Occupy Your Mind with These Tasks to Stay Positive

A recent poll by the American Psychiatric Association found significant mental health effects on the population due to COVID-19. Here are some results from this poll:

• 36 percent of respondents agreed “coronavirus is having a serious impact on their mental health.”
• 59 percent of respondents “feel coronavirus is having a serious impact on their day-to-day lives.”
• 68 percent of respondents “fear that the coronavirus will have a long-lasting impact on the economy.”
• 24 percent of respondents “say they have had trouble concentrating on other things because they are thinking about coronavirus.”

How COVID-19 Affects Business Owners

While many adults work remotely under the Coronavirus guidelines, they feel increasingly isolated. Some COVID-19 fears arise from people having fewer social interactions outside the home, while other fears arise from tensions occurring inside the home. It’s hard to work when you just had a heated argument with your partner or the kids are home from school until the end of summer break. Social distancing has forced many businesses to transition employees to remote work. For other businesses, there is no solution except to shut down operations and stay connected with customers online. The latter dilemma could mean no more revenue is coming into the company. Business owners might only be able to cover overhead costs, insurance premiums, and payroll by obtaining a low-interest loan. If that’s your situation, we understand that you must resume normal operations in the coming weeks, or you won’t be able to cover your loan payments. You’re looking for answers, but, sometimes, you just sit and stare at your laptop screen and wonder where to focus your efforts.

How to Keep Your Entrepreneurial Mind Busy at Home

It’s hard to stay positive with so much uncertainty about COVID-19, but we’d like to share these ideas for relieving anxiety. The trick is to occupy your mind, so you won’t ruminate about negative business conditions. Maintaining a positive mindset is important because your employees (even those who are claiming unemployment for now) are counting on you for leadership during this global crisis. Try these tasks to keep busy while you’re restricted from operating your company or meeting with clients:

1. Find alternative sources of funding.

It’s likely you may have already applied for the SBA funding program either the Paycheck Protection Program or the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Emergency Advance. Maybe both. That’s great. Hopefully, you have received funds and are able to maintain your staff and pay your bills. If you weren’t able to receive SBA funding and need immediate working capital, you may want to consider accounts receivable financing.

If your business invoices its customers, invoice factoring can help you avoid the snowball effect of late payments and bad debt. Factoring or accounts receivable financing are a form of invoice factoring that provide regular cash injections throughout the month. If you decide to use invoice factoring, you also hand over control of your accounts receivable to the factoring company. This may be highly beneficial if you’re struggling to collect debts efficiently, or don’t have the time and resources to maintain effective credit control procedures.

2. Do a complete review of your business website.

Look for outdated pieces of content, including pictures, logos, facts, pricing guidelines, product descriptions, and tutorials. Start rewriting the content or outsource the work online. Create a separate list of new content ideas to develop in the near future.

3. Conduct digital outreach.

Post at least a couple times a week on your company blog, social media profiles, or YouTube channel. This outreach keeps you connected with customers, suppliers, and employees. Tailor the message for each audience.

4. Hold virtual meetings for your staff.

Offer training or team-building meetings for your employees on Zoom, GoToMeeting, or WebEx. If you can’t afford to keep employees working full-time right now, you can still engage them with 1-hour or 2-hour meetings. Share what’s going on in your company. Provide ways to apply new learning during the virtual sessions. Invite employees to share how they are doing at home. Keep the experience upbeat while showing empathy.

5. Take courses for entrepreneurs.

Many websites and mobile platforms offer free training to entrepreneurs. A starting point is SCORE.org. There’s also time to email your local small business development center and set up a virtual meeting with a retired business professional or advisor. There are blogs and webinars from greats like Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran, both of Shark Tank fame. If you are looking to grow your leadership skills, you’ll find Simon Sinek and Bene Brown hosting regular podcasts on this topic.

The Bottom Line

As an entrepreneur, you could spend much time worrying about what could happen in the volatile business environment. Many aspects of this crisis are beyond your control. By keeping your mind occupied with concrete projects, you can feel more positive and curb your anxiety.

About Universal Funding

Universal Funding is a private funding source that has funded thousands of businesses and more than $2 billion since 1998. We turn your accounts receivable into the funding you need through invoice factoring and can have capital in your hands in a matter of days. Call us today for more information at 800.405.6035.

Article References: American Psychiatric Association. COVID-19 Impacting Mental Well-Being.