How in the hell did my small business survive the pandemic? ??♀?

Lessons learned in how one small fish in the pond of marketing made it through the pandemic.

I’m still pinching myself. It’s hard to believe where my company is right now based on last March. Many of us have faced so many challenges, both personally and professionally, over the past year—myself included. At times, I questioned how I was going to get past these challenges, as I’m sure everyone reading this understands. 

I was recently onboarding two new employees and decided I needed to build out an organization chart to make it easier for new employees to better understand who does what. It dawned on me—holy shit...how the hell did this happen? 

When the pandemic hit, I went from having two FT employees to one during just one week. Now? We have a team of nine employees, several key contractors, and a wonderful group of clients.

So how did I triple my business over a pandemic?

1. It’s ok to feel like you’re failing, but not for too long. We all cried that week. It felt like we lost everything. Get up quick. Perseverance is important. 
2. I started this business because I have a passion for marketing and wanted to help people. I put my “big girl pants” on and started a huge push with LinkedIn Social Selling. Holy crap it worked.
3. This wasn’t just about my livelihood. At this point and time, it was about the two employees I promised a livelihood. It was about making sure they were okay, not me. Talk about a kick in the butt. 

A lot of people start a business to get rich. A lot of people start a business to just be their own boss. In my experience, neither are real, neither are important, and neither are easy.

What’s important? What makes me different, and what helped me persevere during the last year?

1. It’s about my team. I wouldn’t be who I am or where I am without a strong team behind me. Then, it was three of us. A year later, it’s 8+. Holy hell. I work for my team. They are my responsibility. They are what make our company successful.
2. It’s about my clients. Good clients are hard to come by. Good relationships are even harder to come by. Like my team, I build my relationships on transparency and trust. You get the truth 100% of the time, even if it doesn't benefit my agency or bottom line. 
3. My passion. I was hell-bent on not giving up my passion. This is my life and something I live for. If passion isn’t there, you have nothing to offer anyone else.

So as I reflect on the last year, I’m still in shock, but I’m still not giving up. We are all so much stronger than before. We’ve learned so much about ourselves and the world around us over the past year. It’s crazy, and I’m still in disbelief about where I am as I write this. In fact, the last time I posted something personal, it was almost this time last year about the horrible struggle I was facing with making sure my business would survive. 

I thank the greatest team and clients for all of your support and true friendships! You are all amazing people and I’ve learned so much. Let’s keep doing it!