Lessons Learned from Unsettling Times

I keep saying COVID-19 completely upended everything. On the one hand, one might think that is beating a dead horse. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage and impact every aspect of our lives. 

For some businesses, COVID-19 launched tremendous growth. (I heard of a boat company that grew by over 600%, yes 600!) Other businesses were completely devastated--think the events industry, restaurants, and other in-person venues (or as a friend likes to refer to it: the flesh world). 

For most business owners, they had to adjust and figure out how to operate in both the virtual world and--in a limited capacity--the flesh world. 

After a year of operating in this environment, some lessons can be learned from this pandemic for dealing with uncertainty.

Letting go of control can be a good thing

When you let go of control, other ideas can come into being. Sometimes, a once-in-a-century pandemic forces you to let go. Who would have guessed online fitness would be so big within one year? Or that you could have someone walk through a store and shop with you on video? Or that ordering takeout online would become so easy?

So much can be done virtually

While letting go of control helped unleash creativity, necessity forced us to think about what we can handle virtually in our businesses. And it turns out: a lot! 

Setting up good online workflows and communication structure really unlocked a lot of options for business owners. 

Hiring a virtual assistant can help grow your business

While the pandemic wore on, people certainly enjoyed the flexibility of working from home. But they also suffered the workload of running a home school, office, and family. 

By hiring a virtual assistant, many business owners were able to balance so much more. It certainly has not been easy but a good virtual assistant helps ease the burden...a lot. 

Even as one client dealt with multiple shutdowns and the uncertainty of knowing when she could re-open, she kept her virtual assistant in order to keep her social media presence going. She wanted her clients to know what she was doing in order to operate safely when she was allowed to reopen. 

The more things change, the more they stay the same

We helped our clients to grow through COVID-19 by helping them to nurture their clients and increasing or keeping their social media presence consistent. 

Regardless of what causes uncertainty in a small business, consistency is the best medicine for it. Consistently nurturing your leads, your clients, your team, and yourself leads to more business. Delegating to a virtual assistant improves consistency.

Whatever happens next, small business owners are a resilient bunch. Not only do we employ nearly half of working Americans, we also generate nearly half of economic activity in the United States. We will continue to react and adapt to whatever comes our way. Further, we will continue to capitalize on opportunities we see and make a better life for ourselves and those around us.