Achieving success as a cleaning and restoration contractor has ALWAYS been a challenge. (After all, if being a successful entrepreneur was ‘easy’ everyone would be own their own business!) However…
In the ‘COVID-19 Age’ being the owner (or manager) of any service business is downright… SCARY! But wait… there IS hope! In fact, CLICK HERE for urgent ‘first aid business advice’ during COVID-19!
Even better, instead of just surviving COVID-19 here’s a general Action Plan for growing and prospering during any difficult environment in the future…
Watch-Analyze-Pivot-Repeat (WAPR)
OK, I admit that WAPR (pronounced “whopper”) may not be the sexiest acronym. But WAPR has profound implications for all of us in every facet of our lives. Let’s go deeper on each component of WAPR! (I love acronyms!)
A) Watch- Stay dialed in on current events. Not just what happened yesterday or today. ‘Watch forward’ as on what will happen tomorrow, next week next month… based on what you see today! Then…
RESOURCE: Bill Yeadon’s COVID-19 interview with industry expert Barry Costa has gone viral and with good reason. CLICK HERE to watch COVID-19: Stay in Front of an Ever-Changing Crisis with Barry Costa!
B) Analyze- Now take what you’ve observed and think (really think) about what it means. Play ‘what if’ and yes, ‘listen to your gut’ on what events will mean to your family. After your B) careful analysis (this next step is very important) you must…
C) Pivot- As in ACT decisively and quickly. Therefore the word “pivot” as in ‘turn on a dime’! Without pivoting your first two steps of A) watching and B) analyzing will just be a ‘passive spectator sport’! Doubt me? Here’s a…
Personal Example: Seven weeks ago (mid February) I was A) watching and B) analyzing world events and specifically this new disease called the ‘Corona Virus’. (Cue up all the beer jokes that aren’t quite so funny now!) I clearly remember telling Sioux, “Wow! This COVID thing has the potential to tank the markets. I should call our broker…” Wonderful! BUT…
I failed to ‘PIVOT’ as in… ACT decisively and quickly! (Paralyzed by doubt and Displacement Activities I never reached out to our financial advisers.) The result? In just a few weeks a substantial percentage of our net worth simply… evaporated! (Don’t worry about Sioux and me. We’re still fine!)
D) Repeat- The jury is still out on just how dramatically COVID-19 will affect us economically and culturally in the long run. But at the very least this disease will have profound implications over the next year. That means you and I can’t fall back into complacency. We must ‘repeatedly’ continue our new WAPR routine of A) Watching, B) Analyzing and C) Pivoting and then… D) Repeat!
RESOURCE: Our Strategies for Success: Growing Your Business Facebook Group will be a huge help in your WAPR efforts! You don’t have to be a SFS Training graduate to CLICK HERE TO JOIN our 1,000’s of cleaning and restoration contractors!
Steve