According to the US Small Business Administration, America has about 30.2 million small businesses, making up 97+ percent of all businesses in the US. Many of these small businesses face extinction because of the COVID-19 shutdown. While their income has evaporated, they still owe wages to workers, rent to landlords, and invoices for vendors. How do small businesses maneuver through these COVID-19 crazy times?

Pandemics are not new to America. COVID-19 is not the first disease to bring American life and business to a halt, and it certainly will not be the last. *Cholera visited America four times, the first in 1832, and the last in 1873. Each time, Cholera brought death and economic chaos to many parts of the world and the US. *According to the CDC, the 1918 flu killed roughly 675,000 people living in the US and upwards of 50 million worldwide. There were as many as 500 million infected globally. *The Asian Flu recorded almost 70,000 US deaths. *H1N1 struck the US in 2009. The CDC estimates there were 60.8 million cases in the US. *The CDC estimates that during the 2018-19 flu season, there were more than 35.5 million illnesses, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths in the US alone. *From October 1, 2019, through April 4, 2020, the CDC reports upwards of 56 million confirmed flu (non-COVID-19) illnesses, 740,000 hospitalizations, and as many as 62,000 deaths. *The CDC tells us there have been as of April 24, 2020, the US has reported 800,000+ confirmed COVID-19 cases in the US and 50,000+ deaths. New York has recorded almost half of all COVID-19 deaths in the US.

The point is this, COVID-19 is not the end-all of deadly diseases. America and the world will face other “silent killers.” How will businesses and individuals respond during our current pandemic and future catastrophes? Here are three positive questions small business owners maneuvering through this COVID-19 crazy time should be asking employees, management, clients, and themselves:

1) What can we do to make things feel better?

Throughout history, pandemics have had profound economic consequences. Smart businesses, who have navigated economic rough waters, learned to keep themselves and their business poised for an uncertain future by making the painful list of every expense and then, taking the red pen out, began to cross things out – “We don’t need this, this, or this”.

When you push through and make those changes, don’t fall out of that mindset. Do not get locked into expensive, non-essential costs. Resist the urge to overspend during all times.

2) How can we plan on surviving this as a group?

Floral entrepreneur, Nic Faltos, says, “During a crisis, a lot of things are out of your control. Focus solely on what you can control. The objective during a crisis isn’t just to survive; it’s to come out stronger.”

20th-century evangelist, Oswald Chambers, once said, “There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.” Justen Noakes, director of emergency preparedness for the San Antonio based H-E-B grocery chain found this to be true. He writes: “We have been working on our pandemic and influenza plan since 2005. That’s when we first developed what our plan looked like, [as well as] some of our requirements and business implications. In 2009, we actually used that plan in response to H1N1. We’ve continued to revise it, and it’s been a part of our preparedness plan at H-E-B ever since.” Because team H-E-B took the initiative to develop a present and future plan in the 2005 pandemic of H5N1. Noakes says it allowed H-E-B to be on top of COVID-19 and the oncoming crisis the 2nd week of January.

“The current crisis makes it obvious, if it wasn’t already, how many people have been living financially fragile lives. There’s this oft-quoted statistic that 40% of Americans aren’t prepared for a $500 emergency, and now, we’re all having that emergency together” (FastCompany.com). It seems many individuals and companies are drowning in the same waters. They weren’t prepared for a crisis, because they were busily dog-paddling to stay afloat. Because there was no plan or saving of funds, crisis downturns began to sink them.

The clock is ticking. Americans will break free of the shackles of quarantine to breathe life back into the US economy. When that happens, be ready. Use this pandemic as an opportunity. Have a plan to survive and a strategy to become stronger on the other side. The steps you and your team take now will determine what your business will become during and after the pandemic.

3) What are we going to do differently once this is over?

Shahzad Bhatti, founder and, co-owner of The Co – Dubai writes at Entreneuer.com, “Events such as COVID-19 can be a wake-up call to reconsider how you have been doing business. Is your business model able to survive the changes that will come from the COVID-19 pandemic? How do you expect your customers to behave moving forward? What will and won’t matter to them, and how can you accommodate who will likely be a new type of customer?”

Switching up your business model may be the last thing you want to think about right now, but it could be what keeps you in business. The changes and adaptations we make individually and as a business will allow us to do better — to be better — and to lead us out of a crisis. Once the pandemic is over, and it will end, if we haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity to change those aspects that need changing, we won’t be ready for the next crisis.

“Be ready when the time is right and even when it is not, keeping your sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome” [The Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:2 (AMP)]. The New Testament Apostle, Paul, learned preparedness many times at the hands of unforeseen circumstances. He wrote, “I know how to get along and live humbly in difficult times, and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing life, whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need” [The Apostle Paul, Philippians 4:12 (AMP)].

“Do your best, prepare for the worst — then trust GOD to bring victory” [Proverbs 21:31 (MSG)]. Great advice.

BE EXTREME.