 90 days of access to the content on the FiveFour interactive training platform.

“We are not just businesspeople,” Unruh said. “We are also members of a community. It is in times of stress that true leadership emerges. These are the times when strength breeds resilience, when confidence provides hope.

“The enemy isn’t just biology. It’s psychology.”

One of the big questions for many companies, particularly in retail and hospitality, is whether to stay open at all. Retail outlets, for instance, may not have any choice if they are in malls or buildings that have been shut down.

That has led to huge spikes in layoffs and requests for unemployment insurance across the country and in South Dakota.

That’s a decision business owners and managers make based on their circumstances, Unruh said. But hunkering down and waiting for better days may not be the best strategy for the long term.

“As business owners, we all want great employees who are loyal and don’t jump ship for 50 cents an hour down the street,” Unruh said. “It’s times like these when we build that loyalty by doing whatever we can to say we’re going to fight for our company and we’re going to fight for you because we’re in this together.”

There’s no simple formula for how to do that. Budgets are real, and when there’s less or no revenue coming in, the instinct is to shut off the money going out.

There are steps you can take to solidify your business situation, Unruh said. “In times like this, during crisis, cash is king.”

To that end, there are several practical steps, particularly for small-business owners, including:

• Talk to your banker about extending credit, delaying or decreasing payments, or other options.
• Talk to your personal financial planner and suspend contributions to a 401(k) or IRA for several months.
• Federal tax deadlines are extended, but even then, think of the IRS as a vendor. Ultimately, you will have to pay taxes, but delaying the payment is like a short-term loan. The IRS will charge interest on the payment, but it’s based on the prime rate and is quite low compared to other financing options.
• Be open with your staff. It may be necessary to reduce hours, take early PTO or even periodic furloughs. But being honest and explaining the circumstances, demonstrating everything you’re doing to stay viable in the short term for long-term growth, develops shared purpose.

“Turning into the storm is frightening,” Unruh said. “But we’re South Dakotans. I always think of the buffalo versus cattle. Cattle huddle together and try to hide when the storm comes. Buffalo head into it knowing that’s the fastest way through.”

Watch the FiveFour introductory video on Crisis Survival below, where you’ll learn more about how to register for the course.