5 Pandemic Lessons for a Small Business
The Pandemic and recent unrest have taught me a few important lessons:
My business was nowhere near robust enough. As a consultant, I lost business due to the lockdown. Nobody wanted a consultant because they were either working from home, out of business, or both. I was able to keep some business with partners, but it was a pale shadow of what had been there before. The bottom line was I had to face the fact that my business wasn't nearly as robust as I had hoped.
My business was not diverse enough. Like many consultants, my business was basically founded on one or two key relationships. Backbone accounts on which everything depended. Lose them and the business is basically dead.
My business was not focused enough. Agile Training and Consulting is way too vague. It doesn't differentiate what I offer. It doesn't make me unique. It also doesn't thrill me that much. Yes, I can do it. I'm even quite talented at it, but it is way to vague a definition for a market.
When real change happens, I'm too slow to adapt. There has been lots of opportunity throughout the pandemic. I've held back, not because I couldn't see the opportunity, but because of the risk. Some of that risk avoidance was very prudent, but some was real opportunity missed.
As an entrepreneur, I don't use my time as effectively as I might. There is nothing like a pandemic lockdown to help you see how you really use your time. I'm embarrassed to admit that Facebook, Netflix and other distractions take up a truly ridiculous fraction of my time. Conversely, learning, takes up a minescule percentage of my time. I realized I can do a lot better.
The pandemic has has forced me to confront some of the weaknesses in myself and my business. In doing so, I feel like I'm now building a more focused business that I'm a lot more excited about.