Need help climbing out of the bunker?

So far the year of 2020 has been pretty brutal.  Most people thought that 2020 would be a visionary year.  We all want 20/20 vision.  We say that hindsight is 20/20.  What this means is that if we had known what was in store for us we could have prepared better.

2020 started off with the Coronavirus but progressed to rioting in the streets.   All of us were shocked and I dare say unprepared for weeks, nay months of ‘shelter in place’, ‘stay home; stay safe’, ‘social distancing’ and the almost total collapse of the United States economy.  I have not looked at the world’s financial statistics, but I am sure they are horrible too.  Unemployment is now around 40 million as of today in the United States.  World Wide, the number is 174.3 million.  Sobering statistics, I know.

I would venture to say that the only class of business that has not been financially hurt would be the politicians.  Every other business I can think of has had disruption on a large level.  Retail shops have been closed. Restaurants were closed.  Schools and universities moved to on-line models.  Daycares were closed.  High rise office buildings closed as workers were told to stay home and work via the internet.  Municipal governments who rely on sales tax reviews have had their budgets ruined with the short fall due to  ‘stay home; stay safe’ orders.   Almost everyone I know who is a worker has either lost his job or has had his hours or pay reduced.

  

As a small business owner, I too have suffered financially during the first six months of this year. Fortunately as we are a health care clinic, we are considered ‘essential’ so we were not ordered to close our business.  Our employees have not suffered a loss of income, nor had their hours reduced.  However, because of the fear of COVID-19, people are afraid to get out of their homes.  They are afraid to go to their regular appointments.

Fortunately, early this year (before Covid-19 reared its ugly head)  I had an occasion to hear of  Heart-repreneur® LLC – Dr. Terri Levine  I watched a webinar, www.tlwebinar.com and had a few conversations with her and her staff.  Because practice development has been a focus of mine for a few years, I decided to enlist the help of Terri and her associates.

Boy, and am I ever glad I did!  Though our association has been only a few months, Terri has provided insights into pivoting our business to continue to operate in the current climate.  Even though the world has never looked this way before, her experience of forty years/ 6,000 client family members gives her the background to help shepherd entrepreneurs like me through this uneasy climate.  

In reviewing the past four months, I had to laugh.  Had I known what 2020 held in store for small businesses, investing in professional development might have seemed like a risky move. In hindsight, it was the best move to make in order to position our business through COVID-19 and beyond.   I encourage all my entrepreneur friends to check her out.  You will be glad you did.

Until next time,

Dr. Polly