In the Acumen community, 20% of our partner companies went to zero revenue in the shutdown. Over half lost between 20-40% of revenue. Then there was the lucky 20% that didn’t have enough hours in a day to keep up with the demand for their product or service.
Which one were you?
Did you survive, hold on, or thrive over the last 90 days?
How about your employees? How was their experience?
For Acumen, we pivoted to online council meetings, met daily, then weekly, and are now moving towards a new combination of in-person and online meetings, upping the frequency and collaboration.
We learned how our network shares information and have cleared the lanes to help it flow to the right people at the right companies at the right time.
Acumen companies created pop up hand sanitizer outlets, restaurants pivot to drive-thru only operations, manufacturers added product lines, and almost all innovated and collaborated in ways that weren’t on the strategic plan in January. They invested in people through training, in facilities adding capacity and opportunity, and themselves by taking a deep breath to pause and slow down.
Surviving – Holding on … and now it’s time to thrive.
HOW TO THRIVE
Focus on Trust
Patrick Lencioni (The Advantage), Simon Sinek (Trust First), David Horsager (The Trust Edge), and Stephen Covey (The Speed of Trust), all believe that trust is your highest leverage point to go fast, efficient, and make your business profitable. Pick one of the books above and jump in with your team to make sure that trust is at the core of your business and the building block of your executive team. Trust may not be broken, but re-establishing trust after a long time without face to face interaction and coming out of “wartime” mode will go far in helping you thrive.
Reestablish the Vision
Without a vision, the people perish. Without a vision, your company perishes. Wartime mode does not allow for high-level strategy, off-sites, and bold ideas. It’s about being in the trenches and fighting the battle of the day. It’s time to get out of the trench and back into the helicopter and survey the landscape from above. Is your vision still the same? Does your team need a reminder of where the company is going? Do you need a different rallying cry for the remainder of the year?
Go on Offense
Over the last two weeks, someone turned on the faucet. Have you felt it? That slow drip is starting to become a stream. It’s time to go on offense. To rally your employees and get busy working moving your business forward. Good job playing defense. Let’s go score some points.
If you look at the thriver group of companies during this time, you’ll notice a common thread. Right place, right product/service, right time. Sometimes 10-25 years of hard work, sweat and ingenuity create “luck.” But they made this luck by building a company of value over the long term and then finding the pockets of opportunity in a challenging time. Whatever innovation you started, continue to push into those areas. Who knows … you might “get lucky.”
Find Islands of Health
When you have seen revenue reductions and parts of your business vanish, you can fall into the trap of waiting for the “economy to come back” or selling harder. This slows growth and strains company resources. Look for the seams in your industry and those adjacent that are healthy. There are haves and have nots right now. Find the haves and serve them.
You have survived, held on, and waited on the economy. It’s time to re-engage, get strategic, and go score some points. It’s time to thrive.