Payroll is a lot easier when the owner/executive can skip income for one or more months. It's easier if the business has the cash that in good times allows them to pay payroll even when collections are weak. In my own agency/consultancy business, payroll is constantly on my mind and the source of most of my anxiety as I double down and do the technical work that is in front of me along with my team. It takes YEARS to build cash savings when the margins on top of labor are so thin.