You can never be prepared too early; however you can be too late…
You’ve heard for months that the second wave of the COVID-19 crisis might hit in Fall. I’m here to tell you, the first wave not only didn’t end, but the next wave is upon us. This pandemic isn’t your normal, run-of-the-mill crisis that comes, wreaks havoc, and then moves on. Tornados, hurricanes, and cyber attacks are examples of those perils that pack a punch, but allow you time to respond and recover. Pardon my poor grammar, but this ain’t one of them.
That being said, you’ve been given a unique opportunity. At this time, you have credible data of what might happen and you know how to prepare. The big question is, will you take it?
It’s not often that calamities send news ahead of their impending arrival. You have one now. COVID-19 is invisible and silent, so it’s easy to forget it’s hanging around, in spite of the constant updates from news media. This next 30 days is an ideal time to take stock in what you’ve just gone through and make plans for at least the next six months of this year. There is a price for waiting and it could be as significant as the fatality of your business.
Here’s what you should be doing right now, starting today:
- Do a deep dive into what you’ve learned about yourself, your employees, your processes, your operations, and your ability to earn revenue since March. What are your lessons learned? What would you have done differently based on what you now know? What did you do well? This should all be fresh in your mind. Gather your key people and invest one day in brainstorming to identify your response and recovery for the last 120 days.
- After summarizing what you uncovered, presume you will have to do it all over again next week. The virus gets worse and states start closing down businesses again. Your employees and your clients and customers are stuck back any home for an uncertain length of time. What do you do now? Here’s the deal…it shouldn’t be that crazy to imagine. You just went through it without warning a few months ago. Are you ready for the next round now? As my opening statement said, you can’t be too early to be prepared. However the price of waiting can be disastrous. It’s being equivalent to a basketball game where your team has the ball with five seconds left but down by seven points. You can’t recover; you can’t come back. Don’t do that here. You have the ability to be completely ready.
- Implement your plans. Just like you’d install storm shutters before the hurricane hit, you need to install your plan before the next wave of governmental actions do. You may ask, “Dan, what if it gets better and we don’t see any more restrictions?” That would be great. You’ve lost nothing. The time you invested will likely be your response to any other crisis that will come your way. There is no substitute for readiness and preparedness.
It’s human nature to allow the pain of what we just went through subside and go back to “business as normal.” Nothing is “normal” about what’s happening, except for that it might just represent a newly of doing business. That new way requires strategic and executive level vision and planning. Not doing it is negligent. There’s too much on the line, including the livelihood of your employees and their families, plus the value of your business to your long-term financial peace of mind.
Invest the time now to defend your business, your employees, and your company wealth and reputation. No matter what the future holds, you will be glad you did.
Be unleashed and be well.
Quote of the Day:
“Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.“
~ Will Durant (20th century historian)
I can help you with strategic planning and implementation. I’ve got plans and programs that offer monthly and deferred payments during this time. I can help you make decisions to increase your ability to generate revenue and enhance protection for your business and loved ones. Call me at (360) 271-1592 or email me. Let’s just talk. No obligation. This is my area of expertise. I am ready to help…
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