By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
As businesses begin to enter the final part of this year, it is time to start looking ahead to next year.
Director Rebecca Lobina of the Northwest Missouri State University Small Business Development Center says there is no better time than right now to start making goals for 2022.
"This is the perfect time actually for them to get ready, because it takes some planning time and you don't want to already be in 2022, or at the very end of 2021, before you start doing planning for the next year," Lobina tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "So, this is prime time right here at the very end of third quarter, beginning of fourth quarter."
Lobina says there are six simple steps for small business owners to follow as they prepare for 2022, ranging from creating an emergency fund to refinancing some of your debt and even simply to updating your business goals.
One the most important step as they prepare, Lobina says, is to start putting together a business continuity plan.
"A business continuity plan is kind of a fancy way of saying just a plan that kind of goes over all the different business models, business emergencies if you will, that can occur and how you're going to keep your business up and running during those events." Lobina explains.
And Lobina adds that having a business continuity plan becomes especially important were a business to experience a repeat of 2020.
"There's also like what happens if there's a pandemic, what happens if government shutdowns occur again? So, these things happen, so whatever the case is something will happen," Lobina says.
Some other steps that business owners should follow Lobina says range from simply creating an emergency fund to updating your business goals for the new year.
One step Lobina also says is to make an emergency fund, better known as a rainy day fund, something that many business did not have during the coronavirus pandemic, which caused many buisinesses to close.
"During the pandemic that's part of the reason 800 businesses closed each day, because the vast majority do not have a savings fund," Lobina says. "And when you include small and large businesses, I think the number was 51% of all businesses, don't have any type of rainy-day fund."
Lobina adds that the development center also has many free resources to assist business owners in taking the steps to prepare for the future.
The six steps are:
#1 Start putting together a Business Continuity Plan
#2. Have Business Interruption Insurance
#3. Create an emergency or savings fund
#4. Schedule a visit with tax preparer or accountant
#5. Update your business goals, create strategies to reach goals
#6. Consider refinancing higher debt