Recovering From Coronavirus Losses: A practical guide for those of us feeling the pain

Recovering From Coronavirus Losses: A practical guide for those of us feeling the pain

Let’s face it, some of us have Coronavirus losses.

When you own your own business and income streams sometimes there are external shocks.

The service industries in Austin, Texas are about to feel it with the cancelation of their huge South By Southwest Conference, SXSW. A lot of Uber rides won’t be taken. A lot of tips won’t be left at bars and restaurants. There will be a lot of ripple effects.

And they aren’t the only event, conference or city this is happening to.

In my world I spend a lot of time speaking. The speaking industry is being radically transformed. A recent survey a leading meeting planning group said 20% of their planners had canceled or postponed their conference. I expect this number to grow.

This means, doing simple math at a 20% cancel or postpone rate, that most speakers have lost, or are about to lose, 20% of their revenue soon or have it substantially deffered. Of course the bigger conferences seem to be cancelling more - so the impact is probably bigger than 20%.

If you are reading this you probably have some Coronavirus losses of some sort. Whether it’s your restaurant where people aren’t showing up, your Bread & Breakfast Hotel where people aren’t booking, your speaking business or something else you are feeling the slow-down. Not to mention you might be in a situation where you support others that are struggling due to the impact on their business.

So let’s spend a little time and think about how to recover from the losses you are feeling from Coronavirus and its impact on business.

First, Don’t Panic

No matter what’s happening in your business, don’t panic.

I’ve seen many business owners in the fits of panic from not knowing what to do because bills are piling up.

Information and thinking are your friends.

Don’t shut down! Instead see how Coronavirus impacts your business. What’s happened. What is happening to your business in the short-term.

It may be time for a change. You can make the change with knowing action.

You aren’t going to make the right decisions with panic. Look at the situation and be ready to assess and change.

Some Changes Are Temporary

Many of the Coronavirus changes will be temporary. Some conferences will come back in the near future. Some folks will go back to restaurants.

For some businesses there doesn’t need to be radical change.

If this is your situation and it seems like Coronavirus won’t change your business forever you need to figure out how to weather the storm. More on that later.

Some Changes Are Permanent

And while some changes are temporary some changes will be permanent.

Some conferences won’t come back in the same way. Some customers won’t be buying services like they used to.

There are a lot of open questions here. Some wonder if the next SXSW will be as big in future years. And the truth is we don’t know until we see the psychology of the people involved.

Actions will speak louder than words. Some local events and virtual events might take some market share from the mega events as folks try them out.

If you think your business model has changed due to Coronavirus (I am currently of the mind that the speaking business will change forever from this) you need to think more about changing your business and not just weathering the storm. Trying to ride things out will only make things worse for you.

Get Back To Your Foundation

Regardless of which bucket you are in on how long these changes will last it’s time to get back to the foundations of your business.

What is your business about? Why do people really pay you to do what you do?

There’s answers in the foundation.

This core value-added is going to help you find your answers to the set-up.

If you are a restaurant patrons are likely coming to you for some combination of the food/taste, the experience, the convenience and the social aspects. The more you know about your why the better you’ll be able to shift.

If people are coming to you for the food/taste teaching people, around the world, how to recreate that taste might be a way to grow your business even if people aren’t dining out as much due to Coronavirus.

The key is to find the foundation so you can find the answers.

Go A New Direction, If Needed

For some of us our businesses need to change. The Coronavirus may be the spark to go in a new direction.

If you did the analysis and you don’t think your business is going to be different due to Coronavirus you’ve got to shift.

Make no doubt that for many businesses a new direction is needed. It’s not something to be scared of. It’s just a fact.

If your analysis says a new direction jump in. Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Simplify

Regardless of whether Coronavirus is going to be temporary or permanent in your world one word should apply: simplify.

It’s time to get back to basics, focus on the core of your business for now and the future, eliminate waste and make things simple.

Some will tell you to keep business as usual for “the economy.” From a broad perspective it would be great if everyone did this. But everyone won’t.

Your job as a business leader is to protect your business. That means trim the unnecessary, make your business simple and focused.

Basics will buy you the time to get back to normal or implement your new plans. Don’t feel the temptation to keep the status quo just because it is good for others. 

Use This As An Opportunity

Mindset is key in business. We all can get caught up in our thoughts.

The disruption and changes from Coronavirus really are an opportunity. We can change our businesses to be better and stronger for the future.

For some businesses this shift will take them to a whole new level. New markets and new delivery systems will emerge.

Quite simply you can worry about the changes or jump in the driver’s seat and propel yourself to a whole new place.

What To Do Now

Now is the time to act.

Sitting around waiting for Coronavirus to go away isn’t going to work.

Logging onto Facebook and to tell others to continue acting, and spending money, like Coronavirus doesn’t exist isn’t going to work.

This virus just “is.” We all have to deal with it.

So jump up, re-evaluate your business, and keep moving forward.

This Article is from The Our Shawn McBride - The Planning Done Right Guy(TM).

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