My Strategy For Surviving Coronavirus

By Liza van Zyl, director and qualified engineer with Swindon-based Priory Heating Ltd offering many services all related to and including plumbing and heating.

When did you realise the Coronavirus could be a problem for you and your business? 

We saw the build-up on the news as did everyone else, but I suppose it did not really sink in, until the lock down was properly enforced that evening following the Prime Minister's briefing. 

At that moment, safety was more important for us, than business activity. 

What has been your plan to continue? 

As a small business we made the decision to furlough our apprentice straight away, to limit the amount of movement and only focus on essential work like emergencies. 

We had a meeting as soon as the lock down was announced and put all non-essential work on hold. Customers were contacted to inform them, so everyone was kept up to date. 

It was not an easy decision but working with the risk we might spread the virus was not an option for us and keeping our customers safe was more important. 

Have you changed your business as the weeks are passing? 

From a business perspective we knew things would obviously slow down and money won’t be as freely available, but over the years we have also put "extra" money aside for TAX and VAT, which we can now use to keep us ticking over until all this slows downs and we can start doing more work. 

We have 12 months to pay our company tax, so we are working on the assumption that we should be "ticking over" again by next May when the tax is due. If not the whole world will be in a serious economic crisis. 

We have also taken this time to reassess our business finances by looking back over the past two years and looking how we can do things a little better going forward. In other words, we're using the time to work 'on' the business rather than just 'in' the business. 

Have you been able to access any government support?

We have been able to access some furloughing funds for our relevant staff and we're grateful for that. 

What advice would you give to other business owners? 

If we did not put this money aside each month, as difficult as it was, we would not be in this position right now. 

I made this decision years ago when I started the company and have always followed this structure.  Therefore I'd say to any other business owner to save for those bills and put that money aside safely. 

We live within our normal means every month, then we can pay our tax bill year end without any problems and any left-over money as dividends which can be nice "holiday fund" which was not expected. Therefore I'd also say to any business owner - don't rob your own business, you never know what's round the corner, be sensible. 

At this moment, we are just doing what we can, whilst keeping our work force and customers safe. Should the lock down get extended again, we will probably start looking how we might be able to do more work but with social distancing in place on every job, big or small. Therefore I'd say to any business owner, consider how you can work within the restrictions as they change to keep your business going while putting your own safety that of your staff and customers first. 

What can we do to help each other?

Pay any bill you have to any small business - whether as a business owner or as a consumer. Our customers have been amazing, and we very rarely have to chase for payments, so we have been extremely fortunate. 

Be flexible over payment and just be a good person. During the lockdown we have assessed every job on a case by case basis. If someone has just lost their job we try and find a level playing field and give as much discount as possible without making a loss. We are a firm believer in karma and its always served us well.

We have taken to social media as much as possible to advertise our emergency work and trying to advertise for others who need a hand. The only way we will get through this is by working together. 

As a business we might not have anything in common, but as owners of businesses we are all in the same boat. 

Talk to as many other business owners as possible. I speak to my brother in Australia weekly to get his perspective, he also runs his own work clothing company, which has only been going for just eight months. 

My cousin has a new restaurant in South Africa, which was due to open a week into lockdown and the government has banned all cooked food from being sold. We are looking at setting up a go fund me page for her.  

Your parting thought?

The current climate is completely unprecedented, and we might never experience anything like this ever again in our lifetime. Trying to put something in place a pandemic the world never saw coming is impossible. 

The key thing is to keep an open mind because the way we might have been working might have to change completely just to get through this time.

We must remember everyone is affected by this virus, how we work together will determine the outcome for all businesses big and small. Stay positive and stay safe.  Whilst we are healthy we can work through anything.

For more information visit www.prioryheating.co.uk