I hope everyone is as busy as I am!

As I look back over the last three months, I see a crazy roller coaster ride with many ups and downs. Downs being the huge threats to our health and the economy, and the ups being the successful lobbying by our unified task force and members, and finally getting back to work. Then another down: my vice-president of operations left the company.

When we are in crisis mode, what would normally be a crisis is nothing but another blip. We all pulled together and managed to work through all of the protocols and safety procedures to get back to work safely. Now we are pulling together to cover off the many tasks and responsibilities that the number two in our company has left behind. He did an amazing job setting everything up for success. We got to say goodbye to him with a physical-distanced, food truck social in our parking lot.

As things keep changing, I continue to revise our budgets for this year. Having a great team with me, along for the ride, and great technology partners, like LMN, we have been able to roll with the punches and keep moving forward.

As a business, our revenue is up more than 15 per cent over last year, but I wonder how long that will last. The pent-up demand of a society that has been shut indoors, saving money, is exploding. Three weeks ago, I lamented that on one day we only got two leads. Now, we are back to our normal of 25. How long will this last? We need to prepare for the next crisis. There will surely be some kind of a recession. There are millions of people out of work, but the government is giving them money. But for how long? The unprecedented level of financial support by our government will cost us in the long run. It may even slow the sputtering economy as they raise taxes to pay for the stimulus.

These unknowns are why I am on budget number six for the year. We cancelled major equipment purchases in early spring due to the shutdowns, but then two months later, we re-ordered most of that equipment because we need it to keep up with the current workload. We cancelled truck purchases, only to then rent several from a local supplier. (They are all giving great deals, by the way).

My concern now is still how, or if, this roller coaster ride will ever end. In the last five years, as I learned more about the finances of our business, I have worked to recession-proof the company by having equipment leases come due every year, so that if I need to drop a crew, I can give the equipment back. I have worked on paying off debt and acquiring short-term debt, not long-term, so that if the bottom falls out, we can roll with it.

Whether you are a small or a large company, I challenge you to live within your means and make wise, budget-driven decisions as we weather this storm together. Good luck and don’t let your guard down.

---