Make Lemonade - Build your business in difficult times
Well, one thing that can be said with certainty is that we’re living in interesting times right now. The world around us is changing hour by hour and a lot of businesses are facing incredibly difficult and heartbreaking decisions. I don’t want to discount the difficulties that so many of us are facing (both personally and professionally), but instead, I want to challenge you to flip the narrative, at least for a couple of minutes, and make the most out of this incredibly challenging situation. In other words, I want you to turn lemons into lemonade! Here are a few thoughts to ponder while you’re stuck at home with nothing to do that could make your business even stronger when “normal” returns:
How do you want your customers to feel when they work with you? If you think you could improve in this area, do you want a transactional experience or one that excites your customer? What can you change so your customer has the experience that you want them to have? Make some notes now and decide how you want to implement these changes.
Are your employees strong ambassadors for your brand and your company? Are they excited to be working with you? How can you strengthen their support so that they, in turn, provide exceptional support to your customer base? Don’t forget, a happy employee is a profitable employee!
As an owner, do you feel like you’re depended on too much to solve everyone’s problems? If so, consider starting to document standard operating procedure (SOP), as well as how you’d like certain situations to be handled by your staff. Create a culture around this vision so that your employees are very clear around expectations. Once you master this, you’ll feel confident in letting your employees make more decisions on your behalf, which means you can get back to focusing on growing your business.
How do you see your company evolving in the future? What skills will you need to achieve this? Does your current staffing model have the skills you need to achieve these growth goals? If not, how can you pivot to ensure you have the right people for the work, when the time comes? Consider how technology will transform your industry and brainstorm ways you can be ready for these changes.
Now is a great time to be making your business stronger through training (both for you as the business owner, and also for your staff). You don’t have to go out and invest in a costly system to upgrade your skills; there are plenty of low cost or free options available. Look into Ted Talks or YouTube videos. Consider how blog posts or online articles can communicate messages to your staff. This will be most effective if you give them context. Don’t just give your staff an article to read; tell them why it’s important and how you see them bringing that information back and applying it to your workplace.
Learn about change management. Understand that our new normal may be just that – new, and may be very challenging for some. Help yourself and your staff adjust to the realities by using change management practices to prepare for the future.
I hope this provides a little inspiration today. Let us know how you make out!
HIGH TIDE LEARNING STUDIO
We’re Erin and Peter, a husband and wife team passionate about making your organization successful through employee training and engagement. Join us as we explore new opportunities to improve your workplace.