Lockdown Anxiety
I am writing this piece, reminiscing about my past vacations. In particular, I remember my last vacation in 2019 when I was in St. Lucia. It was at that time I wrote Vacation Anxiety – The best thing for your new business. If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend this quick read. It will anchor you for this inverse perspective…
Lockdown anxiety is the new reality for most business owners. It is a feeling of uncertainty of the future. We all hope that this angst should soon pass as lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease. Most businesses have accepted technology such as zoom and cloud computing in attempts to feel as though home is the new office. Unfortunately, not all businesses can benefit from working remotely. Retail shops, restaurants along with other brick and mortar operations have suffered the most during these challenging times.
Businesses will eventually re-open. As vaccines are being distributed, many business owners believe that life will be back to normal and everything will resume where it had left off. Unfortunately, the pandemic has other plans and we must respect its’ undiscriminating power. Lockdown anxiety is a powerful emotion. However if channeled correctly, it could be the biggest asset for most entrepreneurs.
The Lockdown – A Blessing In Disguise
It is said that true wealth is your “Time and Freedom”. The lockdown inadvertently provided us with both – whether we like it or not. Prior to the lockdown, most entrepreneurs would be engaged in the never ending day-to-day grind of working on their business. The eternal dance of perfecting business systems and processes.
Speaking from my own experience – The Lockdown granted me time to re-evaluate my macro goals, both for my businesses and personally. By pressing the pause button on life, I was positioned to view business from 30,000 feet.
A developed business is like a moving train. You can make small tweaks while in motion, however the tracks are set from day one. It’s hard to stop a train with momentum. However, with the engines of business slowing down due to the lockdown, we now have opportunities to pivot and/or pick optional tracks or even change our destination altogether. From an elevated view you can see if, indeed, the destination that you once set out for is still where you want to end up.
The pandemic had a massive impact on every person throughout the world. Governments had to adapt, industries had to reposition themselves. What customers value prior to the pandemic has shifted. The entire business and consumer landscape has changed.
Take this moment to re-evaluate your business. It would be foolish to expect “business as usual” once everything opens up again. It is absolutely critical to notice the nuance differences in the post pandemic world in order to be successful. Businesses that do not accept this reality will suffer a painful demise.
There are too many businesses that were prosperous at one time, yet didn’t adapt to change. They didn’t take time off to see where they were heading, and eventually they derailed. Organizations such as Blockbuster, Kodak, and Toys R Us have all been replaced by businesses’ that were adept to the changing consumer landscape. Netflix and Amazon are perfect examples of companies that are proficient at adapting to change. To these forward thinking organizations, the pandemic simply expedited the inevitable.
Entrepreneurs make their best decisions while living in the moment and accepting their new environment. Change is great. New opportunities and ideas become clearer and a new path is forged ahead.
I believe the pandemic to be a wake up call for all entrepreneurs to re-evaluate their business goals and realign their tracks to success. It’s the perfect time to make the necessary changes in order to adapt to the new world that we are about to enter into.
As I do look forward to eventually taking my family on an epic vacation. The reason for the time off is different. I miss travelling, dining, wine tastings and all that comes with visiting new places and cultures around the world. When it comes to business though – I think these last twelve (12) months were nothing more than one long corporate retreat. A time to reposition your business plan and relaunch. It’s all about perspective.
Cheers,
Lyle Patel
