“How Successful Businesses Thrive in Times of Crisis” – Jay Conner

In This Issue: 8 Ways You Can Thrive in the Midst of Uncertainty

When I started planning my schedule for 2020, I certainly did not schedule a global pandemic. I would assume that most people were caught off guard by the crisis created by the coronavirus. During the last few months, many individuals and businesses have been asking an important question: “How am I going to survive this?”

While I haven’t navigated a pandemic before, this isn’t my first time managing a business during a crisis. In fact, I developed my current business model as the result of a crisis. For my first six years as a real estate investor, I relied on the local banks and mortgage companies to fund real estate deals. In 2009, my banker told me my line of credit had collapsed, due to the global financial crisis. The banks were no longer extending credit to real estate investors.

At that moment, I had a choice. I could quit, or I could find a quicker, better way to fund my deals. Obviously, I didn’t quit. Instead, I got into the business of private money and created my mantra, “It is impossible for you to fail until you choose to quit.”

My experiences in 2009 taught me how to approach this current crisis with confidence. When times are uncertain, a lot of people want to pull back. Instead of hanging back, I move forward. I get creative and take massive action, and things tend to work out pretty great for me. Here’s what you need to do to not just survive but also thrive in the midst of uncertainty.

Take care of yourself mentally.

It’s difficult to take care of your business, your loved ones, or even your clients and customers if you don’t take care of yourself first. Proverbs 4:23 says that “more than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it.” This doesn’t mean you have to cut yourself off from others, but you can’t pour from the well of your soul unless is it also being replenished.

If you are feeling panicked or stressed, take a step back and assess why you feel that way. We all have 100% control over how we feel and what we think about. When a crisis happens and things feel uncertain, it’s easy to feel like you’re a victim who has no control over the situation. This is not a healthy mindset. If you’re feeling this way, then you can choose to change it.

In order to take care of yourself mentally, there are two things you must do. First, spend time not listening to or reading the news. You should, of course, be informed about what’s happening, but you don’t need to listen to it all day long just to stay informed.

Second, have a proactive plan. Build a routine around that encourages you to take care of yourself. Start each day simply by reading something positive for a few minutes. You can grow from there. Even if you’re not leaving the house anymore, hold on to routines that focus on your personal development. Now it is the time to be proactive, rather than reactive.

Take care of yourself physically.

When this crisis started, I made a commitment to exercise on my StairMaster for 30 minutes every day. I’m not doing this to lose weight — if I was, it certainly isn’t working! I use my StairMaster to get my head right. I get a rush of endorphins, I think quicker, and I get my best ideas when I’m exercising. These benefits last all day.

What does this have to do with business? I make more money when I consistently work out on my StairMaster. I get more creative ideas, I have more energy throughout the day, and when I leave the house in the morning, I feel like I can conquer the world.

Studies have proven that exercise is good for you, so do yourself a favor and start moving! It doesn’t have to be strenuous. You can go on a walk and build up a mental wall around you that helps you keep going.

Get plenty of sleep.

There’s a myth that in order to be successful in business, you have to go without sleep. You consistently have to stay up late and get up early. While this might be true for some people, for most of us, this is a path to self-destruction.

One of my favorite books that I recently started applying is “The 5 AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.” by Robin Sharma. The principles you learn in this book are amazing. It’s so important to get up early in the morning and have a good morning routine, but you can’t do that consistently if you don’t get enough sleep. I’m no doctor, but I know when I get my rest and I’m fresh the next morning, I’m on top of the day. You can’t take care of yourself mentally or physically if you’re not getting plenty of sleep.

Be a leader in business and in life. 

Now, more than ever, people are looking for someone to lead them by giving them hope, reassurance, and a sense of direction. In a crisis, while people may look calm on the outside, they are not always calm on the inside. Sometimes, they are looking for someone who can tell them that it will be okay and then give them actionable steps for making it okay.

Anyone can be a leader. You just have to have a servant’s heart. So, put on your leader hat and become that person. I suspect anyone who has decided to read this has a servant’s heart.

Stay consistently connected with others.

People are hungry for a sense of connection. Fortunately, there is a wealth of technological resources available to help us keep connected. For example, I’ve been hosting a number of Zoom conferences with my Platinum coaching students. Before the coronavirus, I would have just held these conferences via telephone; however, with Zoom, we’re able to see each other and connect in a more meaningful way. They say body language can account for up to 55% of all forms of communications, and the video aspect of Zoom fulfills part of that need to connect with people.

Zoom can benefit more than just business relationships. Families that previously only saw one another during holidays are now participating in daily or monthly Zoom calls. Other resources like Slack let us create group chats with folks from all over the world. You can also host video calls with FaceTime or Google Duo. There are a plethora of ways to stay connected that are far more interactive than just posting updates on social media.

Invest in work-from-home technology.

In times of crisis, people tend to pull back. They want to hold onto their money and ride this thing out. Instead, I encourage you to invest in your future. I’m not talking about large sums of money. Invest your time in embracing new technology and adapting to the virtual world. If you’re having trouble with a specific program, YouTube has hundreds of thousands of free tutorials on practically anything.

Working from home has become the norm. One great piece of technology I encourage employers to invest in is Skyroam. This WiFi hotspot will give your employees immediate access to high-speed internet, so you no longer have to worry about your employees not having good enough internet to do their jobs.

Another resource to take advantage of is Microsoft Teams. This software allows people to video chat while working on Word documents together. If you use Google Drive, you could look into Google Docs and Google Hangouts, which allow multiple people to work on a project together and share ideas instantaneously.

Create a community within your community.

One powerful way you can utilize Zoom and be a leader in your community is by hosting a virtual networking social. Invite business owners you know to a Zoom meeting. Encourage them to extend an invite to their connections as well. During the social, go around and have everyone take a few minutes to share about their business and how they can be reached. The social can quickly become a miniature mastermind session.

You reap what you sow. By helping others get what they want—regardless of whether they could be viewed as a competitor—you’ll get all you want, too. When we recover from the coronavirus, wouldn’t it be a beautiful thing to have positioned yourself as a leader who people recognize as having a servant’s heart?

Start to prepare for future crises.

Things are scary right now. I’m not going to pretend like they aren’t. But when the world feels the most out of our control, the way you respond is always within your control. You can crawl into a hole and pray this passes without taking any action, or you can be proactive. Look inward and ask how you can improve yourself, then look outward and ask how you can improve your world.

There will always be another crisis. This is one truth of life. We don’t know what that crisis will look like, but it will come eventually. That’s why it’s important to start preparing for that next crisis.

1. Save at least six months of cash reserves in the event of no revenue.
2. Have emergency lines of credit already established.
3. Purchase loss of business insurance.
4. Have an alternative business model in place.

We will all get through this together. Some will be more affected than others, but the majority of us will once again be able to open the doors to our businesses. Things won’t necessarily go back to normal, but now is the time to ensure your comeback will be strong.

–Jay Conner