With over 20 years of mentoring and coaching business leaders, I found that many business owners take a bits-and-pieces approach to growing their business. You wake up in the morning and wonder what else you can do to find new clients. If you see a networking opportunity, you attend. If someone says to join this-or-that group, you join it. If you think of an idea, you implement it.
It is commonplace for you to fill your calendar with a lot of events, but never examine at how all of these events actually move your business ahead. Add in a sudden long-term health concern or a pandemic and you’ll quickly notice that there are a number of disconnects and missing processes or systems. You might event notice how you’re the bottleneck in growing the business particularly if it can’t run without you for an extended period of time.
So how do you pandemic-proof your business?
1. Consistently Level Up Your Leadership.
Leadership development is not a one and done. If you stay inside of the doing, you’ll be stretched thin rather than proactively growing your team’s skills and your company infrastructure to handle expansion and scale.
As a leader, it’s important to look at how all of the pieces fit into the business as a whole, including your leadership development. When you move from the doing to the leading, you expand your capacity and operate with intentionality, focus, and speed in scaling the business. You also have the skills to lead through any circumstance.
In the words of Jim Rohn, “Success is something you attract by the person you become. If you want to do something remarkable, put your energy into becoming a better you – the best you. Learn the skills. Practice the skills. Apply the skills.”
2. Establish Continuity Planning Protocols
While you may have developed your Emergency Preparedness Plan on the fly during the pandemic, make sure to cover interrelated processes. Review your:
Employee communication plan
IT Preparedness for remote work
Educational plan for internal and external customers when there is a global emergency
Sick leave policies
Absenteeism policies and practices
Alternative working arrangements/ Staff evacuation plans
Protocols for check signing (particularly if the main signer becomes ill)
Partnering with companies to assist with employee mental health
Resources for employees and other economic resources
Managing your supply chain and distribution network disruption.
3. Look Long Term.
It’s not only important to address immediate needs, but to also look long term. When the emergencies are over, remember to update your policies and procedures on all of the stop-gap ideas you put into place while the pandemic protocols and alternatives are fresh in your mind.
Let the current circumstance also be a lesson to put aside an emergency funds to cover business interruptions, pay mortgages, or other expenses particularly ones that are not covered under insurance.
This unexpected interruption reveals what’s missing in your business. Make a running list of whatever was missing so that you can put it in to strengthen your company. Set an appointment to remind yourself to address your list.
With the ever-expanding global trade and international travel, identifying procedures for a sustained and systemic interruption is something to consider in your continuity planning and in pandemic-proofing your business. Leaders that have a better chance of adapting to major sudden shifts, are those that proactively work on their business.
Inspired to work ON your business? Join us April 29-30, 2021 at the Wake Up Profitable Boot Camp for Business Owners. We’ll show you our proprietary process to build a scalable, resilient, and systematized business model. Using our hybrid learning platform, you have the choice to join us online or onsite.