Don't Sit Idle, Think to Change!

Several years ago I founded a business innovation platform. We largely focus on business innovations with Native Americans and Latinos, however, we are open to collaborating with good businesspeople and investors.

Over the last four months I’ve been focusing on helping businesses alter their business models, as a necessity. Obviously, as the last two months have set in, business activities have grinded to a halt.

The Covid-19 situation has left many wondering, “what shall I do?” I say: “pivot now.” Don’t sit idle. In business - as in life - sometimes you have to alter courses, it’s inevitable. Sales slump, you loose a key employee, or a pandemic strikes.

True business leaders know that you must guide your ship to calmer waters. Admittedly, today these waters are deep, it's going to take a different mindset. 

As we look across the scale of this pandemic, recovery times are not well known. The President wants packed churches by Easter. This does not seem like wise advice, but I am also not a pandemic expert. It seems safe to say, small businesses need to consider a 4 to 8 month timeline for slow sales. The idea is frightening, but what can we do? Pack a church and pray, or plan?

This is the time to think about innovating or refreshing your business model. Naturally, it’s always best to be thinking about your business model as a living instrument, which occasionally needs fine tuning. Marketing always needs to evolve and collaborations are necessary in this digital economy. 

If business owners just viewed this as an adjustment phase, a slow period; just maybe that can alleviate the stressors of what many view as a collapsing economy. This is a good time to renew business ties and old business friendships, of course, do this digitally.

Here’s a quick example of what one bakery is doing. Last week I visited a bakery where business sales have slowed. During my visit they were repainting the walls and cleaning the place up. They were also examining new pathways for future sales.

Use this time to reflect on your business model, freshen things up. You can pray, but do that at home. I personally did a website relaunch and looked at new sales angles.

If you use this time wisely, as things ramp back up, you’ll be better positioned to jump start new sales and chart new business courses. Best of luck.

Vince DelaRosa

Tékeni Economic Development Corp.