Growing Business AFTER Covid

The Covid-19 crisis has been a crisis of economic proportions not seen in our lifetime. Business owners in Michigan and all over the country are feeling the effects of negative cash flow, broken bureaucracies, supply line weaknesses, and the stress of keeping the doors open and even feeding their own families.

The Great American Entrepreneur isn't used to asking for help. They, instead, are usually the ones helping. They're generous with their time and their energy. New entrepreneurs don't always have the luxury of a stocked war-chest, but they are able to trade time for revenue. The ability of the entrepreneur to get in close contact with, and push their services to, the customer is being challenged in a most dramatic way. Interpersonal skills, soft skills and the ability to persuade are the hallmark of a successful business person. Bill Gates had to work on it. Steve Jobs was born with it. Either way, it becomes damn difficult if you can't sit knee to knee with your client or your prospect.

If you feel like Covid has handed you a lemon and you're wondering what the heck to do with it, may I suggest a course of action? These Lemonade ideas might not all fit your circumstance, but I hope you'll get something from some of them. In the end, as I've gained even more perspective on what's important in life, its not what life gives you, but what you make out of it.

1. Talk to somebody every day about your business and theirs. It doesn't matter who it is as much as the poignancy of the conversation. I can have a deep conversation with my barber that is exceedingly valuable to me. Maybe the barber had a stock tip. Maybe he saw my neighbor stealing my lawnmower. Maybe he's a philosopher and put me in a great mood for the rest of the day. The WHO you talk to isn't nearly as important as the WHAT. Get something out of every conversation and give something in every conversation. Have lots of conversations with friends, clients, referral partners, prospects, and of course your mom and your kids.
2. Set goals constantly. There are no failed goals. There are just new deadlines. Its easy to get caught up in the productivity mindset and to forget the big picture. I tell my clients that they are so busy working in the business that they don't have time to work ON their business. I give them a chance to breathe and reset old goals that they've long since given up on and have beat themselves up over for sometimes up to 10 years or more. Set NEW goals all the time and increase your rate of "failure". Reset the deadline and get back to work. Stop whining if you didn't get what you wanted.
3. Give help. This isn't easy right now with isolation and social distancing. Be sure to reach out to friends and family and help to be a support center for them. They might be shy or embarrassed to admit they're lonely or feeling depressed. If somebody doesn't want to talk to me they don't have to answer my text or my phone call. But, they know I'm there. They know I'm available to them and that can be such a huge comfort to people who are isolated.
4. Remember old clients. Sometimes a client will defund you, or end your contract, or stop coming to your coffee shop because they had a bad experience. This is the price of doing business and I guarantee you that this will never end. You're gonna lose customers. Nothing's forever, so always dig back into your archives and look for people you used to do business with. People that you want to do business with don't hold grudges and don't take it personal when there's a mistake or a disagreement or the money runs out. Those who are still pissed or have an axe to grind aren't worthy of your talents anyway.
5. Clean up your crap. My partner and I are focused on marketing and administration at the remote office since we're only taking conference call and virtual meetings, and so we have more time for it. We're taking this opportunity to update our hardware and software solutions. We're creating standards for our own data handling and organization. We're reviewing vendors, cutting costs where possible, and doing a ton of pro-bono work. We want to be lean, mean, efficient and massively profitable when we emerge from this. Use your time to get neat in your operation. It will pay you back for years and years to come.
6. Have fun in your work at home. I don't really have a clock in my office so its easy for me to work too late and to ignore my family more at home than I ever would at an office. Being stuck in the same environment for any length of time, for people like us who are used to the freedom of movement afforded us by cars and trains and planes and the like, love to roam around. Now we can't go anywhere. Have fun! Wear PJs to work. Let the dog sit in your office. Listen to bad music. I like to yell at the neighbors. They always smile. Have fun. You get to have a 9 year-old kid's Saturday every day!
7. Take care to eat and sleep well. I threw away my alarm clock. I might have to buy a new one when this blasted quarantine is over, but you talk about a happy day! The Irish have a saying: "Eat when you're hungry. Drink when you're dry." This should apply to sleep also. I don't know many people who got unhealthy because they were sleeping too much. Eating too much? Yep. Smoking or drinking too much? Yep. Sitting too much? Check. All unhealthy. Sleeping too much? Not likely. You'll be in a better mood and more productive. John D Rockefeller took a nap every day. He lived to be almost 100 and gave away billions of dollars as the richest man in the world. I figure its good to nap.
8. Forgive yourself. Nobody's perfect. You'll make mistakes. Remember, your relationships are so important. Forgiveness is a massive part of a healthy relationship, particularly when it comes to blaming yourself. You didn't set this virus on the world. You're not to blame for screwing up. If you never make a mistake you'll never learn a darn thing. Get over yourself. Forget that you think you should be better than that. Better than what? Edison? Ford? Marconi? Gates? Jobs?Babe Ruth? Some of the greatest failures the world has ever known. They fail better than you do. Get cracking and fail some more. Geez

I appreciate your reading this. I hope this finds you well. I hope you're able to make lemonade from your particular lemons during this pandemic. Look for opportunities, seek help, give help, forgive yourself, have fun, talk to a lot of people and you'll be fine. Talk to you soon!

MW McCormick

Partner - McCormick Consulting, LLC.

Grantwinning, Incentive Advising, Opportunity Management, Workforce Development, Maintenance Management.