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Education
CoverStory

StreetSmarts SM

SHARING WISDOM
SHARING WISDOM

WITH JEFF FORTNEY WITH JEFF FORTNEY

A protracted shutdown

took us all by surprise

By Jeff Fortney protections. These were finite, sudden and short lived in
Signature Payments nature, and business owners could predictably recover
and move forward afterward.
o open a business—be it a retail store or an eat-
ery—the first step is to build a business plan. The lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was
It's what enables business owners to live their completely different. Business owners had no idea when
T dreams. They all understand the importance of they would be able to open their doors again. They had no
planning for the first few years, primarily projecting costs physical damage or failures on their part to address. They
and revenue. Sound planning will demonstrate potential saw closed signs everywhere, and they were scared.
for success and show when revenue will exceed costs and
the business will turn a profit. Looking back, I doubt many of us in the payments world
would admit it, but we were scared, too. Our success
A competent business plan considers the history of the was predicated on our merchants' success and, with
targeted marketplace, the current product opportunity businesses shut down, we were in an emotional and
found therein, and its highs and the lows, including financial situation similar to theirs. How our merchants
recession periods. Additionally, the plan addresses the responded to the pandemic would have an immediate,
projected profit timeline against all the variables. The direct impact on our revenue.
results provide a clear picture of the financial need prior A range of responses
to breaking a profit.

An unexpected variable Merchant responses to the lockdown varied greatly.
Restaurants and others with perishable items had to react
One recent variable no one could have projected was the immediately. They converted to online or phone ordering
impact of a pandemic and subsequent forced business coupled with delivery and pickup to get items into
closures. Merchants of all types have shared this variable's customers' hands. Some used third-party ordering systems
impact on their business plans with me while discussing (although they were costly). Many local restaurants chose
the pandemic's ramifications. It was not something to provide the services directly, converting waitstaff into
they planned for or even considered. They planned delivery people.
for potential fires, floods and other such disasters that
could be addressed with insurance options and other

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