The Crisis and The Birthday

As I sit down to write this the date is April 6, 2020. Spring started more than a week ago and no one noticed. Why? As you know if you’re anywhere in the world we’re in the middle of a global pandemic. Coronavirus, COVID-19 more specifically, has hit with a vengeance.

This post will publish at the beginning of May. I write this knowing that by then, things will be much worse. Projections are showing that before the infection in under control several million people will have been effected and tens of thousands will die.

At this point, everyone is well versed in the proper hand washing techniques and a new phrase has been indelibly ingrained in everyone’s vocabulary, social distancing. In my home town of Omaha, as in many other cities, gatherings of more than 10 people have been restricted and banned. This has effectively shut down all of the restaurants, bars and other gathering places who are now trying to get by on providing take out meals. Starbucks is still serving coffee but it’s walk-up counter service or drive-through only, no sitting around loitering in the shop. Grocery store shelves are empty and it’s nearly impossible to find hand sanitizer, bleach, alcohol or toilet paper. Not because there’s a shortage of items but because people in a panic have been hoarding groceries and the normal supply chains can’t keep up. They’ll catch up but it will take a while and in the meantime, people are acting out of fear and can’t hear logic, I get it.

As I write this, most states have enacted shelter in place mandates. People are being asked to stay in their own homes and not go outside for anything except groceries and medical needs. Regardless of the chaos going on around us, people are settling into an interim normal. The rapidly changing situation means people are reacting as things come at them. It’s not all bad though. Stories are pouring in about neighbors helping neighbors. The pandemic has brought the world together like nothing else has in the last decade. It might be my imagination but people seem nicer. I went out for a walk yesterday and every person I say, while it wasn’t very many, smiled and acknowledged me. Definitely a shift from the heads down, mind your own business attitude you normally encounter on city streets. It’s a bit like the atmosphere you have at Christmas where everyone is just a little bit kinder except this is coming from a place of concern and fear, not from a place of renewed hope in the world.

If you’re an entrepreneur or a small business owner you’ve spent the last few days as I have, figuring out what to do and how to react. You’re somewhere along the continuum of finding ways to keep your business limping along with at least some income coming in  to completely shutting down your business. You’re looking for ways to help and retain your employees in the short term and protect yourself and your business in the long term. You’re educating yourself on things like furloughs, lay-offs, unemployment insurance, worker’s comp claims and small business disaster recovery loans. Things you never really thought you’d have to deal with but they are now the majority of your day. And you have time to do it because your clients have slowed to a trickle.

Every entrepreneur knows the dreaded statistic or some version of it. 90% of new businesses fail in the first three years. It’s not a statistic that stops any of us (or many of us) from starting a business. We’re so full of hope, energy and optimism when we start our businesses that we completely ignore it or at least push it to the very back of our minds. We have to. Most of success in life is attitude, you have to believe you can to achieve anything and a mind constantly filled with an expectation of failure will drive a business into the ground faster than anything else. Nevertheless, the statistics are there and there are reminders everywhere that this statistic is pretty accurate. I’m almost at that critical birthday in my own business. On June 1^st, less than 2 months from now my business will be 3 years old. With the shelter in place mandates taking hold and us still on the bad side of the rate of infections curve, my business has slowed to a fraction of what it was. Realistically, I’ll reach my 3 year birthday with not much of a business to talk about. Does that mean I failed? Will I be one of the 90% that fade away into the small business graveyard? Absolutely not! I’ve heard some people advise small businesses to go down fighting. I agree with the fighting but don’t assume you know the ending to this story, to your story.

Can you continue on as before during a crisis like an ostrich with your head in the sand? No, of course not. But what should you do? Here’s a path forward and this applies to any crisis.

#1 Take a little bit of time to get your head on straight. I’ll admit when the reality of the pandemic situation started to sink in and clients started to cancel services I spent a good two days on the couch binge watching Netflix shows and eating icecream.

#2 Realize that you always have a choice. You can passively sit by and an wait for things to get better and risk having your business die an irreversible death or you can choose to change what you’re doing right now to maximize the chances that your business rides out the storm and comes out stronger on the other side.

#3 Seek out help. As I was polishing off the Ben and Jerry’s Iuckily I also spent some time browsing through facebook groups specific to my industry and, amid a lot of people complaining about their circumstances, I found a lot of people with vey helpful, very practical advice. In addition to that, seek out your industry’s associations and I know you have them, every industry does. They’re going to be out there championing your business or at the very least providing information on the current climate and what’s going on with other similar businesses. Also, check into the wealth of low cost or free small business support organizations out there including the Small Business Administration and your local small business service providers. This isn’t an exhaustive list of help but it’s a great start.

#4 Review your plan . If you’re not already, you need to get intimately familiar with your business finances, review and revise your budget. Figure out what’s critical spending and what’s not. Next take a look at your tactical and strategic plan and make changes where needed or even start from scratch and re-do it if needed.

#5 Recognize that it won’t be business as usual for a while. The way you approach your business will change. At least in the short term, you won’t market in the same way, you won’t spend in the same way, you won’t provide services in the same way. That doesn’t mean you won’t do these things, you just need to figure out what they look like during the crisis. In my own business for example I’ve stopped pre-scheduling social media posts and moved more to live posts to help keep everyone informed on changing circumstances and to provide encouragement to those who are concerned and nervous. If you’re like me you’re in an efficient routine with your business. Monday is my day for community marketing, Wednesday is social media day, Friday is administrative day, etc. I’m very organized and pretty disciplined. I had to chuck a lot of that plan out the window and anyone who has met me, knows that I love a good plan so that was hard for me but I have a new plan now to get through this.

#6 And last but not least don’t stop dreaming and aspiring. This too shall pass. It’s important to not lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. Spend time thinking about how you can set yourself and your business up to come back stronger than ever when the time is right. This might mean polishing up (or creating from scratch) your standard operating procedures or updating your policies or educating yourself on topics related to running a successful business.

Things will get worse. The implications of this pandemic will go on for a long time and I can only theorize as to what my industry will look like when it’s over. Some advice on theorizing. Theorizing aimed at preparing for a better stronger comeback for your business is good, theorizing cloaked in predictions of doom and gloom aren’t helpful. Things will get worse but then they will get better, they always do. 

And let me leave you with one more thought. When things get difficult in your business, remember your why. Why did you start the business in the first place. I mean really why, not just to earn a bunch of money because money is only a means to an end. Maybe it was to be able to spend more time with your family, or to help people by providing a great service or to be in charge of your own destiny. Keep that why first in your mind. It will allow you to get through this, and as for me, I’ll keep remembering my why and I’ll look forward to my 3^rd birthday party.