In This Episode

No matter your lot in life, we’ve all been impacted in some way by the coronavirus and COVID-19.  Few have been harder hit than small business owners who are dealing with forced closings or severe restrictions on the way they operate their businesses.  Business owners are not only having to worry about the impact on themselves and their families, but also the impact on their employees, suppliers, and customers.

So what happens when things open back up around the world?  Are you ready for it?  Whatever “open back up” looks like?  It’s likely to be somewhat different than the pre-COVID-19 world.

One of our new mantras has been to “embrace the forced changes” and apply them to your business.  Don’t waste time and energy fighting the changes and pining for the way things were.  Jack introduced a new phrase on tonight’s show…backward planning.  He talked about “backward” planning to focus on making a plan to shrink the business on purpose with a focus on making a profit.  Jack shared the story of a company he bought and shrunk from $20 million in sales down to $5 million in sales.  The result was going from losing $1 million per year to making about $500K per year.

We’ve already made several changes to our business in the short term, but many of those are likely to stick once things open back up.  Simple changes we’re making include: i) Zooming…a lot!; ii) meeting with our clients more frequently (although now it’s virtual vs. in-person); iii) documenting our systems and processes like never before; iv) shifting our thinking from 1-to-1s to groups and all of them being virtual vs. in-person; and v) moving from a live weekly radio show to a podcast only and recorded in our home “studios.”

We know there will be more changes to our business going forward.  One of the beauties of “embracing” the changes is that we now get to decide what those changes mean for us and our business.  How are you embracing the changes for your business?  Can you make a “backward” plan for your business?  We give you some insights in today’s show to help you do just that.

People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

• Zoom (www.zoom.us)

 

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