What is your business going to look like post-COVID? There are two main concerns: 

1 – what will the world look like in the new “normal”? What will be the new rules of social engagement? How much longer do we wear PPE and personal distance? In short, what will the pandemic force us to change even after business re-opens?

2 – what wasn’t working for us anyway? Pre-COVID was your business going perfectly? Was your model flawless and you made more money than you knew what to do with? Or were there big problems and small annoyances that you knew you’d have to address at some point? That point is now! 

While we cannot predict with certainty the outcome of number 1 because it’s 100% out of our control, what happens with the 2nd point IS within our control. 

So take the time NOW to rebuild your business model for the New Opening.  

Perhaps you over-worked yourself, said yes to every request, ran yourself into exhaustion attending every event, spent too much on business expenses, took on any client who would have you … do you see your issue listed here? I can list 100 more. 

This is THE time to wipe the slate clean and reimagine your business for today and for tomorrow. 

  • Today we are finding creative ways to keep the business flames burning by serving our clients virtually or “contact-less”.  
  • Tomorrow, when we can open doors and some restrictions are lifted, will we return to the same debilitating issues we struggled with pre-COVID? 

Do you take those same lackluster clients, re-engage your problem employees, attend every event, overbook your calendar? It’s your business and it’s your job to say NO right now to your old challenges. Those roadblocks were not allowing you to thrive, not enabling you to have joy, so as you open the door on your new business, keep the door slammed shut on old problems. 

Take a look at your team – how do you build up a new, strong team with employees that are an excellent fit for your company? Perhaps your employees need their roles readjusted to allow them to perform like a star. It could be that underperforming is due to lack of clarity and it’s time to get them proper training. Don’t assume, “they should know by now”. Maybe they never had a solid grasp on how to carry out their assignments. Take this time to define processes and answer their questions. 

Were you over-extending yourself saying yes to every customer request, even if it involved crazy travel time, working on your “days off” and performing services you never intended? Stop saying yes! Define a new process that checks off specific points to determine whether a project is to be accepted or referred elsewhere. If you’re being requested to perform tasks you never intended, then your marketing content needs to be overhauled NOW to make it crystal clear what your company will and will not do.   

Shut the door on accepting all clients. No amount of money in the world is worth your sadness, anxiety, aggravation and stress. With these ill feelings comes resentment toward your own business, and there’s no reason to continue this. Determine today to identify your ideal client and have that front of mind when you interview new prospects. 

Take a look at your calendar and mileage – examine the results (if any) of all those networking events you used to attend. Perhaps, if there remains virtual options, you can make room for some, but running yourself ragged attending multiple events is counter-productive. Decide what your acceptable geography will be for customer visits, conferences, and other business events.  

My favorite tool is still time blocking – set aside certain days of the week and times of the day where you will not see clients; instruct your assistant not to allow anything to slip into those blocks. Decide right now what time you will “report to work” and what time you will end your day. Yes, even if you work from home and have no little mouths to feed you still need to place parameters on your time. My favorite tool is my Windows setting which places my computer in “evening mode” at 7pm. As I’m typing my last email, I’m watching my display get a bit darker, a clear indication that I need to power down after I hit ‘send’. 

What will your new business model be like? What will you remove and what will you add? Make all those tough decisions right now, before the New Opening for businesses, before you get sucked into the vortex of busy-ness. 

I welcome you to schedule a phone consult with me. We won’t solve all your issues in 30 minutes but we can likely gain a bit of clarity. Try me.