Liquidity is more important than a perfect plan, a perfect product, or a perfect business model on paper. Those are valuable, sure, but they come second. Cash determines your ability to act under uncertainty without breaking the business.

Over my career, I’ve watched organizations get blindsided and immediately panic, not because the situation is unsolvable, but because they have no options on the table. When you haven’t thought through alternatives ahead of time, it feels like there are no alternatives. That’s when fear takes the wheel.