This blog post was written in the midst of social isolation from the COVID-19 pandemic in April, 2020. However, the principles are timeless.
The majority of us are in lockdown, quarantine, social isolation, whichever term makes you feel less sad. I’ve had lots of conversations with business owners, mostly to see how everyone is doing. I am blessed to still be working with most of my clients, but as we are all feeling like Weebles right now, our consulting sessions are hiking through unchartered territory. (side note: you may not be old enough to remember, “Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down”. Doesn’t that capture the entrepreneurial spirit?)
I found 3 powerful and prominent paths that small business owners are focused on taking during this unusual and unscheduled (and seemingly interminable) quarantine: Pivot, Plan, or Process. While each take their own direction, all of them are focused on accomplishing something important, and none is “better” than the others.
In the first path, business owners are deep into the throes of Pivoting: tweaking their business model and changing how they deliver a valuable services to customers. While meeting in person is not a possibility, we have to tap into our most creative mindset and discover do-able and attractive offers that will solve our customer’s challenges. For some, physical vs. virtual is not the barricade – it’s the reduced income we are all facing. As an example, I’ve created new offers to be able to continue working with my top clients that match their temporary financial setback.
In the second path, some business owners are focusing on creating offers that will pan out in the months to come. Their time is spent in Planning – taking this slowdown to design new services, new target market, even new branding that will be implemented in the near future. This is a daunting task during our typical busy week filled with events and meetings. But with the unwelcome quiet comes a golden opportunity to put those dreams into action. Instead of “maybe next year”, we are hearing, “let’s start designing and building this now!”
In the third path, some business owners are examining their processes (or lack thereof). During chaotic weeks of working long hours, writing down and perfecting our processes is seen as a luxury. And now with the extra time we’ve been given, this is the perfect opportunity to build that Standard Operating Procedure manual we keep talking about but never quite working on. It’s not exciting, but it’s a huge time saver in your business overall. Writing down how to do each thing the same way builds efficiencies, and this allows you to (a) stop re-working and re-doing; and (b) teach new team members how to execute tasks following your standards. If writing manuals is not floating your boat, then dictate processes over Voxer or record videos with Loom.
I create Word documents and PowerPoint presentations for public viewing, but I used to take time to change fonts and colors and insert my logos to brand my work for every new document. Silly! I have taken some of this time to create a branded Word Template and a branded PowerPoint Template so that all new work looks professional – work once, use many times – a huge time saver over all!
Which path are you taking? Are you pivoting, planning or processing? Are you trying to do all 3? Or are you stuck in the middle of decision-making hell?
No one asked for the horror that is this pandemic, and my heart goes out to all the families that are in anguish over its effects. If you are not facing immediate stress over health issues with your family, and are struggling with a business disruption, please feel free to reach out and have a conversation. We have been given a strange “gift” of slowing down time, of putting the brakes on our crazy full calendars. I pray this crisis comes to an end quickly, but until it does, what will you do with this new-found time? Which path are you likely to take?
I welcome a conversation on how you’re using “QuaranTime” in your business.