Now's
Not the Time for Radical Moves
You need continuity, not more disruption. Focus on safety first--and use these four suggestions as operating guidelines.
BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS @TULLMAN
I'm reading a whole bunch of sage advice from assorted
"experts"-- generally people who don't have to do it themselves -- on
what to do about getting your business back in business. As well intentioned as
these people are overall, it's difficult for me to avoid the conclusion that
they're trying too hard. They're asking people who are still more than a little
shell-shocked about their entire world coming to an abrupt halt to try to get
to heaven in one night. It's a bad bet and bad advice.
Bold moves, big leaps, new directions, and dramatic successes
are right around the corner, say these sages. Sadly, that's not the way the
world works. And it's not the timeframe that we're all gonna be stuck with,
regardless of what the witless one in the White House claims. Being
aggressive is too risky and too expensive for most businesses at this point.
Patience and planning are the best two partners in perilous times like these.
As hard as it is to resist the overwhelming post-pandemic pressure to get out
there and do something, it's a fool's errand because, sad to say, the pandemic
ain't going anywhere any time soon.
Over the last couple of months, I've made my own share of
comments and suggestions, but - by and large - they've been surprisingly conservative (for me, anyway) and largely about process rather than
specifics about products, services, customers, or radical changes in the business. If there are a couple of key ideas, they would be to
"go slow" and "know before you go." Not exactly excerpts
from the entrepreneur's bible, but good solid suggestions in troubled, unclear
and uncertain times. This comes from a lifetime of experience as an
entrepreneur, as someone who has operated businesses in good, bad and
absolutely awful times.
It seems that everyone's got a fairly long list for you of
thoughts, suggestions and strategies and they're all pitched
as priorities - often without stacking or ranking. So basically, you need to do
them all and do them now and good luck with that.
In the very old days (like the 15th century), the word
"priority" was a singular noun. It meant the first and foremost thing
that needed to get done. Today, you'll hear variations on that theme like
"make sure that the main thing is the main thing," but, more often
than not, people will give you an entire list of priorities and assume that you
will figure out the rest on your own. You likely won't. Chasing too many
rabbits at the same time is a guarantee that you'll end up empty handed. It's
like multi-tasking which, for most people, means doing a half-assed job on a
whole lot of things.
So, my plan is different. My list for you has only one priority
for the next year and four modest suggestions to accompany it.
Priority: Keep yourself, your
family, your employees and your business safe and healthy. Nothing else really
matters.
Suggestion No. 1: Keep your company alive until
things get better by hunkering down, simplifying everything, focusing on
retaining and connecting to your customers, and conserving every bit of cash
that you can.
Suggestion No. 2: Don't
be too slow or too proud to ask for help from everyone - lenders, vendors,
investors, landlords and employees as well. Entrepreneurs hate to be
embarrassed or admit that they can't do it all by themselves, but the ones who
survive and thrive going forward will have even thicker skins after taking this
kind of bruising.
Suggestion No. 3: Don't
look too far into the future. Six months right now is a lifetime and you'll
look like an idiot telling people that you have a two- or three-year plan to do
anything at this point.
Suggestion No. 4: Don't
look back. It's a waste of time and energy. Those days are gone - they won't be
returning - and your attention needs to be on tomorrow, not yesterday. No one
ever succeeded in the past.
That's it. Recovery won't happen quickly and won't be easy. It
will require a lot of patience. And it will all be worth the blood, sweat and
tears when you get to the other side. See ya there.