Having A Plan

Been there…

Done that…

Got the T-shirt…

I even sent postcards and took pictures!

It always amazes me how things happen over an over. Sometimes the same storms visit the same area, but for the most part, different regions get hit with different things. My grandfather always told me that he thought we lived in the best area of the United States – for him, “no tornadoes, no floods, no hurricanes – okay, some snow, but nothing really bad” – that’s what he would say. And I believed him.

Until I heard the words “Super” and “Storm” and it wasn’t in a good way.

So many people said “Katrina was in New Orleans – couldn’t happen here”…. But it did!

And so many more people talked like things happen to “other” people – not them.

But now it is them….

And the world is now dealing with things that don’t happen “here” or “to us” – we’re all in this together is the new norm.

COVID-19 and the social and economic ramifications rock so many things to their core – and knock us off balance. Children are home as parents attempt to juggle their own work responsibilities while home-schooling. Notoriously underpaid and completely unappreciated “service” workers are missed and those that are able to work now have a new level of admiration and respect heaped on them.

But “business” is far from usual. Governmental promises of money put right into your hands doesn’t seem to be what is actually happening. FEMA, which stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency seems to be a governmental piggy-bank but not really an agency equipped to handle actual management of the emergency. Governors, mayors and the President now openly quibble about whose responsible for what and yet everybody seems to be stuck at the “analysis-paralysis” point.

Pivoting – as described by Alan Pool, in a 2012 Inc Magazine article, “doesn’t necessarily mean desperation.  It can be a tool to discover additional growth–growth you might otherwise have overlooked.” If it was not for a governmental, worldwide shutdown of non-essential businesses, we may never have even thought to look.

Creating a “Pivot Plan” – a pathway for that turning point, whether incident induced or thought induced, is essential for businesses to grow, change and navigate the rough waters that we all go through. Whether that pivot is new product, new funnel, new business plan, new exit strategy – just like a will or any other financial important paper, the plan associated has to be reviewed and reworked with every passing year or incident.

In our new category, “Pivot Plan for Profit”, we will post about the journey of building a Plan B and then making it your Plan A, along with information to help business owners navigate FEMA, the SBA, resources and exercises designed to help you review your circumstance and help you create your plan to move in a different direction.