Small Business Resources: How to Prepare for Coronavirus Through 2021

Learn how to stay safe and protect your business through 2021. Our resources can guide you through the latest COVID spike from the Delta variant and help you deal with cancellations and other business impacts. Originally published March 10, 2020 and updated August 2021.

With the COVID-19 pandemic surging again around the world, small business owners are faced again with restrictions on conducting business; questions around rescheduling or canceling events; and broader health concerns.

We’ve gathered the answers to the community’s most frequently asked questions below. 

Additionally, we have 18 steps you can take today to minimize the potential impact coronavirus (and actually any type of health emergency or natural disaster) has on your business. Think of this as a business continuity plan for small business to strengthen your business during times of uncertainty.

FAQs and Small Business Resources for Coronavirus

NOTE: This blog post is not a substitute for legal advice. Every situation is different and is fact-specific. A proper legal analysis is necessary based on your location and contract. Consult an attorney in your home state for advice regarding your contract.

Small Business Continuity Plan

Even half-way through 2021, it’s okay if you’re still on edge about COVID. Right when it seemed like we were getting back to normal, many areas are now dealing with surges from the Delta variant. Thankfully, most of what you put into place last year will still apply this year as we continue to learn what the new variant means for businesses.

How to Prepare Your Business for Coronavirus Through 2021

Things You Can Do Right Now:

• Get and stay informed
• Revisit your cancellation and rescheduling policies
• Add three clauses into your contract templates
• Create a strategy to battle cancellations
• Proactively manage your client relationships
• Issue a message to inquiries/clients
• Enforce retainer payments for canceled events/projects

Things You Can Do in the Next Few Days and Weeks:

• Plan for backup help
• Get video meeting software
• Understand your financial position
• Identify new revenue streams
• Pivot your business strategy

Things You Can Do As a General Best Practice:

• Create a playbook
• Identify ways to supplement income
• Tap into city resources
• Start saving now
• Take care of yourself, your family and your team
• Lean on community 

1. Get and Stay Informed

Stay up to date with official news sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO). By staying informed, you can better prepare for what’s coming and gain a sense of control (even if just a little) over the rapidly evolving situation. And being equipped with the facts will help you educate (and calm) any nervous inquiries and clients.

2. Revisit Your Cancellation and Rescheduling Policies

Wondering what the difference is between your cancellation and rescheduling policies vs. a force majeure clause? We went straight to an expert to find out and consulted attorney Paige Griffith of The Legal Paige. 

“First and foremost, a service provider’s cancellation and rescheduling policies should still be laid out very clearly with deadlines,” says Paige. “Industry standard is generally 30 days prior to the event/session/wedding date for your clients to be able to cancel or reschedule and only forfeit the retainer, but not incur any remaining fees. However, ‘Force Majeure Events’ are different. Thus, if you or your clients want to excuse performance to an unforeseeable, unavoidable, or impossible event, that’s where a Force Majeure Clause would kick in to protect you.”

Paige recommends people include a Force Majeure clause that clearly explains your business’s policies for excusing performance related to such events and, specifically, include “epidemics and pandemics” as qualified Force Majeure Events (see #3 for more details). Paige notes, “Oftentimes Force Majeure clauses are more basic and include occurrences such as ‘acts of God, natural disasters, government orders or laws, or strikes.’ It’s better to list out all qualified Force Majeure events and include the language ‘including, but not limited to’ to expand the types of Force Majeure events under your contract.”

Essentially, a cancellation and rescheduling clause is in place for any other reason that your client may cancel or reschedule. But Force Majeure Events are not part of that and have a different procedure in place for cancellations and rescheduling situations. The non-refundable retainer still applies under both clauses so long as you expressly delineate that policy under your contract, but Force Majeure provides additional protection because it requires you to excuse performance under the contract until the Force Majeure Event is resolved.

3. Add Three Clauses Into Your Contract Templates

As part of a business continuity plan for small business, Paige recommends modifying or adding three big clauses into your existing online contract templates: 

1. Force Majeure Clause
2. Safe Working Environment Clause
3. Failure of Company to Perform Services Clause.

Wondering what all that means? Let’s break down each one below: 

Force Majeure Clause

A Force Majeure clause entails the following:

(1) specifies the events which enable either party to declare a force majeure/act of God event, (2) how a party should notify its counterparty about the occurrence, and (3) the consequences after a force majeure event has occurred (see #4 for ideas on consequences you could consider). A force majeure clause should apply to each party to the agreement. 

“Most often I see contracts missing parts 2 and 3 in their force majeure clause,” says Paige. “People should be sure to spell out that ‘epidemics and pandemics’ are included as qualified Force Majeure Events, and indicate the number of days following the Force Majeure Event that the other party may terminate and the remedies allowed. Be sure to have other clauses in place such as Safe Working Environment Clause and Failure of Company to Perform Services Clause to protect yourself in case the Force Majeure Clause is not applicable.”

Need a Force Majeure clause for your online contract? Just copy and paste the Force Majeure clause language below into your own existing contract templates.

Safe Working Environment Clause

A Safe Working Environment clause tells your clients that your company maintains a safe work environment at all times and complies with all health and safety laws, directives and rules and regulations. Thus, you can reserve the right to discontinue service in the event some unsafe conditions arose such as areas affected by communicable diseases.

Failure of Company to Perform Services Clause

A Failure of Company to Perform Services clause ensures that your clients understand the procedure should you not be able to perform your services. “It’s important under this clause to allow your clients to agree to the substitution of another professional and not require such substitution,” Paige says. “And, in the event they do not allow you to substitute or you cannot find a substitute, you will issue a refund or credit based on the percentage of the services you’ve rendered thus far.”

4. Create a Strategy to Battle Cancellations 

If you’re worried about cancellations, the best strategy is to be prepared and proactive. 

Be prepared by thinking through “the consequences after a force majeure event has occurred.” Let’s say a client wants to cancel within 30 days of the event (even if your cancellation policy states they need to provide at least 30 days) due to an unforeseen event. What does that mean for you and your business? 

As a best practice, we recommend doing everything in your power to work with your client to reschedule for a time when everyone is confident about moving forward and healthy enough to do so. If a mutually agreed upon date cannot be reached, your client will be able to cancel and forfeit only the retainer, but not incur any remaining fees under the Agreement. (See step #7 for how to enforce retainer payments for canceled events/projects.)

In addition to identifying what you’ll do in the face of an unforeseen event, be sure to proactively communicate with inquiries and clients. This can help set their minds at ease, reducing your cancellation/chargeback risk. (See #5 for more details.)

5. Proactively Manage Your Client Relationships

Strong relationships are everything in the face of uncertainty, especially with setting expectations and avoiding cancellations. Now is the time to foster and lean on your client relationships as part of your business continuity plan for small business. “Over communication in these situations is also helpful so if a client is feeling unsure, they can lean on the professional to help lead in making decisions,” says Reina Pomeroy of Reina + Co.

If you’ve been doing a good job of relating to your clients and building that trust, it should be easier to reach an ideal outcome for both you and your client if the event can’t take place. Hopefully that outcome is in the form of rescheduling the event and is reached before you ever get to a conversation about chargebacks or cancellations. 

Nichole Beiner of Nichole Gabrielle adds, “Being flexible with rescheduling or being creative about how to interact may be appreciated, especially by clients with compromised immune systems or who care for those with compromised immune systems or elderly people.”

So reach out to your booked clients to schedule a check-in and have a conversation. Get a feel for if they have any concerns or are thinking about cancelling (especially if you deliver your services in-person or work in the events industry).

If your clients were thinking about canceling, getting a call from you to reassure them, might be just what they need to keep their event on the books.

Use the templates below to handle different scenarios:

If your clients weren’t thinking about canceling at all, tread lightly. You don’t want to give them a reason to worry, but use this as an opportunity to let them know you’re on top of the situation; considering the health and safety of all your clients; and what you’re doing to ensure that. 

If they inquire about canceling, be ready with your responses (see step #4).

6. Issue a Message to Inquiries/Clients

Similar to step #5, this step focuses on proactive communication but is a bit more passive, and is designed to reach your broader audience, not just booked clients. Set your audience’s minds at ease and let them know that you’re prepared to handle whatever comes your way. Acknowledge the coronavirus and that it’s something your business is aware of and thinking about. 

You can create a video message that you put up on your website, on social media or in an email. You can create a blog post. Or you can create an FAQ page for your website. 

Wondering what to say? Use our template below:

7. Know How to Enforce Retainer Payments for Cancelled Events/Projects

Again, the first (and best) line of defense to keep your retainer payments (and avoid cancellations altogether) is to proactively manage your client relationships, maintain open communication and try to reach a solution that works for the both of you before the topic of canceling comes up. 

But if cancellations do happen, here’s what you should know to keep/receive your retainer payments.

“This really depends on the situation,” Paige says. “But, in most cases so long as the language in your fee section states ‘non-refundable retainer’ you should be able to keep the retainer. If you used the wording ‘deposit’ instead of retainer, under some states it is required to give back deposits if services have not been rendered. Thus, if you have the word ‘deposit,’ it’s likely best to refund the amount. Also, remember that at the end of the day, it’s your livelihood and business on the line if you have a really sticky client who wants their money back and is ready to pursue legal action if you don’t give it back. It’s way easier, more efficient, and more cost-effective to give a refund under these circumstances than to go to court and battle whether the retainer/deposit is refundable.”

If you’re worried about retainer chargebacks (a chargeback happens when a client asks their credit card to reverse the money transfer from their account), remember that if a chargeback does happen through HoneyBook, HoneyBook works side-by-side with you to resolve the dispute.

8. Plan for Backup Help 

If you don’t already have one as part of your business continuity plan for small business, create a backup plan in the event that you get sick and are unable to perform your job. Identify and lock in a few people whom you can trust to step in for you if needed. (Need help finding someone? Try reaching out to someone in your community or a fellow creative at your local TuesdaysTogether. See #18 for more detail.) Make sure to add this into your contracts, as you want your clients to be aware of this possibility. And see step #3 for more details about what to include in that clause. 

9. Get Video Meeting Software

With people potentially spending more time at home again (known as social distancing), you’ll want to move more of your in-person meetings to video meetings. Make sure your phone and computer equipment are set up to work for video. In terms of video meeting software, FaceTime is a popular option for iPhone users, but if you need to show your screen, you can also consider Zoom or Google Hangouts. 

HoneyBook’s online meeting scheduler includes an integration with Zoom, so it’s easy to move your meetings to a virtual space if you haven’t done so already.

10. Understand Your Financial Position

An important part of business preparedness in the face of coronavirus and creating a business continuity plan for small business is knowing the ins and outs of your finances. This will help you to understand how much business you can afford to lose each month and start making plans if needed. Answer the following questions to start getting a better picture of your finances. 

• What is your projected monthly revenue each month over the next 3-6 months?
• What are your monthly costs (business and living expenses) each month over the next 3-6 months?
• How many projects/events/clients do you need at a minimum each month over the next 3-6 months to maintain a positive cash flow?
• Are any projects/events/clients at risk of getting cancelled or postponed within the next 3-6 months? (If so, see what you can do in steps #4–5.)
• If your projected cash flow is in the negative over the next 3-6 months, see what you can do in steps #11–12.

11. Identify New Revenue Streams

While you may be a ways away from needing to implement the next two steps, they’re still worth thinking about now to help increase your preparedness. With that in mind, start thinking about other ways you could bring in revenue if business slowed way down or if cancellations went way up. 

Here are a couple ideas:

1. Check HoneyBook Opportunities. Other creatives post opportunities of all kinds, and you can post if you have one as well. Searching by your zip code makes it easy.
2. Get a side gig on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr.
3. Tap into your network and see if anyone needs extra help. Since many events are likely to get rescheduled, take advantage of the shuffle and make yourself available for these dates.
4. Turn your existing service into a digital or remote offering. 

12. Pivot Your Business Strategy

Again, it might not make sense to start pivoting at this very moment, but making plans to do this now can be very helpful if this may be needed in the future. If your business is internationally based, perhaps consider focusing on local markets. Or if your business is focused on servicing large events, consider niching down. Some HoneyBook members have started focusing on more intimate-sized events that are less prone to being impacted by travel restrictions. Another idea is to introduce lightweight services that are easy for you to implement, and that requires less planning ahead, like one-off coaching sessions. 

Don’t forget to think through the impact on your brand and what would need to be updated, including messaging and imagery on your website and social channels. 

13. Create a Playbook

Documenting your entire process in a playbook will make it easy to hand a project/event off to someone who needs to step in and take over for you in the event that you get sick. Think through every little step and include it! Imagine that you won’t be there to answer questions and that everything they need to know would be included in your documentation. (Need some help? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Boosting Work Efficiency Through Business Systems and Automation.)

The cool thing about managing your business in HoneyBook is that all your client and project information is kept in one place, which makes it easy to hand over projects. Other team members (or an external person added to your project if you don’t have team members and need to add a back-up contact) can jump in and quickly get up to speed. They can see the communication history between you and your client and access all files to see all relevant information. (Team members can see private notes from all client meetings; external people added to your project can see all files and client communications, just not private notes you’ve taken.)

“Take a deep breath and don’t panic if you don’t have any of these best business practices in place,” says Diana Fang from The Finer Points. “If someone cancels, this would be a good time to use that extra time to beef up your own internal systems (especially for points #10-15).”

14. Identify Ways to Supplement Income

It’s always good to know how you can supplement your income if you truly need to. Research the different options available for small business loans (this is a great resource), as well as a withdrawal from your 401K if you have one. But because of the hefty fees associated with an early withdrawal, this should be saved as a last resort. 

If COVID is causing you to limit the number of services you can provide, consider creating digital products that you can sell. Productizing your services will let you continue to generate income without coming into contact with clients or putting your business on pause. If you already have HoneyBook, you can easily set up Automations for delivering your digital products via email.

15. Tap Into City Resources

Some cities are offering financial aid to specifically help small businesses during this trying time. For example, in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said “the city will offer no-interest loans to small businesses with fewer than 100 employees that could show a 25 percent reduction in sales since the coronavirus outbreak and grants of up to $6,000 for businesses with fewer than five employees.” Check with your city’s Small Business Administration office for more details. 

16. Start Saving Now

Having an emergency fund to tide you over for 3-6 months is important for a solid business continuity plan for small business. If you don’t have one, start today. Take a look at your financial position from step #10. How much do you need to maintain a positive cash flow each month? Use that as a starting point to set your monthly savings goal. 

Once you’ve set a goal, identify ways to save. Perhaps you allocate a percentage of each paycheck to set aside. Or maybe you aim to save $X amount each month by avoiding indulgent expenses (like that new camera or dinners out) for the time being.

17. Take Care of Yourself, Your Family and Your Team

Follow best practices issued by the CDC/WHO to stay healthy and minimize the spread of the virus, including:

1. Washing hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
2. Coughing/sneezing into a flexed elbow
3. Avoiding touching your face with unwashed hands
4. Staying home if you feel unwell 
5. Encouraging team members and vendors to stay home if sick
6. Social distancing (swap a handshake for a friendly wave!)

18. Lean on Community 

In a world where toilet-paper runs are a thing and entire towns are getting locked down, don’t forget you’re not alone. The HoneyBook and Rising Tide community are here to help (even if just to lend a commiserating ear about why there’s no hand sanitizer available anywhere). Here are a few ways to get the most out of the community:

1. Join your local TuesdaysTogether. We have chapters around the globe. Connect with other creatives online through your local TuesdaysTogether Facebook and Instagram groups. Building relationships with those in your area can help if you find you need to cancel on a client and need to refer someone you trust (or vice versa). Please note: Some in-person meetings may be postponed out of caution for the health and safety of our members as the coronavirus progresses. Check in with your city to find out details.
2. Check in on one another. Identify a handful of people to follow up with as the situation unfolds. Knowing how coronavirus is impacting others, and knowing people are also checking in with you, can help you feel less isolated.
3. Share your wisdom with the community. Don’t feel like you have to go through this alone; we’re all in this together. Tag @honeybook and/or @risingtidesociety to share your tips and tools for how to best prepare and maintain not only your business but your day-to-day client interactions. 

More Resources

• What to Say When: Swipe Copy for Responding to Coronavirus Scenarios
• How to Manage Your Mental Health in the Face of Coronavirus Uncertainty
• Coronavirus & Small Businesses Resource Hub
• Force Majeure Clause [Free Template]
• Small Business Relief Resources for Coronavirus
• How to Initiate Postponements and Cancellations Regarding Coronavirus (& What to Do With Your Client Contracts)
• How to Prevent Event Cancellations [Plus, Free Email Templates]
• How to Avoid Disputes: Proactive & Quick Communication Is the Key
• Self Employed Unemployment and Coronavirus Stimulus Package: Everything You Need to Know 
• [Video] An Update From The Legal Paige on Force Majeure & What It Means for Your Business
• How to Make Money During Quarantine: 19 Ideas to Add Revenue Now

Disclaimer: The advice featured in this post was sourced from our community members for sharing of general information and knowledge. For specific legal, tax, mental health, and professional advice, please consult an authorized professional.