With the COVID-19 pandemic, is there a way for small government contractors to survive its major threats? The answer is we can, only if both the contractors and the government can work together against its impact on the government marketplace.

CURRENT ISSUES THAT YOU MIGHT FACE

As of writing this, you and other businesses around the world might be facing these issues within your business:

1. Having a low workforce.

During these uncertain times, you will most likely need to lay off some of your employees, oblige your employees to work from home, or ask them to file a sick leave if they are feeling unwell. 

Regardless of what measures you will do, this will strongly affect the productivity of your workforce and you need to find ways to ensure that they are still motivated and their health is not at risk. 

2. Shortage of inventory and supplies.

With lockdowns being enforced by the local and national government as well as extensive measures towards incoming products from different countries or areas, you might have already faced a shortage with your inventory and supplies. 

In order to make sure that you still have the necessary supplies, you need to search for supplies in your local area as the delay might take a month or more depending on the location of your sources.

3. Loss of funds. 

There’s a possibility that you don’t have any back-up funds to continue your business or if you have any, it might not be enough to recuperate the loss.

Besides, aside from making sure that your business continues to work with the government, you also need to make sure that you have enough funds for your employees’ payroll and the cost of your production for the next few months. 

If you won’t be able to resolve these issues or if the covid-19 pandemic continues, you might not have enough funds to keep your business running and you might be prompted to close it for now.

WAYS TO SURVIVE THIS COVID-19 PANDEMIC

We know, you wouldn’t ever want your business to close down! So, here are two ways to help you:

1. Communicate with your employees.

Regardless of how many employees you have, you need to constantly communicate with them about this matter.

Provide them accurate information on the state of your small business because this will help them understand the issues that you are facing.

You also need to inform them of the things that they need to do to lessen the spreading of the virus in your business premises based on the guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

You might also need to mobilize your teams to work from home to keep your employees from the risk of getting infected.

Most importantly, you need to communicate and check up on each of your employees to see how they are doing given that there are changes in their work environment as well as in their mental state right now.

2. Communicate with the federal government.

If you are currently on a contract and there are some changes in the state of your business, you have the responsibility to communicate with the government agency that you are dealing with.

Don’t be afraid to tell them that you won’t be able to supply the needed materials or finish a specific project within the given period.

Consider that these offices chose your business with the idea that you are a credible and responsible government contractor. So, instead of being silent, you must be transparent. 

Besides, each government office needs to grant flexibility for contractors and to expedite the contract award process so that affected businesses can begin generating revenue through the COVID-19 RELIEF for Small Businesses Act of 2020. 

The bill includes extending the performance time of small business contractors by 30 days, adding more budget for sole-source award contracts, temporary removal of market research requirements, Office of Management and Budget’s annual category management goals exclusion, prompt payments within 15 days, and revision in the delivery schedule.

Apart from that, the federal government is also providing emergency loans for small business contractors. The Small Business Administration has available loans of up to $2 million per business to help with financial issues under their Economic Injury Disaster Loans.

To avail the said loan, you can choose to apply online through their website or print and fill out the PDF documents in their site and mail it to their processing and disbursement center or apply in-person.