*Ring Ring*
This is George!
Sales are down 68% right now! WTF is happening?
What do we do? Hold on’ I have another call.
Hello, this is George.
Man! We’re down 33% and we can’t get anymore products because they’re made in China. What the hell are we going to do?
I’ll call you back.
Hey honey, yes, I know, I saw the news. This is serious, they’re talking lockdowns, everyone is freaking out. It’ll be ok, I’ll be home soon.
What.Is.Going.On!?
Right now, as I type this we’re in the beginning of unprecedented economic and social upheaval. A tiny, microscopic organism is wreaking havoc worldwide and putting a lot of amazing businesses owners steps away from some extremely tough decisions.
I’m one of them. I get it.
I have had my phone ring 100 times in 2 days with 911 calls not even giving me the space to make my own 911 calls on where I felt like I couldn’t regain any sense of presence to what has been happening. Team fears, cash flow issues, one of my businesses is down 68%, another is down 33%, one we can’t get anymore products because they are made in China.
This has to be the fastest nightmare I have ever felt and I struggled intensely to stay present, focused, and proactive in order to mitigate risk or prevent permanent undesirable results created by temporary feelings. I have even had a few moments where I felt like my stomach was cut open and I couldn’t move. After much reflection, work, 100’s of phone calls, and massive amounts of firefighting I feel settled, grounded, clear, and optimistic about the situation at hand.
The wound is still fresh and one thing I learned from 12 years in the Marine Corps is that when hard situations arise, the only path forward is to run as fast as possible towards them. So after talking with 6 figure, 7 figure, 8 figure, 9 figure, and even a few 10 figure businesses I feel confident in what’s needed and the path forward from here which is why I put this document together for you.
My name is George Bryant. I’m a husband, a father, a Marine and an entrepreneur. But more than that, I’ve accepted my role as a leader and as the mountain my family, my team, my friends and my community need me to be.
How to Stand Strong in Uncertain Times While Evolving and Leading Forward!
18 hours of typing, 100s of phone calls, and all the ideas, tools, and creative ways to make Fast Business Pivots To keep control, get clear and seize opportunity in uncertain times!
Leadership is not a set of words, it’s a state of being. Envision the largest mountain you can picture. Maybe it’s Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Everest, or Mount Shasta. Those mountains exist and grow because their only mission is to be a mountain. In the current time of uncertainty, we need to be a mountain. What’s beautiful about mountains is that they know people are walking on them. They can feel trees being cut down and earth shaking and splitting them below. They can feel water eroding new channels while also realizing that anything that happens outside of them IS NOT WHO THEY ARE. There is a lot of uncertainty currently with external triggers hitting us all day. Remember this one thing, you are not your feelings or defined by what is happening in the world. Mountains are solid, strong, and still. I am not saying it’s easy. I have fear, anxiety, and doubt that affects me like many others. I allow myself space to feel those feelings, process them out, breath, and then get back to being a mountain.
I am a mountain
The man who becomes a mountain does so by staying focused on becoming a mountain.
Inch by inch, the foundation gets wider, stronger, and more stable.
Storms come, earthquakes shift, man tramples, and the mountain still always grows.
Every storm brings rain that helps the plants grow and thrive.
The cracks from the earthquake widen the base and that rainwater naturally filters giving man drinking water as they trample.
See, the mountain knows there are things happening outside of its existence but it never allows them to influence his mission.
So with every trigger, storm, disaster, he finds a new opportunity to evolve and grow to accomplish his mission.
To be a mountain.
George Bryant
How to Get the Most out of Your Mission And This Guide
Yes, you are on a mission. A mission to save your business and make sure it thrives when this mess is over. But the fact is, this isn’t the only mess you’re going to face in business. Because things like this (well, not exactly like this unprecedented BS) come up daily as a business owner and we have a choice. Run and hide or get busy fixing it. Now, I know you’re scrambling right now. And there are a lot of ideas in this document and they might not all apply to you. It can feel overwhelming at first so take your time. Although I wrote this in less than 18 hours, I have spent 11 years of my life developing these lessons. Some will be useful and others will not, and that is completely ok. This is designed to re-center you on what you can control instead of focusing on what we may feel we have lost control over.
The key here is to read it slowly and thoroughly a few times after taking a breath and centering yourself. Ask yourself questions as you read like, ‘will this work for me’, ‘does this apply to us right now’, ‘is this a must do or a nice to have’. I invite you to make a copy of this document, highlight ideas and come back to explore more. Truth be told, even if you only find ONE THING you can use and it helps, it was worth every second I spent creating this. So right below this you will see Breath, take one, or two, or ten until you feel grounded and then begin the document. And if you only find 1 thing you can use and it helps, then it was worth it for me to create this.
Here are 11 steps to stand with structure in uncertain times’
1.Breath ‘ Here is a video I did teaching Box Breathing (8 minutes) to help
When you breathe you bring your body and mind together, bringing you into the now. Any decision being made that is based on what happened yesterday, or the fear or belief of what may or may not happen tomorrow, is reactive and will have negative consequences. If your body is in an elevated emotional state, NO DECISION SHOULD BE MADE. Take two minutes to breath, calm down, get back into your body, and then check in again. I like to institute a 24-48 hour cooling off period for any big decision.
Here’s what I mean:
- a.I am triggered, I feel it, I want to make a decision, so I DON’T
- b.Write the thought or decision on a piece of paper and then write the date and time 24-48 hours in the future
- c.Breath and get back into your body and move onto the next task
- d.Revisit that decision in 24-48 hours time removed from habit energy (Video) and then decide
- e.There are less than .00001% of decisions that are actually required to be made in the moment. This obviously doesn’t apply to life threatening situations.
2.Be radically honest ‘ Here is a video I did on True Freedom (8 minutes) and how to have it.
Be radically honest with yourself and with those involved in your business or company (employees, customers, distributors, etc.) while maintaining an optimistic approach.
Uneasy times are a flat tire on the car’ don’t slash the other three. Instead, adopt the mental framework of the Stockdale Paradox. Admiral Stockdale survived 8 years as a prisoner in the Vietnam war with this concept. He was able to stay positive without falling trap to the blind optimism of fellow prisoners who failed to confront the reality of their situation. There is no time for denial in this crisis: Stay vigilant to the harshest realities and fast-moving changes. Communicate the radically honest facts directly to your team, customers, and anyone in your business while maintaining confidence that you will get through it together. This will happen faster for teams with high trust. When your tribe believes that you have their backs, they value the truth and will work together to find the best paths forward.
3.Don’t Assume You Know ‘ Read the Book the Catalyst NOW‘ It will be the best way for you to navigate business through times like this
Don’t assume you know what people are afraid of (teams & customers). It may seem easy to assume people are worried about getting sick or having job security but it’s different for each person. You must apply this lens both to your teams and your customers. The world is in a very uncertain state which has everyone feeling defensive. If you speak for someone using words like you have to, should, must, do this, etc it will cause massive amounts of Reactance and have drastically negative effects on relationships. Document your experience authentically to allow others to form their own opinions and create their own dissonance which will move them into action. No one wants to be convinced, they want to be led. This means that you need to be a lighthouse. Lighthouses never move but constantly shine out consistent and strong light guiding people home. Your job isn’t to rescue the boats in the water, it’s to be a North Star for them to follow back to shore when they are ready.
4.Communicate, Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
This is a time and place where over communication is going to be your best friend. Be as open, transparent, and authentic as you can with every single person you come into contact with. Yourself being first, your support system being second (and if you don’t have one, FIND ONE NOW’ Get into our facebook group or add me as a friend so we can support you), your team, and then your customers.
I have watched businesses struggle for years with portraying the ‘perfect image’ which creates transactional relationships with customers. It prevents them from being enrolled and part of your journeys to support and the time has come to let that shit go. ‘Perfection’ now will lead to businesses closing. Authenticity & Transparency will lead to businesses growing. You are a leader which is why you are an entrepreneur and business owner. Lead by example. The strongest people on this planet have fears, they share them to be part of a team and move through them together creating amazing results.
That is the opportunity here. If you want community and support, it must be YOU, not the social media version of you. 3 years ago, it took a customer 26 touch points to commit to buying a product they wanted. In the current state, it’s going to be hundreds just to develop a relationship of trust to have people comment and engage to support. People are consuming more trash and garbage than ever and we need to show up with consistency, congruency, and truth so they can collect all the evidential touchpoints that allow their subconcious to feel safe so they can be led by you.
5.Concentration ‘ Here is a video I did on Concentration, watch it!
Now is not the time to put 20% effort into 8,000 things. It is the time to put 100% focus and concentration into the things that are going to support your business and keep it moving forward. You must pick the top 3 priorities and align yourself and your entire team of executing them with vigor and force.
I know it’s fun to have 8 social channels and it’s cool to talk about followers and vanity numbers. Right now, vanity numbers don’t pay the bills or create deep relationships. Pick 1-2 places where your customers are and GO DEEP. Tell them your commitment to them. You will respond to every comment. You will show up everyday and we are in this together to ensure we all move forward.
Set smaller goals for yourself, your team, and your customers with frequent checkpoints so that everyone can feel a sense of positive movement forward. Let go of anything that doesn’t support your ability to be nimble and fast. It doesn’t have to be overproduced, it doesn’t have to be perfectly edited, the Step by step guide might not need to be followed.
Anything that is distracting you from your top 3 priorities needs to be temporarily or permanently removed to allow you to thrive with what you do. Run your business, deliver results, and create depth in relationships with your customers as much as possible.
6.Let go of expectations
People are not currently operating at a normal baseline. They are going to forget things, do things incorrectly, or not do things at all, as most people are in survival mode. Your job as a lighthouse is to create and lead while releasing any expectations of what may happen on the receiving end.
You might have team members that literally freeze and need 2 days off. That has nothing to do with you. Your job is to lead with heart and allow them space to go through their process so they come back stronger. You may be used to getting a ton of engagement on social media and that’s basically out the window as there will be a lot more creeping than commenting while people pay attention to who is steady to pull them out of the woodwork.
You have to let go of expectations and create from a place of abundance and light from your lighthouse. A lighthouse is not interested in who gets its light. It just gives it without thinking. Giving light is its nature!
If you are holding onto expectations of engagement, responses, or anything along those lines and make decisions from there, you will prevent yourself from winning the game. Your consistency in the face of uncertainty is what will move the needle forward and give a chance.
7.Do virtual team-building
Culture is more important than ever in any business right now’ Culture is not a passive act, it’s a very intentional thought out daily action to help ourselves and our teams feel three things:-
- Seen
- Heard
- Respected
There is a massive shift happening in the way business is done and none of us can accurately predict what it may end up settling like. What I do know is that the bond of companies and teams are going to be the single biggest reason they can weather this storm and thrive through whatever landscape changes occur.
With more remote, and less in person, you will need to find new ways to stay connected with your team. Understanding everyone’s working styles, daily schedules, home lives, motivators, and stress behaviors of all the other people in your organization will yield the greatest results in the company while keeping everyone aligned to work remotely!
Build in time to do one-on-ones for personal check-ins. Think creatively on how to keep people motivated and small ways to get groups to continue building and deepening relationships using technology that allows us to connect instantly.
My very direct recommendation is remove any filters of having conversations about performance and results and focus entirely on people and having them feel safe and a part of a team. Use this opportunity to learn your team better than you know yourself. If you want more support on understanding culture, we did this video last week and it’s so prevalent to the current state of the world.
8.Create or Rebuild with your customers ‘ ask them
I have been saying this for years and now everyone has an opportunity to step into this understanding’
Field of Dreams is Bull***t, if you build it, they don’t come. In the digital world that we are in, the best thing you can do is to build things, rebuild things, or create things from scratch WITH YOUR customers. I covered this in a short video here if you want to watch.
With the massive increased consumption on all social media platforms, podcasts, videos, etc. you have to go deep with your customers in a two way relationship. Go live, do posts, get on phone calls and ASK your customers how you can support them.What are their needs right now?How do they see their relationship with you evolving in the current state?Do they have any creative ideas to help you spread your business or message?
We have an opportunity to make our customers and fans feel like they are a part of our businesses and help make decisions with us on the path forward. This will create deeper life long customers and advocates that will help you navigate the future of these times. They feel like a part of your journey, success, and team which means they will go to bat for you and support you to the best of their ability.
Plus, there is no one who can see your business clearly from the lens of what people need from you in the world right now, better than the customers and fans that have been following you for years.
You should watch this video with the exact 9 step model I use to build, sustain, and scale online businesses. It will help you identify where you are and where you may need to go as you prioritize your actions‘
9.Get Into The Dirt:
Right now you probably have the clearest view ever of the actual things in your life and business that are actually important. The real places your customers communicate with you, the real needle movers that allow you to grow.
Now is the time to get into the garden and start tilling new soil, weeding out things that don’t serve you or your business anymore, and then planting new seeds that will allow you to build or reinforce a solid foundation for the new path ahead.
As an entrepreneur or business owner, I challenge you to take the time right now and relearn every in and out in your business. Know every job, every role, every software, every tool that you and your team uses and figure out if it’s a flower worth watering or a weed that has to be removed.The current state of the world has shown the need to be nimble, agile, and able to pivot on a dime. Utilize this time to cut back anything that slows you down and add things that help you speed up. Where is there too much bloat, too much complication, or not enough focus.
Make it a priority to prioritize and ensure you lay a clear path forward aware of every turn on the road knowing you are only bringing with you what you absolutely need. So go weed the garden and then start watering the new plants and reviving the ones that may have been neglected for a little while.
10.Envision the new beginning
As a leader, it is our job to know what the destination is and that doesn’t mean having to know the road to get there. The roads to new destinations are not paved, we have to create them.
In times like this, it is more important than ever to have a very clear Vivid Vision for yourself and your team to stay aligned to while moving forward. Once you have identified a very CLEAR picture of where you want to go, you stay nimble & agile moving forward as fast as possible pivoting as needed to achieve your new destination. Every day and every choice is a new learning lesson, except in times like this you can’t ignore the messages, you must adjust to stay ahead of the curve everyday. What I recommend is setting an intention everyday with 3-5 things that will move the needle or lay a new stretch of road to your destination. At the end of each day ask yourself these three questions:
- What worked today?
- What didn’t work today?
- What am I going to do differently tomorrow?
Your future state will bring a new normal that no one can predict. All we can do is prepare ourselves to walk straight into the battle, bringing our personal best to rally the troops with our heads held high confident we can recreate in these times.
There are thousands of new problems being created daily that only entrepreneurs and businesses can solve. You have to be playing on the field moving forward to see those opportunities and capitalize on them. Things will fall, things will adjust, doors will open and investors will continue to look for good ideas and people. Stay vigilant in seeking out options that might pay off when things return to the new normal.
11.Complete a Memento Mori or Current Inventory
A memento mori is an artistic or symbolic reminder of the inevitability of death. I have come to redefine this as an inventory of all the possible outcomes of a situation. Courage is the knowledge of what is terrible, knowledge of what is not terrible, and what is neither, and acting in the face of it.
There is going to be a rise in what feels like chaos. Remember that chaos is a feeling and a state of mind. As a 12 year combat veteran I can tell you that the ability to maintain structure in the face of chaos creates magic most people didn’t know they were capable of creating. In times like this, anxiety will rise and motivation will suffer and if you are prepared for it using all of these steps, it will bounce back faster and fiercer than before because you were prepared.
The most dangerous actions to take are the ones that are missing the depth and understanding of the full scope of the situation. Just like in step 2, we have to be radically honest with ourselves about every ounce of this situation in order to make an informed choice. Cashflow, employees, products, inventory, restrictions, loans, lenders, etc. just to name a few. It is only when every card in your hand is on the table that you will be able to make an informed decision that will give you the possibility to win. I have seen too often in the last few days people making permanent decisions based on temporary feelings and a lack of understanding of the full situation.
What Needs To Change In Your Marketing:
Something I have been saying for years is that people don’t pay for products, they pay for access & accountability. Now I believe it is slightly shifting to where people are now going to pay for certainty, safety, and security in their business and life.
Obviously, we can’t predict the future but we can show up consistently as a teammate to all of our customers or potential customers to create a level of support so they understand we are in this with them more than ever.Remember the three needs of customers or potential customers online are that they feel seen, heard, & respected and now more than ever.
Do everything in your power to accomplish that for your tribe.
- Respond to every single comment on any platform your are choosing to be on
- Open up your DM’s and let people know it’s safe to reach out to you and ask for support
- Lead by example, focus on creation instead of consumption to protect your soul and theirs from scarcity or fear
- Be very open with your customers and give them options. The days of you can only do it this way will turn out badly for you. Be open and flexible with every customer.
- Be impeccable with your word, when you say 7pm, mean 7pm. When you say 3 days, mean 3 days. We should always be that way and unfortunately it isn’t always the norm in business. Over deliver on everything and treat each customer like they are your family (that you love).
- Focus on the things that you must do! Keep things simple. Being in a relationship with your customer is more important than the quality of a video or what a website looks like. Focus on the actual important things.
- Document everything’ Don’t project and make statements like you should do this or try this’ Share your story and experience to lead by example and let them into the background of your business and life. If they are let in to yours, they will let you into theirs and that is where growth will occur.
- And to sound like a broken record again, and again. Communication and Community X 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000′
- Acknowledge what’s going on. Don’t pretend like nothing is happening. That is brand suicide and completely tone deaf. Now is the time to lead in the face of uncertainty and stand strong. You don’t have to have a side, opinion, or guidance, you just have to be speaking the language of your current audience which is acknowledging the state of the world.
- Ads & funnels need to change immediately. I have been shouting from the rooftops for years that funnels aren’t needed when you go deep with your customers on the front end. Remove any objections or hoops that people have to jump through to have immediate relief or results in their life. Change all of your copy to be current and on point with the current state and go above and beyond to hold each customer’s hand through a journey. No webinars, no crazy funnels, no upsells, just direct, open, and honest conversations and conversions for what matters.
- Adopt & meet the market where they are’ Two things are probably going to happen for most businesses’ The sales cycle is going to be a lot longer as people consume more content to feel safe enough to commit or it’s going to be drastically shorter where they want to get to work right away on implementing anything that will bring peace of mind. You have to prepare and adjust for both.
- Congruency, Congruency, Congruency ‘ Now is a more important time than ever that your brand identification & messaging are on point so people can trust you. You have to have uniform messaging, branding, and conversations across all platforms. It must remain consistent and simple so people can develop trust points with you and take action. We cover this in the first few videos of our Transformation Marketing Course that we are giving everyone for FREE’ You can start here ‘ https://courses.georgebryant.com/tem-mini-course-optin
- Lead with value’ but also make your offers available. People are going to want to consume a lot of content right now to make informed safe decisions at the same time they are going to want to invest in things that will help them create certainty. Give value as much as possible while also including links or calls to action to allow them to take the next step or contact you. For example, I have covered a lot in this document and I have a lot more that we can do to help, if you need ANYTHING at all, please get ahold of us so we can help you navigate next steps.
- Double down on your customer relationships, the delivery of your promises, and the value you create. People are only going to want to pay for things that they see as investments into themselves or their businesses to create certainty, security, and safety. Make sure that is you with how you are showing up.
Take a moment right now to completely reset the lens of how you look at your business and the people that you serve’
- Redo your Avatar Sheet to serve them in their current state and pay close attention to the modalities section to ensure it’s current to the right now
- Redo your Lighthouse to ensure your business is aligned to the new state and where you are going .
- Refresh your brain on the Conscious and Subconscious customer journey because people will be living in the Safety cycle a lot longer and your understanding will be imperative for your success.
Creative Ideas For Businesses:
As we know, the current landscape is unpredictable and completely new to most people. All of us are having challenges in one way or another and I wanted to share some ideas that might be helpful for businesses as we all adapt to these new times. I will continue to add to this as new ideas come in, I see new options working in my businesses, or when you share with me other tools to help other businesses and entrepreneurs.
The NUMBER ONE thing I recommend doing is to get on the phone or video calls with as many of your customers as possible. Ask them questions about how you can support, what they need, what they would want in the future, what’s missing in your business that you can add, what support can you create, etc. You will get some of the best feedback and ideas possible to help you deepen relationships and navigate the current times with your customers.
1.May Apply to any Business:
a.Email – Go deep on email with your customers… Email is going to be more pivotal than ever at this time for maintaining accountability, connection, and a direct line of communication with your customers. If you don’t email them, start. If you have a list and don’t use it, start. If you email them already, email them more. It is a great place to get them out of the cycle of crazy information on social media and pattern interrupt them into a new state of being. We are in a time when you have a blank permission slip to email your customers as much as you want when loaded with value, communication, and connection.
b.Start new forms or modalities of communications with your customers. Phone usage is going to 2-3x what it was before and the more channels you can communicate effectively, the better. Personally, I don’t want to try and compete with the fear mongering on social media so we took this time to launch a text based service as well as launching a podcast to add avenues to communicate more with our customers. You can use services like Textiful or Skipio for texting and podcasts are easier than ever to just record your thoughts on your phone and upload them to share. We are doing all of our recording in a tool called Descript and hosting the podcast on Simplecast.
c.Host sponsored performances of musicians, artists, entertainment, cooking, cleaning, manicures, pedicures, or ANYTHING that people can normally see in person… Move it remote.
d.Partner with other businesses whether digitally or locally and create bundles and packages together to support future sales. Collaborate instead of competing and share each other with each other’s audiences building a community. Design a solo self love day when out of isolation… Get breakfast here, coffee here, a massage here, activity here, and dinner here. If you and those 4 businesses collaborate everyone wins and you 10x your exposure.
e.Create themed bundles within your company or business for now or in the future when things clear out of isolation and solitude. Some customers will have the means to prepay for a year of services to help support you through current times while you support them so don’t be afraid to be completely transparent and open with everyone. It’s required now.
f.Study Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and utilize this to build, nurture, or maintain relationships with your customers remotely. Almost anything that was done in person can be done with your customers remotely. Host live coffee dates, book reading sessions, wine social hour, tastings, pairings, etc.
g.Host remote experiences that allow you to connect with your customers in other modalities besides your service, product, or business. For example, a local gym could be doing weekly meal prep live streams or daily cooking sessions on helping people maintain and thrive in the current state.
h.Host a remote dinner. Send out an email or message a few days before with the time and place. You can as a bonus include the recipe you are cooking and give people the option of showing up with a dinner already made or to cook alongside and you all have a virtual dinner table together with prompts and questions to connect with everyone.
i.Do daily auctions for now or in the future on services or products that you can give people exclusive access to by having them bid. You can even set a reserve and anything about that reserve goes to charity or supporting someone local in need.
j.If you have spent your whole business life in person, NOW IS THE TIME to launch an online presence. Find out where your customers are, go there, tell them and start building a relationship with touch points outside of just your business.
k.Document every aspect of your business, especially behind the scenes and allow your customers to be on that journey with you. You can show them what it’s like to prep food for the restaurant that day or clean the studio before a class or how you program and schedule workouts.
l.For businesses that provide home care needs like house cleaning, painting, etc you can start hosting daily classes teaching people how to do your job for themselves at home. Trust me, once they do it, they will realize they only want you to do it in the future and once you can you will be back in their home more often than before.
m.Presell giftcards or packages for future times to be redeemed.
n.Deliver coffee or products to your customers instead of them coming to you. Look at businesses like Instacart, Ubereats, Grubhub, Taskrabbit, and realize you can do all of that in your business with you and your team without paying the big guys. People are going to want to support small businesses during these times and you can add a new stream of revenue.
o.If you have a retail store, have customers facetime you as you walk around the store and get the products they want, check them out, and then bring it curbside to their car or deliver it to their house.
p.Use shopify and start selling your products online
q.Create activities that you can sell and people can do at home. You can make it fully on them or you can take materials from your store and business and charge them for all the premade materials to pick up or be dropped off to do during isolation.
r.Create communities or communication channels to allow people to stay connected during isolation with your business being the hub or host that facilitates connection.
2.Goodwill Activities
a.Provide coffee, tea, drinks, water, food, or any other support materials to key personnel that are working to support us. Hospitals, First Responders, Grocery Stores, Delivery Drivers.
b.Reach out to the fire department and local organizations for where they need help.
c.Reach out to other local businesses or businesses anywhere to see where they might need help or where you can either help each other or band together to help the community as a whole by giving back.
d.Provide as much support as possible for your employees and team members.
e.Start documenting and organizing local needs and while facilitating helping fulfill them in your community or business whether local or remote.
f.If you are a service based business, volunteer some of your time going into those who need help and providing your services. Haircuts, manicures, or pedicures for the elderly. Shopping and delivery for those in need, etc.
3.Barber Shops, Hair Salons, Spas, Massage Parlors, Etc.
a.Teach people how to cut their own hair or their children’s hair at home through online video conferencing or meetings. Livestream it on social media or bring people into a tool like Zoom to walk them through it.
b.Host haircut parties online and allow people to learn from you while doing it or you can oversee it while allowing everyone to do their favorite thing while getting their haircut, talk to each other and catch up creating connections.
c.Set up a mobile service if not quarantined and it is feasible. Go remotely and do haircutting parties or mobile grooming services to those in need or who want it.
d.Create bundles of hair care products like tools to cut, maintain, or style and ship or deliver them to your customers.
e.Make custom hair color kits that you can ship or deliver and then do online video instructions on how to do it at home.
f.Create content or host parties teaching people how to give themselves manicures, pedicures, and other things at home
g.Launch a mobile Manicure & Pedicure or other modality business if feasible
h.Build at home Manicure & Pedicure kits and ship them to customers while teaching them how to do it remotely
i.Host nail painting & wine parties to talk, laugh, and teach to create connection and community
j.Teach people how to stay relaxed through self massage or massaging each other with tools in their home
k.Launch a mobile massage business if feasible
l.Launch Pop Up services in neighborhoods or locations to go to people and only allow 5 at a time to get support. Imagine a Barber popping up in a cul de sac and each dad and son comes out one at a time to get their haircut in their neighborhood
m.Do video call consultations for future services or supporting people with their current needs that you can do remotely
4.Restaurants
a.Turn yourself into a content machine with every aspect of food and cooking. Share content, go live, and host classes teaching people how to cook from home, how to grow your own food using a tower garden, safe handling of food, etc.
b.Host remote dinners locally by creating premade meals that can be delivered or picked up of all ingredients as you teach people how to cook them at home while watching you online.
c.Create prepared meals for people to pick up or have delivered that covers their meals for the week or a few days.
d.Put together CSA boxes so instead of people having to go to the stores, you can create healthy options and boxes of fruits, veggies, meats, etc and allow them to pick up or deliver them.
e.Turn your businesses into a takeout or to go option only
f.Turn your businesses into a delivery service by utilizing your own employees and cutting out the 40% that goes to the big guys like uber eats, grubhub, etc so people can support local businesses.
g.Allow people to buy meals or experiences in advance at a discount or full price if they want to.h.Host nightly or daily virtual get togethers or classes that allow people to bond over food and community while being isolated.
5.Fitness Instructors, Gyms, and anything similar
a.Create a protocol for at home workouts, movement, and mobility for your current customers and also all the new customers you will be able to reach that would have never been into your gym. Make programs, workouts, and protocols for kids, parents who have never worked out, elderly, etc so that you can serve.
b.Offer remote personal training over skype or zoom to take people through their workouts one on one or in a group setting just like they would do in person.
c.Become a mobile personal trainer and go see clients one on one to design protocols or workouts with what they have in their home or have access to.
d.Host neighborhood workout parties where you teach group classes from the road and people stay in their driveways watching to keep social distancing.
e.Support your customers on all the other modalities besides movement that will help them maintain their goals. Teach them cooking, meal prep, supplementation, recovery, cold therapy, meditation, breathwork, mindfulness, or anything that falls into the realm of health and fitness.
Finances and Cashflow…
I am not a Financial Guru or cash flow expert, just know enough to be dangerous and called all my very smart friends to gather their best recommendations for navigating the current times. I have two CFO’s in my life who advise and guide me on every decision I make and they leaned in to create training for you to help you navigate these times.
EVERY BUSINESS OWNER SHOULD WATCH THESE TWO VIDEOS
1.Eric “The Cashflow Doctor” Nghiem created this 30 minute video for you to help you navigate these times financially in your business. Expenses, Cashflow, Capital, Runway, etc. is all covered here. Click here to watch that video
2.Jarrod Souza put together a video for you and document to use to Track and manage your cash flow in your business. Open the document here and watch the video below:
On top of what is covered in the above videos, here are some other creative ways to manage finances right now:
- Email your landlord both personally and in business asking for rent concessions until things are stabilized or the situation changes in your favor
- Budget a 40% revenue reduction and the costs necessary to be able to stay profitable or breakeven to weather the storm if you are unable to grow in these times.
- Take salary cuts across the board and I highly recommend starting from the top. I always prioritize the safety and security of my team when I can since they will be the ones keeping the heartbeat moving in the company.
- Have honest conversations with your team and see what options you can come up with from revenue share, partial cuts, or other creative ideas to support each other in these times.
- Reduce any software providers to one-time payments. No one needs 19 recurring revenue payments a month for software that doesn’t work. It’s like paying for a gym membership and expecting it to make you skinny. I bet 80% of software, tools, and nice to haves can be eliminated by actually just simplifying processes and connecting with customers.
- Transition your email provider to one-time payment if you must. Some companies have $2,000 – $10,000 a month email bills. Download your contacts and data, pause your plans, and move to a one time service like SendFox or use this opportunity to clean your email list finally and cut it in a third like it should which also cuts your costs into a third.●Look at your accounts and see if you can downgrade to more basic plans or find a better solution that accomplishes the same goals without all the fancy schmancy fluff.
- Pause or suspend accounts for the interim until you need them again or eliminate them permanently.
- Reduce any advertising that’s not 30 days ROI to keep cash flow under control and focus on what actually moves the needle.
- DO AN AUDIT AND GET RID OF ANYTHING THAT IS CONSIDERED NICE TO HAVE. YOU SHOULD ONLY BE MAINTAINING ABSOLUTE MUST HAVES!
- Call your Banks and Credit Card Companies: Capital one, American Express, Citi and Wells Fargo have all issued statements indicating that they are willing to work with customers that experience financial difficulties. Citi issued a statement that for 30 days, small business customers are eligible to have their monthly service fees waived.
- Citi is also waiving the fees on early CD withdrawals. Wells Fargo donated $6.25 million in aid to help the public relief effort. The bank also encouraged customers that are experiencing financial hardship to contact customer service for assistance.
Like we talked about in the video above from Eric, there are some options for financing, funding, or loans like he discussed. Here is what the SBA has released to support small businesses.
And one final note with a few ideas to share with your customers or what to do to support each other’s businesses. Our economy runs on our backs and it’s our obligation to keep it going. Supporting small businesses, buying and selling products and services, etc are what is going to help maintain normalcy and create faster recovery. The worst thing people can do is STOP.
Stimulating The Economy Through Consumerism:
Now, running a business is only half of the equation. We also need to step up as consumers to do our part to keep our economy stimulated. Here are a few ways you can play your part from a consumer stand-point:
Say Thank you: Many business owners and workers are risking their health to provide critical products and services. Be thankful.
Let It Go: Order from your favorite local restaurants and bars via delivery service, to-go, or curbside pickup.
Buy In Advance: Purchase gift cards or book services from local businesses to use at a future date.
Follow along: Your favorite local businesses are online and sharing specific ways you can support them.
Shop small online: Websites haven’t closed and it’s important to leave positive reviews for local vendors and businesses.
Stay looped in: Keep up with your memberships, and with services that are still offered online.
