Supplier notes
Decision trees for loud weeks
Chaos Reset when cash and power collide.
Counting the real costs of noise
There’s something about a cash crunch landing on the same week as Eskom Stage 6. Phones ring, WhatsApps pile up, plans change by the minute. Cash and power stress bring out all the cracks in your own systems, and in your people. Last month, during a mad week in Pietermaritzburg, I worked with Sipho from Panorama Paints. Payroll was due on Friday, cash flow was tight as a spaza owner’s margins, and the power cut meant the backup battery on his card machine ran out by Thursday morning. The supplier deadline for tint stock was at noon, but the bank’s EFT clearance stretched to 48 hours. Decision fatigue? That’s not even the word. You need clear rules for what gets paid, who gets called, what can wait. That’s what our Chaos Reset kit is built for: whittling down chaos into a sequence you can live with today.
Setting up your Chaos Reset
Every founder tells me their chaos is special. But most messes shrink when you put the basics in a row. My own rule for a loud week is start with what keeps the business open and people paid, then get picky. I keep three tabs open: one for SARS eFiling, one for our main FNB account, one for whichever supplier portal is shouting the loudest. If your team uses Cadence already, you’ll know how we lay out timed check-ins and ‘stop points’ for key decisions. Don’t trust your memory. By Wednesday you’ll forget if you actually paid that VAT201 or just dreamt you did at 2am.
Prioritise with hard rules, not hope
This is where my own bias shows: make a simple ranking and stick to it even when the inbox is screaming. For us, it goes: staff, landlord, SARS, core supplier, then anyone else. I’ve seen too many founders try be a hero and pay everyone a little, but then UIF, COIDA or the lease gets missed. Mamelodi’s finest fast-food spot, Chicken Corner, nearly lost their lease in May, landlord needed proof of payment by the 25th after two bounced cheques. A standing rule would’ve saved them a week of headaches. If you want a cheat sheet, grab ours at the Chaos Reset checklist.
- Check which payments affect your ability to trade first
- Confirm what’s due by the 25th (wages, rent, SARS EMP201)
- Pause non-critical spending till next cash in
- Log load-shedding slots that clash with bank or courier cut-offs
- Keep a running list of supplier grace periods
Keep suppliers and creditors talking
People underestimate how much can be handled by a simple, honest update. Your tile supplier in Pinetown is not a mind reader. If you know a payment will hit Friday and not Thursday, tell them, don’t wait for the angry call. Same for the local bank manager if your overdraft is running close. Pull your list of supplier contacts, whether it’s the onions guy in Germiston or the COIDA office in Pretoria, and email them all before things go sideways. When in doubt, check our supplier shortlist or email the studio for a nudge. And never promise what you can’t deliver. That bit’s non-negotiable.
When rules run out: decision handoff
Even with all this planning, sometimes you just hit a wall. End of month, everyone’s tired, and there’s that one supplier who just won’t budge. This is where you hand off: call your accountant, your attorney, or someone with more patience than you have by Thursday. You don’t have to carry every problem, friend. We list specific handoff rituals for these meltdowns at Chaos Reset handoff, or you can browse more weekly ideas in our Ops Rituals. And don’t be shy to ask for help. I still get those days where I double-pay someone by mistake or forget a deadline. Happens to the best of us.
Don’t let the noise set the tone
You’re running a business, not a panic room. Loud weeks don’t last forever, but the habits you build in them do. One Pietermaritzburg coffee roaster I know keeps a Chaos Reset printed next to the grinder, he swears by it since the March storm when they lost power and courier deadlines landed the same day as payday. If you need a copy to stick next to your till, see our resource page for templates and checklists, or pop me an email. The quieter you make your own rules, the less the noise outside can rattle you.
