What impact would a 20% decline in gross sales quantity and a 5% decline in costs have in your total monetary efficiency?” You might be stunned to search out out that, even within the case of a still-healthy firm with working margins (earlier than curiosity and taxes) of round 10%, such a decline in quantity and costs may flip present earnings into large losses and ship money movement deep into the pink.

Nervousness-provoking questions are much more nice to reply as hypotheticals.

“Crash diets don’t work,” says Stewart. “Trim some fat by working out more, don’t cut back on protein or energy to fuel the growth of tougher and leaner machinery. In other words, in times of crisis, smart companies use data and optimize more than ever, not less.”