Why Staying Upright Isn’t About Luck
Markets wobble. Investors hesitate.
Customers stall. Founders aren’t just building a company.
They’re building shock absorbers.
Resilience isn’t optional, it’s survival gear.
The founders who stay upright aren’t lucky.
They’re operationally prepared.
Tactical Guidance: The Resilience Playbook
Audit your anchors
Export your last 12 months of revenue into a simple spreadsheet.
Add two columns: % of total revenue and average payment lag for each client or product line.
Highlight in red any single client >25% of revenue or consistently late-paying.
Action: This week, draft a one-page sales target list in a different segment or channel. That’s your hedge against concentration.
Trim your sails
Take your P&L, print it (yes, on paper).
Draw three columns with a marker: Essential (directly drives or delivers revenue), Helpful (accelerates but isn’t life-or-death), Vanity (ego or fluff).
Circle one “Vanity” expense and cancel it by Friday.
Pick one “Helpful” expense and email the vendor today: “We’re reviewing costs. Can we discuss terms or a reduced plan?” That call alone buys you runway.
Stock emergency rations
Open a separate “Oxygen Account” at your bank.
Automate a 10% transfer of every incoming payment into it (set it up in your bank rules or Stripe/QuickBooks).
Runway target: 6 months of operating expenses.
Quick win: by the end of this week, move the equivalent of one payroll cycle into that account. That first cushion changes how you sleep.
Build flexible masts
Make a “Funding Flex List” with three categories: Credit, Grants, and Partnerships.
Today: call one banker to ask about a credit line, even if you don’t draw it.
This week: bookmark two grant programs in your industry.
This quarter: draft one partnership proposal (think revenue share, distribution deal, or co-marketing) that reduces dependency on capital raises.
Train your crew
Schedule a 30-minute team drill: “If revenue is halved tomorrow, what’s the first cost we’d cut?”
Capture answers in a shared doc, rank them by impact, and label it Break-Glass Playbook.
Bonus: repeat the drill quarterly. The answers evolve with your business, and the team feels ownership in resilience.
🚨Quick-Fix Playbook
Drill 1: Receivables Freeze
Ask: “If no client paid for 60 days, how would you cover payroll and rent?”
Outcome: Exposes your real dependency on timing vs. topline revenue.
Drill 2: Founder Disappearance Test
Ask: “If you (the founder) disappeared for 2 weeks, what breaks first?”
Outcome: Reveals hidden fragilities in operations, delegation, and systems.
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PRO-TIP
“Resilience is boring on purpose. The boring habits are what keep you alive when the chaos hits.” |
Community Note
Founder, resilience isn’t built in isolation. Every company has its own version of these drills. Share which one you tried, and what you discovered, so we can all learn from each other’s stress tests.
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