Ask The Right Questions

9 months is the usual length of time it takes a baby to develop from conception to being born.

During those 9 months, the new parents are preparing for the future, the changes that will be occurring in their lives, especially if they are first time parents.

While each pregnancy is unique, just as each of us human beings are unique, there are several predictable events and circumstances that will be occurring and we have plenty of wisdom from our family and friends along with healthcare and other experts.

You want to know what to expect when you are expecting?  You ask.  You ask the right questions to get the right answers. It’s pretty straight forward.

I’m going to apply this to the past 9 months or so.  We were a couple months into 2020 when we started hearing about what has become the Covid-19 Corona Virus Pandemic. At first we believed it would have a limited impact on a very small number of people in our country and most of us would live our lives as normal.

By April, multiple states had stay at home orders that closed down parts of the economy, led to panic buying of toilet paper and created something that nearly no one in business had ever lived thru before.  100 years ago was the last pandemic of this magnitude and even if a business has been around since that time, the actual people are no longer here to tell us what to do.

So questions were asked about the virus.  How serious is it?  What are the risk factors?  A great political divide was created over the precautions that we should be taking and all of this in the midst of a dozen other political and social battles.

We were learning as we went along and none of us wanted to deal with a deadly virus pandemic that would upend not just our physical health and well being but also mental health, business health, and the well being of our friends, family, co-workers and neighbors.

We also thought that the impact of the virus would be short-lived.  Weeks, not months.  Hopefully not years.

It all boils down to this.

Ask the right questions.

While we rely on the health care experts to work their butts off to find the answers and solutions to halting the spread of the virus and lessen the impact on individuals health, I challenge you to ask the right questions regarding the future of your business.

This fall as the weather changes in Indiana, local restaurants are closing for two reasons.

They can no longer offer outside dining spaces like they did in the warmer weather, so they have limited capacity for social distanced seating.

They are being impacted by people in the midst, either on staff or patrons who have tested positive for the virus which means everyone needs to get tested, the building is shut down and scrubbed clean and they lose even more money.

Here are some of the questions you need to ask yourself for the future of your business:

If the business environment with strict lock-down restrictions were to return and stay in place for all of 2021, how would you adapt the way you operate to provide goods and services to customers and be profitable?

What operating procedures have you changed this year that you will continue, even after the pandemic restrictions are eventually lifted?

What can you improve upon to provide goods and services in the months and years to come that benefit you, your customers and your employees?

What can you do to invite people to spend their money with you no matter what the future holds both health wise and politically?

I know, that last question is an advertising and marketing question.  All three questions are extremely important. In the near future I’ll help you with a refresher on timeless advertising and marketing principles. and in the meantime, if you need help evaluating those first two questions, reach out to me.

I started out talking about the 9 months of pregnancy that new parents go through in joyful expectation.  Believe it or not, even though 2020 has not been as predictable as the birth of a new baby, we are all going to be better in the long run, no matter how many months it takes.