Wheatland County Economic Development - 242006 Range Rd 243

We hear we are in a ‘new normal,’ and it seems like an understatement. Arguments abound about overreacting and panic right through to complete complacency and distrust that anything is different than any other time. The argument doesn’t really matter. Our businesses or our jobs have changed, and it’s undebatable… it’s real, and the opinion spectrum is irrelevant.

If we can get through the fear of loss of ordinary and everything we have built through hard work, can we work our mindset to focus on any positives? I’ve noticed once we turn off the constant media messaging and sit a moment in the quiet is that we have a moment to reflect. The world is slowing down, and that’s the stress, but it’s also a gift that we can get a moment in life to reflect.

My last blog about spring cleaning and planning is now almost forced. We have to plan to keep the lights on, families and staff safe through this forced change. We adapt to changes within our supply chain and maintain customer engagement. These are the stresses now of the day or the new normal. Is there any way to look at this time and see opportunity?

Digging deep and keeping the entrepreneur fired up, can we see beyond survival and where we can be ready when things start up again? Just over 100 years ago, the world lived a similar crisis with the Spanish Flu. Comparing the tragedy by the numbers at this point, the Spanish Flu was much more tragic in lives lost, and hopefully, we don’t see a repeat to that level. The cost to the economy and the day to day of life back then compared to now seems to be playing out similarly, though. Something to notice, though, is what happened to the global economy coming out of the Spanish Flu was a decade of general prosperity. I avoid discussing the end of the 1920’s in this writing. We have enough to process don’t we?

I suggest, though, to seek to exercise your creative mind when you can find those moments. Try to think of what you can control. In our pockets of isolation, we can still connect. Unlike during the Spanish Flu era, our current technology provides a means to communicate much easier and safer than then. It’s time to connect with family and friends a little more.

Can you use the same technology to communicate with your customers? Can you and staff/coworkers blog, vlog, do posts or virtual meet? Can you pivot to engage and grow your customer base in the same way? Perhaps its time to build richer customer relationships as this challenging time is forcing us to pause and slow down.

Maybe its time to use online resources to learn new areas of business and personal development. There is more than Netflix out there. I subscribe to a few online services that I can get some expert advice on multiple topics. When I get an idea, I use online tools and learn from others the ways about that same process or idea and how it has worked for them. Maybe you can do an online course and build your credentials or just simply feel an accomplishment that you can control.

I’m hoping the 20’s will repeat similar or better than 100 years ago. For now, keep safe, keep connected, support (especially those with front-line jobs which keep us all safe and the ‘lights on,’) and inspire others and keep motivated where you can. Exercise your mind and body, and perhaps some of the daily challenges we all seem to have can be more than negative and out of control—Stoke your entrepreneurial fire.