By Nigel Smellie, Partner Accounting and Business Advisory, FINDEX

As businesses face challenges due to the impacts of COVID 19, thorough planning can help business owners and staff to sleep at night.

Business owners need to communicate the plan to employees. These are uncertain times and letting your team know ‘there is a plan’ may help reduce staff anxiety.

To check your plan ensure you understand what is involved in every role. If someone can’t work due to 10-24 isolation days, who will take over their work?

Identifying key products or services is also important. Should additional stock be ordered to ensure supply if your supply chain is impacted? Who has the authority to order stock? Who do you deal with when ordering, and if they’re unavailable who is the back up?

You could set up an ‘A team’ and a ‘B team’ to limit contact between staff and reduce any potential spread of COVID. Make sure staff who can work from home are set up to do so. If your business operates in multiple locations consider stopping internal travel.

Try to surround yourself with like-minded people and find ways to work together. There is help available and you are not alone, many industry bodies and organisations have guides to support businesses through the uncertainty so make use of them.

Should your business be impacted by COVID there is financial support available;

• Leave support scheme payment – for an employer or self-employed person who is advised to self-isolate for at least 4 consecutive calendar days.
• Short-term absence payment – to help employers, including self-employed people to pay their employees who need to stay at home and are unable to work from home while they wait for a COVID 19 test.

Current Central Otago business sentiment is that everyone is a little bit nervous about what is coming and the impacts on their teams.

The next 3-4 months are going to be challenging, hopefully around the end of May omicron will level off and things will settle down.

Remember to look after yourselves as business owners. We will get through this!

(For more on the Leave support scheme payment https://www.findex.co.nz/insights/article/covid-19-leave-support-scheme-and-short-term-absence-payment)

Meet Nigel Smellie, Partner Accounting and Business Advisory

Nigel grew up on a sheep farm in Otautau (40 mins from Invercargill). He’s been working in accounting and business advisory with Findex since 2001. After spending five years in Queenstown he moved to Alexandra in 2012. He enjoys working collaboratively with his clients to achieve their goals. He’s also the Treasurer of the Alexandra Blossom Festival Committee and the Chair of the Business South Central Otago Advisory Group. When he’s not at work he loves spending time with his wife and 8-year-old daughter, or chasing a golf ball around at Twilight golf.

This summer he’s had a great time camping and getting off the grid in Central Otago – St Bathans is his ‘go to’ spot.