‘April is the cruellest month’ – so T.S. Elliot wrote in The Waste Land.

As Q1 of 2009 disappears into our collective corporate rear view mirror, unlike Mr Elliot’s morose opus, I hope you won’t be spending April burying dead projects, client files and/or business plans.

The first three months of this year have seen many of us trying to make sense of a plethora of acronyms and schemes. The RPI (Retail Prices Index) headed south, hitting 0% for the first time in 49 years, while it’s cousin, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) unexpectedly headed north to 3.2%.

Darling Alistair announced a fleet of business assistance programmes - the Working Capital Scheme, Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme and Capital for Enterprise Fund, among them – which, while supposedly designed for companies feeling the pinch by helping banks to increase lending, seem to have done bugger all as far as I can see. Deflation continues to erode consumer confidence and unemployment is creeping ever-upwards.

‘It’s enough to make you want to drive your Mercedes over a cliff!’ I remember Dame Edna remarking rather colourfully about the 1987 crash. Well, this time around there’s no Mercedes. It’s been traded for a second-hand Vauxhall to help pay last month’s school fees or mortgage. And as for cash flow… The current business climate is so volatile and unpredictable that even a blemish-free credit history provides no guarantee of getting paid. 

The rules of engagement for UK businesses have obviously changed; and not necessarily for the better – at least in the short-term. But before you reach for your Prozac, it’s worth remembering, even in your darkest moments, that:

(i) the economy hasn’t entirely ground to a halt, it’s merely slowed; and

(ii) there’s still business out there to be had.  We just have to fight even harder for it.

I was speaking with my FD, Roger Argent, the other day, and together we decided we’d ‘do a Letterman’ for smeweb.com and have put together the following Top 5  tips for getting through Q2 – and beyond.

So without further ado…

#5: Understand all aspects of your business. Make sure you track your cost-base against seasonal sales so that you’re not caught out, cash flow-wise. Set strict cost- as well as realistic sales targets and review budgets constantly to ensure you’re keeping abreast of changing market conditions.

#4: Bank managers are people, too…. Maintain good communications with your bank. Be positive and upbeat about your prospects but never over-promise. Your bank needs to build confidence in you and what you say, so keeping lines of communication open is a very good idea. The occasional lunch never goes astray, either.

#3: Get yourself some good T’s & C’s. Make sure they’re water tight and legally binding to ensure that there are no excuses for late- or (horror the thought!), non-payment. Legal action is expensive and time-consuming, after all.

#2: Remember that cash-on-hand is king. Money is the lifeblood of every company, so don’t be tempted to spend what you don’t have.

And at #1…

Don’t forget that your most important business relationship is with your clients.

They’re your partners - in both good times and bad - and treat them as such. Even after the current recession is but a distant memory (my money’s still on Q1 2010 for a turnaround, incidentally), remaining attentive and supportive now will not only engender greater client loyalty in the short and medium term, it will be excellent for your balance sheet in the long run.

Remember that old Eighties flick, Field of Dreams? It’s the one where Kevin Costner trashes several acres of corn to build a baseball field – all because a mysterious, disembodied voice that only he can hear repeats over and over again: ‘Build it and they will come.’ Everyone thinks he’s stark raving, of course. Then just when all appears lost – his wife is going ballistic, the bank is about to repossess the farm – thousands of people arrive one fine afternoon prepared to pay big bucks to relive the simple pleasure of watching a baseball game.

Starting, running or expanding an SME at present can make you feel a lot like Kevin and his baseball field – ie. mad and misunderstood.  But keep the faith, folks. UK plc needs entrepreneurial vision and determination now more than ever. Don’t succumb to the fear that seems to be stalking the British psyche at every turn - fear of losing your business; fear of not being able to put food on the table; fear of not keeping up with the Joneses. However real those concerns may be, take my advice and switch off the media diet of unadulterated gloom and, if you need a pleasant diversion, watch Mad Men instead. It’s the best thing on ye olde idiot box at present by a Madison Avenue mile.