Welcome back. It’s Stephen Hunt from Hunt Hospitality International. Today I’ll be talking to you about opening your business back up. We’ve all been through the torrential storm of COVID-19 and it looks like the skies are clearing, and we’re about to come back up. It’s really important to make sure you’re prepared and you have your business ready to open back up and get as profitable as quickly as you possibly can.
First thing that we’ve been doing is reviewing our cash flow. Without having a good cash flow chart organized throughout COVID, you probably wouldn’t be at this stage about opening up. No doubt, you need to know when the expenses are coming in, and also your projected income. Personally, we always take a very, very conservative approach. We aim lower to gradually build back into it. So, I think for your specific business, you should be taking the same approach.
Secondly, equipment. So, for us in hospitality, there’s many, many, many different types of equipment: we’ve got compressors, we’ve got electrical circuit boards, you name it, we have it here in a pub. So, it’s really important to get your experts in to make sure all of your equipment, your refrigeration equipment, every piece of equipment is working and ready to roll off when you reopen.
Now your team, I always bang on about people but for me personally, if I’ve got the right people, we can live and work through everything. I personally think that I have one of the best teams there is and I’m always proud to try to look after my team. So, throughout COVID, we’ve kept the pilot light on with our team. We’ve still been serving food and beverage, but we’ve had we’ve been in close contact with each and every team member that we have to make sure that they’re okay and they’re ready to come back to work. So, reach out to your Employee Assistance Program, or your industry associations, if any of your team is suffering. But looking after your team and keeping them motivated and keeping them included in the business conversations that you’re having is absolutely crucial for reopening and success.
And finally, communication. So, communication with everyone. You’ve got to have communication with your team. You got to have communication with your suppliers, expectations – when you’re expected to pay your bills, what they can do for you, what things they’re out of stock of. It’s important to be in contact with everyone.
If you have investors like me, it’s important to be talking to your investors, about how you’re opening up and your plans to reopen and hopefully get back to a new norm. There will be a new normal, what’s happened in the past is gone.
So, what we’re doing now is rebuilding.
Thanks guys! All the best! Good luck with reopening and feel free to reach out! Cheers!
