Periods of crisis are difficult, tiring, and stressful...
Nothing like the last two years of COVID-19 could teach us that it only takes one crisis to bring a business to a halt or even to bankruptcy.
Whether your small business experienced a crisis or not, itโs important to understand how you can best prepare yourself to not only survive, but thrive during and after challenging times.
Here are ten ideas to help you not only manage adversity, but come out leading your business with more strength and confidence than before:
1. It’s Never Too Late to Prepare
If youโve been affected in any way by a crisis, itโs important to take note of all the measures you wish you had taken before the crisis and plan ahead for next time. Write down what you wish you had done differently, the resources you wish you could access and how you could better prepare.
2. Assess the Situation Objectively
In times of crisis, make an effort to remain calm, collected and composed, so you could objectively analyze the situation. Identify the root cause of the crisis, and come to a reasonable conclusion. Recognizing and defining the problem means you are already halfway to solving it.
3. Brainstorm Positive and Strategic Ideas
Set time with your team to write down how to turn the crisis into a business opportunity and help others in need. What products or services can you offer right now? What new niches could you approach? How can you mitigate the crisis?
4. Create a Crisis Management Plan
Identify (objectively) the scope of the crisis, prioritize what needs to be done first (urgent and important) and make a plan of WHO does WHAT, WHENโฆ
5. Adapt, Improvise and Overcome
Before implementing your crisis management plan, set some basic goals and outcomes to measure the progress. If the desired outcomes are not achieved in the given time, you should be prepared to adapt and improvise.
6. Keep Your Clients Happy
Keeping cash flowing into your business is a priority during times of crisis. To keep your clients happy – offer loyalty discounts to repeat clients, thank them for their support during the crisis, give them extra bonuses with each order, run giveaways, improve your customer serviceโฆ
7. Cut Down on the Unnecessary
Reducing your expenses is crucial to keep your business profitable, especially during a crisis. While cutting costs directly is one strategy, you may also be able to reduce unnecessary expenses by automating processes as well as temporarily pausing internal projects, team training, and non-crisis-focused meetings.
8. Reach Out for Help
Itโs amazing what neighbors, friends and strangers on social media will do when you simply and genuinely ask for help. Go to the people around you and ask for advice. Reach out to your trusted mentors and advisors to ask legal and financial questions. Post on social media to encourage connections to buy from you.
9. Optimize Your Plans for Cash Flow
Take a look at the budget and search for any adjustments that can help you save money and improve cash flow. Make a list of every ongoing expense and determine which can be eliminated or reduced. On the opposite side of things, how can you bring more money in?
10. Make Difficult Choices
No business owner wants to cut back on operations, lay off employees or pull the plug on a new project, but sometimes making these changes can make or break a company. Procrastinating on a necessary step will only make the situation worse
Now It’s YOUR Turn
For five minutes… come up with as many ideas as you can… how could you prepare for or handle a crisis in your business?
Let's Brainstorm
Please share your ideas (all of them or just one) in the comment box belowโฆ and letโs get WOWing.
Live fully, stay awesome,
Nisandeh Neta
Top Commenters โ last 30 Days
Let's Brainstorm
Please share your ideas (all of them or just one) in the comment box belowโฆ and letโs get WOWing.
Live fully, stay awesome,
Nisandeh Neta
201 comments
This is for me the best generator, because KEEPING CALM is challenging. How ever. Over the years I learned that I used to panic over everything.
I panic if I feel that I do not have control over the situation. In my private live I had a use crisis. Thinking we were going to loose everything. But guess what. We gained soo much more than we even thought possible. If we did not have this crisis, we would still be struggeling.
The crisis lead to:
- Paying of all our depts. We had to work so hard to overcome the crisis, that we even could pay our depts in no time
- FREEDOM: We thougt that we were obligated to help everyone because we were doing so well. Now we learned to hard way, that was wrong.
We got SOO MUCH time to do fun things with friends that need nothing more than our friendship.
- FRIENDS
This is what I learned from a crisis.
1. Frustrations can lead to the best new Ideas
2. NEVER EVER be a victem but be a surviver.
3. Look for help UNTIL you find the right person
4. If it is a personal crisis, look what you did to get to that point and learned from it.
26 comments
- Don't panic.
- Don't work alone. Form alliences. Not only in times of crises but also in good times. Perhaps you feel that you have big competition. But if you approach them perhaps you are suprised by what you can do together.
160 comments
Keep your clients happy ( and so will you! There is already enough stress when things don't go well, so you don't need more stress from unhappy customers).
Brainstorm new ways of making money.
When people were happy, they will follow you with whatever change you make (very often). Sometimes not immediately, but they already know, like and trust you, so if your new company/offer is something they need, it's easy to say yes to you.
94 comments
1. Calm down and evaluate the situation
2. There must be a solution - not always
3. Try and change it to an opportunity
4. Re-package and adjust to new trends
477 comments
Keep an eye on trends and develop a vision that lasts during crises. The lack of a vision that prevents your company from anticipating trends and developments makes your company very vulnerable to a crisis.
A crisis is an ideal X-ray of your company that gives you the opportunity to tackle the weak spots.
Ask yourself three questions about why your company is victorious in every crisis. These answers are invaluable.
39 comments
What is it that you want? Redefine your goals. What else can make you and others happy? Devellop your personal growth, meditate, calm yourself. Trust in the good things. Study and let your customers know, you are still alive and kicking and that you will be there if they need you.
Give them your love, pride and joy. Make some funny video's be creative. Learn!
67 comments
Never waste a good crisis ๐. When I started my company back in 2017 I could not have foreseen (like anyone else) the COVID-19 crisis. We were steadily growing, investing, organizing events and workshops throughout the country. At one stage we had eight revenue coaches from Brabant to Friesland building their portfolios. We heavily relied on our LinkedIn for Business workshops. They were planned six weeks in advance, including meeting rooms booked, on average 5-8 participants paying around 247,-. Upsell to revenue coaching. And then CRISIS, all workshops were cancelled. The end of the sales funnel as we knew it. No sales, no revenue.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ถ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐๐น๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ช.
-> Start with Online webinars
-> Create online sales funnel
-> Create online product(s)
๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฎ:
๐ Down from 8 to 3 revenue coaches.
๐ We now employ 4 people and rely less on freelancers.
๐ Over 1,000 participants in our online LinkedIn for Business webinar.
๐ Close to 300 participants in our online Linkedin challenge (as an alternative for our workshops), price increased by around 20%, cost went down to zero.
๐ Over 200 participants in our Online Linkedin for Business Implementation programm (new product 1,997.- per person).
๐ As a result revenue has more than doubled in 2021 versus 2019, while 1:1 time with LinkedIn for Business customers have significantly dropped making our business more profitable and scalable, also more time can now be spent on high quality 1:1 revenue coaching.
47 comments
Realize how you can be prepared for the next crisis. We think sometimes that we overcome Covid, but I do not think so. It will come back as other variant, or another virus will cause a pandemy.
Just think of what you missed this time, to be able to be prepared for it now.
Be sure to understand the models that are used to predict what is going to happen.
In case another crisis hit us, like in Oekraine, we should stay united and focus on what we can do.
Be flexible and shift to another kind of product/service when needed.
Let good ideas flow in your media-groups.
112 comments
First of all keep breathing.
When you're stressed or in anxiety you cannot think realistic. So, calm down, relax and then focus on what is going on.
When planning a strategy also think about what might go wrong and when it does what action can you take. Create as many possibilities as you can think of.
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. (Einstein) Be creative, think outside the box.
Talk with others. Talking to someone about what is going on will structure your thinking and analyse the problem which can lead to a solution.
175 comments
There's a difference between external & internal crises. I think a characteristic of entrepreneurs is their flexibility. You could read a lot about restaurant owners immediately looking for alternatives and there were many other examples. When I have an external crisis, it activates me and my blood starts pumping. An internal crises, that can be totally different.
When you're in an internal crises:
1. Find the right professional help. The obligation of weekly meetings is very helpful, it gives you structure.
2. Do your homework. 45 minutes chatting a week is not enough to tackle the problems you suffer from constantly.
3. Make a roadmap. Set goals and reward yourself for every tiny step you make.
4. Stay in touch with your best friends and family.
5. Get out of bed (early) and get yourself dressed. It will make you feel better.
6. Avoid stimulus (prikkels)
7. Don't be afraid to do a digital detox.
8. Go for long walks. Walking is meditative.
9. Try to cook yourself a healthy dinner every day. Preparing food can be healing and relaxing.
10. Stay in touch with your work, but don't exaggerate.
11. Keep in mind you will get out of this crisis stronger.
123 comments
Thatโs so wise to make the difference between the external crisis and an internal one. Thanks for this valuable distinction @Ineโฆ
I also LOVE your suggestions and think they are truly powerful
67 comments
Fair point, internal-personal crisis might be harder to manage.
69 comments
First of all, happy birthday to Nisandeh!
Love your life conviction of giving!! It inspires me. For the list:
* Don't panic... It will result in making the wrong decisions.
* Don't give up. The situation usually will not last forever.
* To be able to do the previous one #2 (and the next one #4) you should buffer before a crisis hits you. In this way there is less panic, you can continue (although in a lighter form) what you are doing or pause for a while. See #4.
* Do something completely different. When the crisis hits me, I first was frustrated, tried hard to score new assignments or clients. Then I realised that I had to accept the situation and deal with it in a smarter way. I still monitored the market with minimal effort. And since I just bought a new house which was a huge project, and I could not affort to outsource everything, I picked a lot of it up myself . Started with taking it apart and disposing it myself. More time consuming, but a lot cheaper. (Learned on the job, carpenting, electrician, plumming, etc.. only the major constructive parts were done by others. This also gave me an opportunity to clear my mind and think about new/next steps. Although this all sounds great, it threw me in a new (family/relation) crisis. This gave me the next tips:
* Be honest to yourself
* Be honest to others
* Be patiรซnt
* To to and with others (also with people that are not part of the situation)
And to finish, I repeat what I think has already been said: Accept the situation.
576 comments
Thank you much, Frans. And this is a super powerful one: stop doing it the way you used to do stuff and see what needs to be changed. Thank you for sharing this personal example.
111 comments
Great tips Frans. Thanks for them and especially your personal example, it's really inspiring.
Your personal example not only makes it clear of what can we do during a crisis, but it also combines another topic we covered in this challenge, which iis Money Mindset, and how to save money.
Thanks so much for it...
576 comments
1. Stop believing itโs a crisis and that there is nothing you can do about it. Pick up your notebook and start writing โ10 things i can do to overcome this specific issueโ.
2. Find a few people and sit in a room (or zoom). You start with: give me tips and ideas toโฆ and share the ideas you already have. Then shut up and let the others talk. Sometimes a fresh perspective is just what you need.
3. Cut the crap. I tend to dive into unnecessary things but when itโs crisis there is only one thing to do- what is needed to fix it. The rest is for free time.
4. Dare to throw the cow in the ravine. When I moved to a house that is above my pay grade (but itโs a house) I had to rethink my income and take action. It meant that I had to stop with my passion project and focus on something that would generate more money- fast. Paying the bill is the first thing now,
So anything I do is focused on that now. The rest is hobby. Painful but needed.
111 comments
@Gerdy - LOVE your ideas throughout this Challenge - but this one here is truly great!
Love your non-nonsense attitude of "Cut the Crap", but most of all the practical one of using friends and family to brainstorm on what can be done... that's an AWESOME one that can be used even when there is NO CRISIS...
THANKS!
576 comments
True Bina, you can do it with kids even! ๐
111 comments
So @Aramik - you managed to post your comment before me..)) You're up early....
As for this topic - I always look at crisis as an opportunity to start over... like when your computer crushes (better have a backup, but if not, it's still can give you an opportunity to start on a clean sheet)
For years, everything that didn't go my way was called a "CRISIS" - when I realised this does not support my well-being (and definitely not the people around me, who suffered) I found a few ways to work with those crises...
1. DO A REALITY CHECK - check your pulse, if you can still feel it, it means you're alive and therefore not really a CRISIS only life giving you another opportunity to grow, improve and become stronger...
2. CRISIS = TEST - This one, my daughter hates, but it's still true... Every crisis is a test life is giving us and we either learn from it and find a solution and grow or we will keep on repeating it until we pass that test
3. PLAN FOR CRISIS - When you're doing any planning ALWAYS think also on "What Might Go Wrong" and find ways either to prevent it, eliminate it, avoid it, or solve it
4. KNOW WHAT IS IN YOUR CONTROL AND WHAT NOT - I love the AA prayer and find it a practical tool to use when in crisis - "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference" In times of crisis check what are the things you CAN DO and what are the things that are out of your hands and learn to let them go (or accept it)...
328 comments
yesss yess yess Finally @Bia! After 17 day, I was here earlier than you ๐ woohoo!:)
WOW .. I love all your tips... and #4...
I never heard of it? What does it stand for? AAA?
Thank YOU so much for your daily effort and energy and wisdom! And yes! C U tomorrow... Let's see who will be the first to comment ๐
111 comments
@Aramik - AA stands for Alcoholics Anonymous and their 12 Steps Program
175 comments
Great you come up with the AA prayer, beautiful ...
328 comments
Love this very very Current topic. That's why Rich people always do: They wait for a Crisis and develop better habits and businesses.
This is what I have learned in the last 2 years and from all the crises I have overcome:
1: Breath In- Breath Out! Panic is the last thing I need to do in a crisis.
2: Focus on the Urgent and Important. So first things first! Is there a cash-crisis? then take care for the cash. So first FOCUS on what's need to be done and forget every thing.
3: Always always Build relationships, no matter there is a crisis or not! This one helpend me alot in the last 3 years. I have had build great relationships so I had a lots of (Emotional) credits (We all need them!) with my network and clients. They keep on showing up and I had my best years during the crisis.
4: Join a team! Join the forces! More than ever: Go for connection and teamwork. team Up with your competitors and do JV-partnerships. Theses are the best times to make NEW friends !
5: Keep on GIVING! There is not a better time to keep on giving than in a Crisis!
201 comments
I always to read your comments. And I make it an effort to implement at leas one of your ideas.
Number 2 is I believe the most important for me. First things first.