As the world continues to change and uncertainty abounds, you may be facing the big question, “When should I reopen my business?” Or, if your business has remained open in some form during the pandemic, maybe you’re asking different questions like, “Should I continue this new social media campaign I started to keep my business alive?” And maybe, like many other business owners, you’ve found the pandemic’s silver-lining of finally having the space to make progress on your business like never before, and you're now wondering, “How do I avoid going back to how things were?”
Wherever you are at this phase of the current crisis, if you’re a small business owner, you can’t go back to the way things were. Maybe you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true. The world is changing and so your business needs to change with it. But more importantly, the effects that COVID-19 has had on your business—both positive and negative—have shown you the cracks in your armor. If you’re paying attention, the pandemic has shown you where you’ve been running on autopilot without any sort of intentionality; operating on assumptions that have cost you big in challenging times.
This is exemplified by a problem many business owners are facing right now: They’re trying to rehire their employees only to find that they don’t want to come back yet because they’re making more money from unemployment with the CARES stimulus addition.
The assumption you’ve made up until now is that your employees are happy and that they’d inevitably want to return to work simply because they haven’t said otherwise. But committed employees who feel valued and a part of something they value don’t easily turn away from their job, especially if the future of your business is at stake.
This time has shone a light on the little things we all assume or ignore because we’re too busy to address them, and now is the time to investigate and get to the truth.
How? Involve people.
Being a business owner can feel incredibly lonely, especially in a crisis. But that doesn’t mean you need to do anything alone—far from it. In fact, the more you involve the right people in the right parts of the business, the more successful you’ll be.
And in order to discover what small assumptions are making big impacts, talk to the many people that touch your business: your employees, customers, vendors, lenders and investors. These are the people operating your systems, acting in your business and buying your product. And whether you know it or not, they all want to contribute to the vision you have for your company. It builds a sense of togetherness that we all need.
So at this critical moment when quarantine is loosening, lean into your community. Linger in this sense of possibility and ask, “What if?”.
- What if there’s a better way?
- What if our customers prefer this quarantine-period delivery model?
- What if we become a fully remote team?
- What if I go back to the beginning to build the systems my business needs so I don’t experience these same struggles again?
Your community can help you see the way forward. And we can too. If you want the accountability and guidance of a business coach to help you build your business for the future, we’re here for you.
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