Ways to Survive Until the Worst Is Over.

There are steps you can take now not only to ensure solvency in the hard days ahead, but to position your company for the post-coronavirus economy, advises Liz Elting, who shepherded her company TransPerfect from a dorm-room startup into a billion-dollar enterprise through both 9/11 and the 2008 financial meltdown.

Keep a cool head. "It's critical you keep your composure, especially right now, because emotional decisionmaking is often bad decision making. Focus on the data, not the news; you can't control the mortality numbers, but you can control your own internal processes and strategies. Now is not the time to panic; rather, it's time to hunker down and hold fast."

Protect your employees. "Joblessness is spiking in a way we've never seen since unemployment insurance record-keeping began in the 1960s, and that's got to have your team's anxiety spiking, too. People need assurances that their jobs are safe, even in the midst of this, as much as is realistically possible. Luckily, the CARES Act has created a system for paycheck protection loans designed to alleviate layoffs. If you're in a position where you may have to begin letting people go at this worst possible time, it's worth...