For the best chance of weathering the coronavirus crisis, you must drastically reduce your labor costs — and you must act now, said floral financial expert Derrick Myers, CPA, CFP, PFCI, during a recent webinar for the Society of American Florists.

“Florists are notoriously nice,” said Myers, a Floral Management columnist and partner at Crockett, Myers & Associates, a Maryland-based accounting firm that caters to floral professionals. “We want to help everyone; unfortunately, this is not the time to do that. With sales dropping precipitously, you need to proactively cut labor costs to make sure you’re around when this is over. If you react too slowly, you won’t have capital.”

Here are a few suggestions to whittle these costs:

Look for volunteers to take leave without pay. “Communicate with your staff about how much sales are dropping,” Myers said. “You might find that you have some people who don’t need your paycheck to survive.” Those whose spouses have significant income or who have cash reserves may volunteer to take leave without pay for the greater good of the company.

Myers also recommended approaching elderly and other at-risk employees to see if they would do the same. “Yes, people need money, but their lives are more important,” he said. “Emphasize that your chief concern is their safety.” (However, at-risk employees need to make this decision voluntarily, he clarified. “If you force them — and not everyone — to stay home, you could face a discrimination lawsuit,” Myers added.)

Cut your hourly rate. Talk to your employees and see if they’ll accept an across-the-board pay rate as a short-term solution.

Reduce hours. “The percentage you cut really needs to mirror how much your sales are dropping,” Myers said.

Look for ways to better use your workforce. Are you outsourcing any services, such as social media, marketing or delivery? Consider bringing that in house for the time being. “Also think about expanding your delivery services,” Myers said. “Maybe you can connect with local restaurants, which are forbidden from offering dine-in services, and offer to do their deliveries too.”

In addition to taking the above steps, Myers strongly urged owners to investigate all possible state and federal programs to mitigate the blow for you and your staff.

“This varies state by state,” he said. For instance, Texas and California, have shared worker programs that allow employees to file for partial unemployment if you cut their pay. “In Maryland, you’re not penalized for laying people off right now, and, if you say the employee will be rehire when this is over, the state waives requirements like proving they applied for X number of jobs a week.”

Also reach out to the Small Business Administration, which has opened up new loans to help handle daily costs. “Traditionally, SBA loans are for expansions, not cash flow, so this is a big deal,” Myers said.

Listen to the full webinar now for additional ideas, including more insight on managing COGS, handling event cancellations and the dangers of discounting.

Katie Hendrick Vincent is the senior contributing writer and editor for the Society of American Florists.