After more than a year of the COVID-19 global pandemic creating chaos for just about every type of business, there is no doubt that anyone who has survived to this point will be feeling confident in their abilities to adapt on the fly.

However, there is no guarantee that the end of COVID-19 won’t be quickly replaced by the start of another global crisis, and every business that has stumbled through the past 15 months needs to also be preparing for the possibility that the worst is still to come.

While that might sound ominous, it is always in the best interest of any business to prepare for worst case scenarios, so with that in mind let’s take a quick look at five different things you could be doing to help prepare your business for the next recession.

Take Advantage of Government Programs

Business owners have had to struggle through all kinds of difficult situations over the past year, but one of the positive outcomes from the pandemic is that governments around the globe have put together some incredible programs to aid and assist various types of companies.

With everything from massive PPP loans to the Restaurant Revitalization Program to local grants available for different businesses here in the United States, make sure that you are exhausting every possible avenue to get assistance for your operation. Then take that money and use it to prepare your businesses for whatever comes next, good or bad.

Stress That Emergency Fund

Anyone who built up an emergency fund prior to March of 2020 was certainly grateful that they did, and also probably wished that they had set more cash aside. Don’t let that lesson go unlearned moving forward!

Make a plan to set aside as much money as you possibly can so that your operation has a nice cushion to fall back on whenever the next major crisis comes knocking at the door of your business.

Minimize Liabilities

While saving money is always a good idea, minimizing the amount you owe to various vendors is equally beneficial when times get tough. Many vendors are eager to offer credit to help out when times are tough, but the outsized liabilities that those credit lines can create could quickly become a yoke around the neck of your company if the revenue suddenly dries up.

Stress to everyone on your team that you absolutely must be cautious about keeping those liabilities in check, even if it means that you are a little slower to fill that emergency fund.

Maximize Cash Flow

Over the last year, we learned that cash is king when times are tough, and that will be the case every time that business conditions are difficult throughout the rest of time.

Make a point to review your company’s cash flow situation with your team regularly, and be quick to ask for ideas and suggestions to increase the amount of money flowing into the company while decreasing funds heading in the opposite direction.

Explore New Revenue Opportunities

Another simple way that you can help prepare your business to withstand the next major recession is to begin exploring new revenue opportunities before you are desperate for the additional income they offer you.

It has been commonly said that the pandemic forced businesses all over the world to adopt new technologies much faster than they otherwise would have, and the businesses that were quicker on this front had a decided advantage. Make sure that your business is one of those benefiting from quick adoption in the future.

The next big recession could be years away, or it could happen next month. Nobody knows for sure. But either way, the goal of every small business owner around the world should be to do everything in their power to prepare for the worst while simultaneously hoping for the best.

Start scheduling regular meetings with your team to discuss how you might implement these five strategies so that you are prepared the next time the entire world spins out of control on you.