3 Tips on How Businesses Should Adapt during COVID-19 | Omar-Steve Lejuez

Omar-Steve Lejuez, a local entrepreneur with over 23 years of experience sat down with us to give some practical tips and his views on how he thinks small businesses should adapt with the unexpected economic change of COVID-19.

Omar-Steve explains that he sees this pandemic as a “Tsunami”  that hit the island, meaning he is not taking this lightly.  These are Omar-Steve’s tips and approaches on how small businesses can adapt.

1. Cut Costs
This is the first thing businesses need to do in order to keep some cash flowing. You have to go back to square one. There are three forms of responsibility for an entrepreneur: government debts, your business- how you will take care of your employees, make rent, and your family.Omar-Steve expressed in our BoldTV interview that he likes the tactics that some small businesses are applying during this pandemic. The smaller enterprises do their utmost best to provide for their employees as long as possible compared to corporate enterprises.As a business-owner it’s also wise to lower your own salary but it’s important to see this as a circle. If you lower your own salary, you will be paying less in taxes, which means the government will also earn less. “They make earnings based on the income we generate” says Omar-Steve so you can’t just decide you won’t pay your taxes. It’s up to each business to do an evaluation of their financial costs.

2. Employee Care
The truth is that right now, the majority of businesses do not have enough cash flow to keep their business afloat meaning they most likely cannot pay their employees for a long-term basis. It’s important to explain to your employees what is going on and that you are doing the best you can to not send them home without pay.

3. Consolidate Debt
All businesses have debt. Omar-Steve advises to consolidate your debts and create an agreement with the bank to pay this within a longer period of time  i.e if you had to pay a debt within 2 years, try to extend this for 5 years instead so your payments are less. #ProTip: revise your original agreement with the bank to make sure you don’t have a fine clause. Some banks give fines if you pay your debt in a shorter period of time and that is something that Omar-Steve personally never liked and usually asks for it to be removed.

Omar-Steve finalizes this article by leaving business owners with a tip: continue cutting costs because the cash flow will eventually stop. Reach out to other entrepreneurs/businesses and see how you can collaborate, see what you can offer each other in exchange for your services/offers and continue finding creative ways you can help your business stay afloat.