Hopefully you’ve never been in a true medical emergency…
But if you have, you’ll doubtless have been rushed to hospital, triaged – and dealt with swiftly by medics trying to save the situation.
It’s all-hands-on-deck and usually loud and messy!
At a certain point, though, the patient stabilises…
…and then the doctors have time and space to think more carefully about how to help them.
They call in the specialists… Might send them to physical therapy or rehab… And implement a long-term care plan if necessary.
When the panic is over, they can look at the broader, long-term picture, and plan accordingly.
As I wrote last week, as business owners, we’re now at that point.
When the COVID crisis erupted, you (metaphorically) ripped up your business plan and did whatever was necessary to save your businesses.
The crisis isn’t over yet – far from it – but the panic and emergency nature of those first few months is.
You’re now in the position to start looking at your long-term situation, and calmly start putting together a new business plan for the COVID era.
And you need to make sure that it is financially sound – because after all, what’s the point of a business plan that isn’t?
After months of figuring things out as you go along (which, let’s be honest, is all most businesses have been able to do during this crisis), having a well-thought-out plan for growth will feel like a relief.
You’ve been buffeted by the waves for so long – this will move you back onto solid ground again…
Now, I could give you practical advice on how to put together a plan for your business when there is still so much uncertainty. And in a future email, I will 🙂
But beforehand, I want to talk to you about mindset.
You see, having the right frame-of-mind is the first and in many ways more important step in getting this done.
If you’re like most company founders and owners, you’re probably exhausted right now. Whether your business has struggled or thrived over the past few months, it’s been an extremely intense, worrying, stressful time.
You’ve probably had to work harder than ever before, and you know that there’s a difficult winter coming up ahead too.
It would be easy to be a little depressed right now… And pessimistic…
And it would be understandable if you didn’t have the energy to start rethinking your business strategy right now… And were content to let the waves continue to buffet you, just for a little longer.
But that’s not going to be good for your business at this point.
The economic conditions are worsening, and getting through this next period is going to take considered, careful leadership.
It’s going to take mental strength…
…real resilience – not just for the business, but for you, mentally and emotionally!
The CEOs I’m seeing take up this challenge most successfully have a few things in common…
1. They’re determined to take back control of their situation. They don’t like being at the mercy of events, and being relentlessly short-termist. They like to have worked out their next steps – even if these need to be tweaked or adjusted frequently… They want to work out what might be coming down the line, and formulate a plan to deal with the most likely scenarios.
2. They’re open to change. They accept that things may never go back to the way they used to be, so there’s no point dragging things out until “normality resumes” or “things get back to normal”.
Therefore, the way they did things in the past may not be suitable for the future. They’re going to need to innovate and change, even if that feels deeply uncomfortable and strange.
3. They’re open to opportunity. They’re aware that there are plenty of challenges and difficulties in our environment right now. But they know that in every situation there are also opportunities, and they want to find these.
That’s true even for business owners whose companies are struggling right now. They know that to turn things around, they need to find a new path forward… And are determined to work out where that lies.
These CEOs have the mindset to get them through this challenging period – and even thrive and grow.
If that’s you, and you’re ready to put together a financially sound business plan for the coming months, get in touch with me today.
Our Just One Day programme helps company owners like you develop a clear vision for the business going forward – and a clear action plan to get where you need to go.
I’ll personally spend the day with you and your directors and / or shareholders, getting away from your normal environment so you can focus completely on strategic issues.
And I’ll take you through a structured, intensive process to (re)design a business you love… which works for you… And to put together a comprehensive, strategic plan suitable for the COVID era, to achieve all your goals.
It’s essential if your business or environment has changed substantially over the past 6 months, and your approach needs a re-think.
