Introduction:

I spoke recently to several entrepreneurs that I have interviewed over the last couple of years, to see how the CoronaVirus had affected them personally and in their business life.

They were asked a series of questions pertaining to the Coronavirus

1. How has the Coronavirus affected your business?
2. Would you have done anything different to be prepared for the Coronavirus?
3. What actions will you take once Coronavirus passes?
4. Will you do anything different in how you run your business going forward?

 

Across the board they have said there is no way to prepare for something this monumental.  All have had their businesses pummeled by the Coronavirus, yet they are in good spirits.

What are their insights that we can apply to businesses and our lives?  Read on.

 

Catherine Kaputa

 

Background

Catherine is personal branding expert that we first spoke to in https://babyboomercashnow.com/a-leading-expert-says-this-must-be-done-for-your-business/

She is a brand strategist, speaker, and author that popularized the topic of personal branding.  She has been featured on CNN, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, Fortune, WSJ, and other media.  Her works have been published in 10 languages and is considered one of the top branding experts in the world.

Catherine’s website:  https://www.selfbrand.com

How has the Coronavirus affected your business?

Being a speaker meant conferences, corporate meetings, all of which came to an abrupt stop when the Coronavirus hit.  The pandemic devastated her business.  She lives in New York City, were subway ridership dropped 95%, and the City, as NYC is called, is a ghost town.  Fortunately for her, she escaped to her cabin in upstate New York in the early days of the Pandemic.

I asked her if she would have done anything differently prior to the pandemic, to be prepared.  She said, “Business was going very well.  I wasn’t marketing as much because at this stage in my life I was running the business but also traveling and enjoying life.”

She went on to discuss how she is utilizing her time during the crisis.

“I’ve been thinking about how business will be in the future.  The country and businesses need to be prepared.  Something like this could happen again; you can’t take anything for granted.  Part of being prepared is making sure you are active in your network.

With that being said, this is a tremendous time to invest in yourself.  I’m auditing a class at Colombia University on Baby boomers, about how they will live long past retirement.  They will need to make many decisions.  How will they spend those years?  It is important to have a purpose, to have meaningful work.  Work is important to feeling valued.  The key is to determine what is important.  I feel energized through this time.

It’s important for people to understand they can’t count on anything except themselves.  I’m seeing a different mindset between Baby Boomers and Millennial.  The millennials are pessimistic, aren’t very hopeful about the future, whereas Boomers are hopeful.  I think it is because the Boomers have been through a lot, good times and bad.  They grew up on the 60s with the Vietnam War and protests and on into the 70s where there were long lines at the gas station, high unemployment, and high inflation.  Yet by the mid-8os, the US was doing very well, which continued for many years.  Boomers tend to be adaptive and that we will come out stronger from this.  I think it is because the Boomer parents grew up in the depression and emphasized savings, therefore a lot of boomers will go through this and will be affected financially but have sufficient savings to see them through.

When 9/11 occurred (Sept. 11, 2001) I was working at Citi Smith Barney and because of 9/11 300,000 people lost their jobs overnight

The financial crisis of 2008-09 was even worse.   Lehman’s stock became worthless as they went bankrupt and Citi stock went to $1.   I had friends that were wiped out because not only had they lost their job, but their retirement was invested solely in the company stock that was now worthless.

It is important to diversify, to have options and be prepared, for whatever comes.  The Coronavirus pandemic is a crisis, so learn how work in a crisis.  Don’t waste time thinking about what you should have or shouldn’t have done.  Take the time to sit down and think strategically.  The food supply, banks and remote connectivity is working so you don’t need to scramble for your next meal.  The problem is there are so many people that are just getting by and they need to learn from this experience.  Today I’m doing what I love, and it wouldn’t be doing what I love it if I hadn’t acted during a traumatic time.

 

Takeaways from Catherine:

1. Crisises will happen. Be prepared as possible.
2. Learn from today’s pandemic, but don’t paralyze yourself by what you should or shouldn’t have done prior to the pandemic
3. Save money, tough times will occur.
4. Diversification is the key.
5. Invest in yourself. Use this downtime to learn.

 

 

Rick Lochner

A common theme among the entrepreneurs interviewed for this blog post is that they are upbeat, and Rick Lochner is no exception.  Rick is a leadership coach, entrepreneur, and author of several books including his latest, I’m Still Sayin’…: More Revelations for Making Leadership a Way of Life.

Rick refuses to define the Covid-19 pandemic as a crisis, to use terms like devastation (so when the word “crisis” or similar words are used, it is Alan speaking).  When people use terms like “devastation” or “crisis”, they have strong emotions tied to it.  It creates an emotion of hopelessness.  The mental approach and the terms that are used are very important.  Rick’s business was initially down 40%, but he is energized.

Rick’s website:  https://rpcleadershipassociates.com/

Would you have done anything different, to prepare for this crisis?

“I was prepared for something like this from Day 1.  First, my business is diversified; I have a good mixture of clients (corporate leaders, non-profit leaders, entrepreneurs), all of which are affected in different ways.  It is important to not be dependent on one type of customer.  It is important to have flexibility in your business model.  Small business owners have been hit hard by the lockdown, so that area of my business is impacted the most.”

He goes on to says, “I focus on what I can control, what I actions I can take.  I’ve been a user of Zoom from the beginning and use it to coach, such as webinars and webcasts.  So, the move to a virtual environment has been pretty easy.”

Small Business Challenges

We have too many leaders that are solely focused on the problem right in front of them. The current problem is tangible, it is known, therefore easier to handle. But it is important for them to not focus just what is front of them, but also on what is ahead of them.  There are many things that could happen during the recovery; we are in uncharted waters.  When the curve flattens, people will be looking to effective leadership for next steps.

When this is over, the recovery may be very slow; especially for restaurants, airlines, hotels; any business that has a large concentration of people in one place.

Effective business planning has always had 1) best case 2) worst case 3) most likely case scenarios.  Today, with so many unknowns, there are many possible outcomes.  Therefore, many potential scenarios need to be thought through and planned for accordingly.

But there is a good way to determine what steps our leaders will take.  Based upon the leader’s natural character, we can predict how they will act.  In crisis situations, people act according to who they really are, their natural selves

What Actions are you taking today? 

I’m based in Chicago, so I’ve downloaded the Governor’s recovery plan and am in the processes of reviewing.  Illinois is divided into different sectors, so I examined the source of data for the recovery plans for each sector of Illinois, especially the ones where my local clients reside.  Effective business owners don’t make decisions without proper data.

The leaders in the Chicago area have very different challenges from the leaders in southern Illinois or the western suburbs, so different decision assumptions need to be made.  Understanding the different measurements involved and the likely decisions are the assumptions every leader can build into their re-opening plan.

What is key to understand in this crisis?

There will be a form of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) from this event.  Perception lags fact by several cycles so the perception will have to managed along with the facts.  People are used to a good economy and haven’t fully realized the new reality of high unemployment and the new rules of engagement.  Mark Cuban, a well-known business leader, had secret shoppers go to retail establishments and found less than ½ are complying with the regulations for how they interact with customers.  The reality hasn’t set in yet.

This PTSD effect will be very emotional when it hits home.  The president of a local chamber of commerce told him that people are very emotional when discussing what is occurring and how it has devasted their business.  While there will be some recovery in the second half of 2020, he went on to say that he doesn’t expect a full recovery until late 2021.  People will be scarred from this for a long time.

 

Key Takeaways from Rick

1. Use the right language when describing this event. Don’t define it in emotional terms.  If you do, it will have a negative effect on your psyche and will take longer for the receiver to understand your core message.
2. The immediate situation will pass fairly soon. Plan for the future.  Don’t get caught unprepared for the recovery by waiting for ideal situations to actively recover your business.
3. The recovery will likely be slower and much longer than people expect. Plan accordingly for multiple scenarios
4. Understand in a crisis situation, people make decisions based on their natural true character, for better or for worse.

 

 

 

Lou Costabile

Background

We first spoke to Lou on his multiple streams of income and how to diversify your business.

https://babyboomercashnow.com/multiple-streams-of-income-interview-with-entrepreneur-lou-costabile/

 

Lou has 4 main businesses.

• ARS Technology Inc. – http://www.arstechnology.com/
• YouTube Channel – My Car Story with Lou Costabile – https://www.youtube.com/user/loucostabile
• CFO Mastermind Group – https://www.cfomastermindgroup.com/
• True Power Martial Arts – http://www.truepowermartialarts.com/

All his businesses have been affected by the Coronavirus, in some cases dramatically.

 

ARS Technology

ARS Technology is an IT staffing firm.  With the decline in the economy, businesses have cut back on staff to preserve cash.  The first to go are contractors.  Fewer contractors mean less revenue for his firm.

YouTube Channel – My Car Story with Lou Costabile

With much of US (actually, the world), staying at home, there is a dramatic increase in video demand.  Add to that, that live sports have stopped and there is an even more demand for video, in particular car videos.  There is only one problem.  There are no car shows, which is where Lou creates his videos.  They have all been cancelled for the foreseeable future. However, the Coronavirus has affected some parts of the country more than others.  The Phoenix area (Maricopa county) has had 5500 Coronavius cases, whereas the Chicago area (Cook county) has had 10 times the number of cases (over 55,000).  That doesn’t include surrounding Chicago counties like Lake and DuPage.  While it was challenging to obtain videos in the Phoenix area (everyone is cautious and keeps their distance from others), Lou was able to do so.  He has combined previous videos to create new videos.  The increase in new subscribers and views (53% in April) has been a boon to his business.

True Power Martial Arts

With Social Distancing, his martial arts group doesn’t meet in person, but rather virtually.  Lou is still able to teach classes through the Internet.  Many members of his club endorse the idea of virtual, while others want to spar, which is not possible currently.  Revenue has declined.

CFO Mastermind Group

While all of Lou’s businesses have been impacted, but not all have been impacted equally.  His CFO Mastermind group in Downers Grove (suburb of Chicago) went virtual and the meetings have been a success.  He is also working on creating a downtown Chicago CFO Mastermind with aspects of virtual meetings.  With virtual, it has made him think of CFO Mastermind groups in other cities (he does have real estate business in the Phoenix area).

 

Key Takeaways from Lou:

1. Have a positive attitude. Don’t ponder what should or shouldn’t have been done, take action.
2. Pivot, change as business changes and change fast.
3. Determine what type of action each business needs. The Pandemic is unpresented.  Everyone is flying by the seat of their pants; it is difficult to know what to do; but take action.
4. Diversification means while some businesses decline, others increase, and that is smart business.
5. Invest time in businesses have the most potential for growth, however, all businesses need attention (e.g. must invoice clients each month).
6. Each day ask, which business can I make an impact on?
7. Address more than one business at a time. A trip to work on real estate in Phoenix is combined with capturing and creating videos for My Car Story with Lou Costabile.
8. The hunter (entrepreneur) gets less sleep and get it done. Discipline is what is important.  Keep taking action on your businesses.

 

 

Russ Riendeau, PhD.

 

Background

Russ Riendeau, PhD. has a successful executive search company, New Frontier, https://www.newfrontiersearch.net/ and is an author of several books.  We last spoke to him concerning how to get started in writing.  Like the other entrepreneurs we have spoken to, Russ’s business has been impacted by Covid-19.  Yet he is in good spirits and is investing in himself during this time.

Alan:  How are you doing?

Russ:  I’m doing well.  I’ve done a lot of research on resiliency during this time, even writing about it.   It is a quality in successful people.  One of the areas I’m studying is “How do we get resilient as adults?”  It is a mindset; it is part of our DNA.  Some are physically resilient.  And there are others that have an emotional resiliency.  Do people collapse, retreat or even get paralyzed or are they problem solvers? People were going through the pandemic as stages of grief.

 

Alan:  How has the Coronavirus affected your business?

Russ:  It affects executive search, because leaders are in a crisis mode.  They are preoccupied with how people work from home, putting off everything until after the crisis.  They need to replace people, or someone left the firm, but they are paralyzed.

Financial crisis in 2008-09 was different, people had the ability to relocate, travel, could interview, be proactive in their role, whether it be sales, or other business area.  In a Pandemic, you are locked down, business just grinds to a halt.  Currently, entrepreneurs are, as the REO Speedwagon song goes, Ridin’ the Storm Out.

The pandemic will flush out 10 – 25% of the executive search business, because they didn’t have cash reserves or other reasons.  For every week I stay in business, there will be 3 that don’t know what to do and will go out of business.

 

Alan:  What are you doing during this time?

Russ:  Investing in myself and my life.  I’ve been more physically active that before, I’ve organized personal items, am writing music, and I’m working on a book of poetry.

 

Alan:  What actions will you take once Coronavirus passes?

Russ:  I will curtail money for restaurants, travel (had trip to Paris planned). Will not go back to the normal, such as going to big parties (because the spread of disease).  Big entertainment doesn’t hold the same value as it did before such as movies, sporting events, and other big events.

 

Alan:  Will job search change after the pandemic?

Russ:  Companies will ask, “what did you do to improve your personal, skills, mental and physical health during the Coronavirus?”  There needs to be a solid answer that shows a person being proactive.

Or they will ask, “why were you laid off, and other people were kept?”  The response should be something like, “, I understand why they let me go, if I was the boss, I would have done the same thing.  I had not taken responsibility for the upgrade of skills and my learning.  I figured what was wrong and fixed it.”

 

Alan:  Will you do anything different in how you run your business going forward?

Russ:  I will be more particular to how marketing money is spent going forward.  Will really determine the benefits of particular types of advertising.

Alan:  Is there anything that I should have asked that I didn’t ask?

Russ:  I have always been a voracious reader.  It has been easier to maintain that disciple of proactive behavior through this situation, and I will come out on the other side more prepared and I’m grateful to not have to worried about being able to pay a bill.  Gratitude is the only self-help that helps you feel better.

 

Key Takeaways from Russ:

1. Be grateful to have good health during this time.
2. Be proactive and work on improving yourself.
3. Once the pandemic passes, think through how money will be spent in your business and on non-business items.