To our clients and community.
The lockdown has been a very challenging time for everyone and we are no exception. It has been a roller coaster of emotions and stress. We are concerned about all of our clients and the rest of the country but, as always, our main concern is our incredible team, their health and financial future. We remain positive but we are not oblivious to the huge challenge we are facing. I feel that transparency is the most responsible and fair approach at a time like this.
We have received an amazing show of support from our clients and our community over the last 6 weeks. With the generosity of our clients in the form of donations, continued training fee payments and a welcomed contribution from the UIF TERS fund, I am beyond happy and grateful to inform you that we have been able to pay the entire team this month. We have had to make pay-cuts and hard decisions about what expenses to eliminate but for now our team is financially secure this month.
We welcome and support the decision from our government to begin a phased re-opening of the economy. It is currently unclear exactly how and where we fit into the proposed phases but what is certain is we are far from the top of the priority list. It is unlikely we will be able to resume operation anytime soon. We will continue to monitor updates to figure out our options and when we would likely be able to resume any form of service. At this point it appears that may only be at level 1 which could be months away still. We are prepared to make creative and necessary adjustments to how we service our clients to ensure compliance with regulations and to mitigate as much risk as possible once we are able to begin operations again. It is also likely that we will re-open in phases with strict schedules and procedures to limit the size of our groups and ensure the range is a safe place to be. We will obviously update you as and when we can but for now we are at the mercy of the lockdown regulations and remain closed.
Our initial communications and requests for support were drafted with very little time and with even less clarity about the future. We did what we could to secure funds to avoid a disastrous financial impact on the business and our employees. As the initial panic of our circumstances begins to settle, we are slowly gaining a clearer picture of where we stand. In the interest of transparency we would like to lay that out for you:
Our business is only financially viable with all of the elements working together in an otherwise difficult industry. The equipment sales side of the business has come to a grinding halt, as has our team building and event service and there are obviously no new clients coming for intro lessons. While some of our clients generously made donations and/or continued paying their usual monthly training fees for April, many of our clients (understandably so) have asked to freeze their payments until further notice. We have been successful in claiming a contribution from the UIF TERS funds for the initial 5 week lockdown period, however the payout only covered about half of the usual salaries for our team. We are hopeful that we can claim this again for the next month or two if necessary, but it is not guaranteed. All other relief funds available to us come in the form of loans, this is unfortunately not a viable option for us. It is irresponsible and unnecessarily risky to take on additional debt with a very uncertain future ahead of us.
Employee salaries are by far our largest monthly expense but there are a host of other essential expenses that cannot be eliminated without seriously risking the future of the company. Our only form of income is from existing clients who are willing and able to continue making payments each month. This however also puts us in a very difficult predicament. If our clients are paying us with the idea of reclaiming that credit in the future, the longer we accept these payments the more indebted we become to our clients. It is obviously very tempting to accept advance payments for fees but is almost as risky and irresponsible as taking a loan from a relief fund or a bank. We desperately want to keep the business afloat but we cannot risk deepening our financial issues to do so. This is a hard truth for us to swallow but one we must.
We also need to make sure that we have consistency regarding how we are dealing with all of our clients. Again it is very tempting to accept any payment with varying client conditions attached but this will no doubt prove to be an administrative nightmare when we can resume operation. We need a clear and consistent option for all of our clients that does not leave us massively in debt but brings in just enough funds to keep us alive until we can reopen. This unfortunately leaves us with only one real option = a plea for generosity.
While we realise that everyone is taking strain, we have no other option but to request financial support from our clients. Any further payments we receive going forward during the lockdown will be gratefully accepted but will unfortunately have to be considered as donations. The donations received will be used to cover our essential expenses and employee salaries. Absolutely any contributions will be greatly appreciated and will most likely be the critical factor in the survival of the business and club. (Banking details below for reference).
Regarding March: We are considering all fees and payments for March as reconciled and fairly allocated. We did everything in our power to ensure lessons could go ahead and all were completed safely and successfully except a few in the last week of the month.
Regarding April: All fees that have already been paid in April will have to be considered donations, unless clients inform us that they would prefer to have the amount allocated as credit. We will do so, but only for April payments as this was what we initially communicated. We will also need to impose a limitation on how the credit can be used once we resume operation. Only 20% of any future training invoice will be payable with credit, this will allow us to continue covering operation expenses when we reopen and allow clients to amortise their credit over a period of several months. If this does not suit you please contact us and we will arrange to reimburse you for your payment.
It is entirely possible and likely for us to run some additional classes, workshops or an event or two in the future to return the favour to clients who continue to contribute during the lockdown period, this is however not something we can guarantee and therefore not something we are willing to use as a trade either.
As promised in order to continue bringing value to our clients and community we are releasing digital content through our usual channels and exclusive content to paying clients, unfortunately this has been a bit more challenging than expected. Due to the lockdown we have had some serious difficulty with the logistics of getting access to training equipment and other equipment to create the desired digital content. The relaxing of restrictions has made this easier and we are hoping to increase the variety of content we can produce very soon.
We are desperate to get back up and running, we love our students, coaching and spending time on the range with our archers. We feel confident that with a little help we can hold on and that we will be operational again soon. We thank you again for your continued support and wish everyone good health and safety as we all continue to deal with this massive challenge.
Banking Details for Donations:
Account name: SENTIENT ARCHERY SOLUTIONS CC
Bank: FNB
Branch: 250655
Account: 62755987884
Please use your name and surname as a reference for any donations. We will not be sending out the usual invoices but in order to keep track we will send ‘paid’ invoices out to clients for whatever amount they decide to donate.