Caught in the Crossfire: Tariffs & Small Business Survival

This course contains the use of artificial intelligence.

A supplier raises prices. An important shipment costs more than expected. A quote that looked profitable last month now leaves almost no margin. Meanwhile, payroll, rent and customer commitments still need to be met.

Caught in the Crossfire helps small-business owners and managers turn tariff and supply-chain uncertainty into practical business decisions. You will learn how to identify where your business is exposed, calculate the financial impact of higher costs and choose a response that protects both profit margins and cash flow.

The course follows the decisions a business actually needs to make. You will examine direct and hidden tariff exposure, country-of-origin questions, landed costs, supplier alternatives, pricing choices, inventory timing and working capital. You will also learn how to explain cost changes to customers, strengthen quotes and contracts, and prepare for financing or government-support discussions when appropriate.

Practical worksheets and templates help you apply the lessons to your own business. These include an exposure worksheet, landed-cost calculator, supplier scorecard, gross-margin worksheet, thirteen-week cash-flow template, customer communication templates, and thirty-day and ninety-day action plans.

Through the course, you will learn to:

• Map the products, suppliers and purchased inputs that create your greatest exposure.

• Calculate the full cost of getting a product into your business.

• Compare the effects of absorbing a cost increase or passing it through to customers.

• Evaluate replacement suppliers beyond their quoted price.

• Connect inventory, customer payments and supplier terms to cash requirements.

• Set priorities and build a practical action plan for the next thirty and ninety days.

The course is designed for Canadian and U.S. small-business owners, managers and advisers. Basic familiarity with how a business earns revenue and pays its expenses is helpful; advanced accounting knowledge is not required.

Your instructor, Kevin Fichtner, brings an accounting and business perspective to the material. The emphasis is on using financial information to make timely, informed decisions.

You will finish with a repeatable process for understanding a cost shock, testing your options and deciding what to do next.