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Transcript of Video:

My name is Nick Leighton and for the next few minutes you are exactly where you want to be.

This is originally recorded July 28, 2020 for Facebook Live - uncut and uncensored .

Let’s talk about COVID-19 for a moment - not because there’s not enough information about it out there and we haven’t all read enough about it already - but I want to take an optimistic view for entrepreneurs and business owners

COVID-19 has brought entrepreneurs more opportunity in 2020 than has existed in the past 100-years. When such disruption to business and the economy hits, the true entrepreneur sees opportunity in multiple ways:

1 - Finance: profitability / government aid / PPP / EIDL / refinancing

First - there is government aid - PPP & EIDL. We have a number of resources on our website to help in this area.

If we see a continuation of business disruption then I expect we’ll see even more business focused stimulus - and as we see them we’ll bring them to you.

If you received PPP then look into your reimbursement now - you obviously want to get the maximum forgiveness- and now is about the time to consider that.

If you received EIDL - then look at what you are doing with those finances. There are of course limitation on what you should be doing with this loan, but by taking consideration of the way you are holding your finances and banking, may allow for greater flexibility.

If you’re presently borrowing money - it may be time to reevaluate your loan structure. The EIDL has no payments or interest for 12-months…

And even if you did not get any EIDL, the cost of borrowing is lower now than it has been for a long time - so it may still be worth looking at restructuring your debt.

While you’re at it - check out your personal mortgage… can you get a better rate?

Profitability comes in multiple flavors. It may just be that during COVID you have less expenses… such as payroll and office expenses - so even if your sales are reduced, your profit may have increased month-on-month.

2 - New products / services

New challenges, new opportunities - and that spells an opportunity to slightly updated, or perhaps develop brand new, products and services.

Of course there are COVID related new product categories… who would think facemarks would be so prevalent - or that the second hand market for disinfectant wipes would be so rife.

I haven’t seen the list of the top products killing it during COVID, but my guess is that home fitness equipment, alcohol and many other categories are doing very well.

What I have seen with the business owners that I work with right now, is that it’s easy to get carried away. If you have a core business, then don’t stray too far away from what you know and have felt success in.

Opportunity does not just appear it as a whole new product or service - it could just be the way you deliver it or the pricing structure that you have.

3 - Upgrading the team

Are you taking advantage of so many people that don’t have jobs right now?

There have been massive incentives for those unemployed. As of right now, they end in a few day - which will mean there will be even more people looking for work.

We’ve been plagued by low unemployment rates for so long - that some business owners I know have all but given up recruiting - preferring to take on less work. Seriously. But the tied has turned. Especially if you are interested in taking on team members that have retail experience. I have one business owner that hired a new GM in 4-days and their new GM way exceeds what they had previously.

4 - Improved efficiencies / processes

Either because we need to or have time too. The internal processes are what make us more efficient and bring us less stress and more profitability. Some of these processes needed to be updated as we moved to remote workers or our customer’s demands changed.

Or, it could be that there are more hours in the day, maybe we’re in the car less or Zoom calls has freed up some time for us. Think strategically and invest that time into processes so you can increase your profitability.

5 - life balance

Yes, we seem to be working hard, and it can get exhausting - all that pivoting to stay ahead of the virus and of course - if you have a team - sporting them as much as necessary.

But we also have less wasted time - less in-person networking. So spend time with family and friends - whether you can do that in person, socially distanced or remotely.

But, the biggest opportunity is to invest - right now - in yourself. To re-evaluate what is important to you and how you can strategically achieve that. The world has changed. Business has changed. You have changed.

Take a moment in the next 24-hours to reflect on that and write down your new or updated - Champagne Moment.

If you were going to achieve one thing that is AMAZING in the next 12 to 24 months, what would it be?

It would make your time meaningful and it'd be personally significant to you.

And it’s the power of your business that will allow you to achieve this.

Better still - share right here - on this post.

Join me next Tuesday - when we’ll take another look into Entrepreneurship and business ownership for today’s economy.

My name is Nick Leighton and I wish you passion, profit and happiness.