Covid-19 may have taught business owners the importance of preparing for similar events in the future.

The National Small Business Chamber (NSBC) conducted a survey that has highlighted key learnings.

NSBC Founder Mike Anderson said: “The pandemic has taught us how important it is to be able to adapt and keep businesses fluid to weather storms in the future. The more outside-the-box thinking to prepare for a worst-case scenario, the better. Having a Plan B can help improve every business's odds of surviving and eventually thriving again during tough financial times.”’

The NSBC found that 93% of small businesses said the most important stand-out learning was about building up liquid cash savings, reducing debt and trimming non-essential spending.

The Small Enterprise Development Agency Western Cape provincial manager Alex Qunta said: “All SMMEs have taken an emotional toll as they are unable to pay staff salaries and overhead expenses. Even the most well leveraged of small businesses are feeling the impact of no or minimal trade in this lockdown period. Many small businesses have been closed down and they do not know how they are going to resuscitate their businesses.”

Qunta said major lessons had been ensuring insurance cover, savings or emergency funds were available when events such as this occurred.

He said it was important to have a business model that could be adapted, especially for e-commerce.

Qunta said the pandemic also allowed for innovations and opportunities, while highlighting the importance of digitisation.