Standing at the front door of 2021 let us enter in, with the right mindset and a viable action plan.
A year ago none of us knew that we were then, on the verge of the most turbulent times for humanity. Covid-19 caught us unprepared! The virus or “silent war” as I call it, has managed to damage our world in a more devastating way than any other war or natural disaster. We all suffered and lost, but no more! We have endured, evaluated, and now it’s time to adapt.
As Covid-19 spread, we watched the world financial markets go through the most devastating crash scenes the one on Wall Street in 1929 and the Global Economy plunge into the worst recession since World War II, as an International Business expert and entrepreneur my analytical nature kicked in. My conclusion is that we need to switch into survival adaptation mode, to overcome the Covid-19 setbacks. Everyone must adapt in 2021, it is crucial more than ever to make unorthodox changes that will ensure our future survival.
In a nutshell, my advice is to Downgrade, Downsize, and go Back to Basics.
These might not suit many, but are the needed temporary measure to help recover. We are all climbing the ladder right? Step by step, up we go, but on this occasion, we have to take 2-3 or even 5 steps back to remain on the ladder. Isn’t that better, rather than falling off?
Let’s explore together how adapting your business or work can help forge forward. One can make similar adaptive lifestyle changes too. I previously hated both these terms – downgrading and downsizing were never used in my business advice vocabulary. Part of my work is to help improve or even rescue businesses, friends often come to me for advice or brainstorming ideas. It was painful to see some of them close down, be made redundant and even I found myself with a handful of clients.
If your business does not fall in the ones thriving from the Covid-19 restrictions, don’t despair, but restructure by downgrading your business and downsizing your operations, rather than shut down completely. Narrow your product range or services, to somehow how fit the current market niche, be creative and resourceful. If you are an employee take a demotion, a pay cut. If unemployed, look for jobs outside your line of work or retrain. Remember, those are only temporary adaptations enabling you to remain in the game, better to have some kind of job rather than no job at all!
My most valuable advice is to go “back to basics”, everyone understands this expression differently and can implement it in various manners, depending on your line of work.
My angle of its adaptive interpretation is that this is no time for competition, but for co-operation. “Mutual support” and “mutual benefit” are forgotten business terms that need to be revived from ancient times. Remember that ladder we are all climbing, how about if you actually fall, but there is a safety net underneath, now that’s what I’m talking about!
Are the trading practices from the past, a way for survival in the future? To find out more about your personal or business innovative adaptation send me an enquiry to office@albenainternational.com
Together we can prevail, 2021 here we come!
Author: Albena Jones
Sofia-Bulgaria
albenajones@yahoo.co.uk