Reflections - Series #1 | Positives of Pandemic, My P.O.V

Positives of Pandemic. My POV

There is so much to reflect over these past 7 months, including but not limited to all the anger, helplessness, hope, and a tectonic shift in everyday routine brought about by our dear friend COVID 19.

Anger towards the ramifications on business results of FY19, which we had built up with so much focus and hard work. Helplessness against influencing the consumers to continue the consumption of our services impacted due to public norms. Hope of a more stable future to look out for. Accepting the new reality and re-setting each and every aspect of daily work & family life, needless to say, has changed the way we think and operate.

Has there been anything good that has actually happened in our lives because of this pandemic?

Well for one, I have developed a new level of patience and newfound respect for all that's around me. Amidst all the chaos and challenges, am now able to focus solely on the positives and compartmentalize my efforts. Overall, my sense of preparing for worst-case-scenarios has elevated to a higher level. And do I dare say - Road rage has literally vanished!

1) Handling setbacks: The business I work for revolves around K-12 institutions as the primary source of revenue. Come March '20, the whole revenue system collapsed, with mounting expenses and cash flows hitting a choke point. With limited alternatives left, we decided early on to scale down our team size with painful but unavoidable furloughs, pay cuts, limited operations size and sticking to frugality (like when you need to escape a storm by taking shelter and come back out when the course is cleared). All this happened with a clear mandate to teams and customer engagements so we see through this unforeseen phase together and come out successfully. "Timely decision making, matters".

2) Focusing on the positives: Clearly we have a conscious choice to make. When faced with a pressing issue, what do we do? Evaluate the source of problem and try to pin the cause to a person, a team, or an act of God? Or, come together as a team to own the problem and decide on a course of action as one? This is what we've tried to do as a team at Fitkids to sustain our business, and (touch wood), we now own this challenge together and we are prepared for best case and worst-case scenarios. So we're treasuring each small win, and progress as we encounter it. Because all we can give is our focused efforts, and results will play out as an outcome. "Choosing what you focus on, matters".

3) Learning to live with less: Post lockdown extension in April, me and my wife went through our finances after accounting the reduction in income, and uncertain state of affairs, we did some analysis of each of our expenses. Almost 50% of them were irrelevant or unwise spends (mostly mine, as she's a better money manager), we put a red line against all the ones to knock off and redirect them to essentials. It was amazing, how our Quality of life suddenly increased. We were eating much healthier food, richer options, children were exposed to newer skills, and suddenly money was there in the bank! We never stopped any EMI, didn't avail of Moratorium, and even paid back some hand loans we had made. Just thinking of this possibility is unimaginable. How was it even possible? Maybe we're all living beyond our means in general? I found a new level of respect for money in whatever form it comes, and it is here to stay. "Spend only if you absolutely need to. Luxury can wait".

Same concept at work. Finding alternative methods to solve a need. It's possible.

4) Innovate & stay the course: When faced with an unprecedented phase like this one, the first thought that would come to mind in any small business is to buckle under pressure and close shop. But that erases years, and even decades of legacy that the business would have created, and won't see the light of day. Small steps that we've taken as a business is listen to experts, re-look at our product, evaluate the consumer ask, build and re-purpose our offer, and pitch for sign-ups. It is starting to show signs of hope and recovery so we can all come back to normalcy, and re-build ourselves from the ground up & to hopefully give back value to our promoters & team members.

It is clear that the situation around us won't change or return to its old self, and it is only the possibility that WE can change and adapt. And the Positives of it all, lies within each of us.

This is my experience & point of view.

Hope you'll find yours too! Cheers & God bless us all.