Something Great Always Comes Out Of Adversity
With Covid-19 making it's debut in the US recently, the last week or so has been interesting, to say the least. When I began this small business of mine, like so many others, I dug into so much research including, legalities, laws, financing, construction, and more. I literally spent months just reading and researching, making notes about can I really make this happen? And if so, how am I going to make this work? After awhile, I finally figured it out and I went all in. This business started in 2017 with my idea and our builds, but we didn't launch to the public until 2018. Since then, things have been great. I wouldn't say they have been smooth sailing everyday; as any small business owner can tell you, it's a lot of damn work playing all roles in a business. However, most of the goals that I created from the beginning have come to fruition through results of hard work, except for one thing. One thing that got put on the back burner, but I had always wanted to include on our website was blogging. Mainly because, as mentioned, you play A LOT of roles when running your own business and it's very time consuming; therefore, blogging never made it to my never ending to do list. Until now.
Now with the postponing and rescheduling of events happening, many of our events and weddings are not until later in the year now. With that, I have found some additional free time (like most of us) to do some of the things that have been on my to do list. In addition to connecting with people, I love to write and share my thoughts and so I intentionally decided to act (more on this later) to start blogging right now! Hence, this first blog post.
While I have several ideas for the content that I want to include here in the future, I thought it would be most appropriate to start off with this...
I was listening to a podcast by one of my favorite entrepreneurs and business men, Andy Frisella, this morning and I felt called to share his message. He specifically talked about businesses surviving and even thriving after this coronavirus is over. Something he said that really resonated with me was this, "Something great ALWAYS comes out of adversity". What he is saying is that we have a choice, friends. Whether you own a small business, or you recently got laid off because of this pandemic, whether you're fearful of this virus due to your small children or elderly family, something great will come out of this. As he went on, he said, "Seeing the good and the bad, seeing the opportunity in the middle of adversity isn't a skill... it's a choice.. it's an act of your will". And while this can apply to us in various aspects of our lives, I want to speak directly to other small businesses at this time. I know there are many of you that might be trying to figure out your next steps for during and after this pandemic has passed. This has certainly hit so many businesses hard and for different reasons. But let's make a conscious decision to do this: Intentionally Choose to Act. We cannot afford to sit around worrying about how we are going to make this work. Instead, now that we have been afforded all of this extra time (putting a positive spin on it is the first step), let's choose to take a few steps now that will help our businesses thrive once we get passed this virus. Below are some simple steps that you can take right now to start implementing intentional actions.
Pull out your old to do list. What were some of the goals and dreams and visions you had for your business when you first started out? Even before you launched your business, what was it that you envisioned for your business? What are some of the things you haven't had time to do that you could start doing from your home today, and wouldn't require any financial backing? For me, this is blogging. What are items or services that you want to provide that you haven't had time to logistically think through? Maybe you don't have the cash flow for them right now, but you DO have the time to figure it out for when that cash flow ramps back up. I know these things might seem so simple, that's because they are! Just get back to the basics of why you opened your business and what opening this business means to you and start there. If you intentionally choose to act on these simple concepts, new ideas will be brought to light. Soon enough, your everyday simple actions will build upon each other, we will be out of this crazy environment that we are currently in, and you'll be able to practically apply these actions to build your business even stronger.
We will get through this, friends. Hang in there, don't get distracted by the chaos and instead remember why you started your business in the first place. Use that to fuel new ideas and actions towards making your business better than ever before. Everyday, Intentionally Choose to Act and I promise, you and we will all be better because of it.
Cheers,
Sarah
