As the weeks roll by, I am having many conversations with clients about their businesses.
The situations are mixed.
Some clients have seen an immediate loss of income. Some are holding steady. Many are making new sales. Some are just getting rolling with their businesses and are afraid about what is and isn’t possible for growth in this time. Some are rapidly repositioning themselves and others are just figuring out how to get through the day.
I get it.
No one knows exactly what is going to happen next.
How long shut down is going to last.
How different industries or businesses will be affected differently.
Some clients say to me, “Isabel, how can I market? How can I offer my services when I see people around me whose lives have been gutted, who have lost their jobs, whose businesses have shut down overnight? How could there possibly be anyone who would hire me in this environment?”
One thing I keep coming back to in my coaching is this: Don’t take yourself out of the game.
Leave that to someone else, to the times, to the environment.
Don’t fold until you have to fold.
Don’t stop reaching out for new opportunities and new business in the face of the loss around you.
Your going down likely won’t bring them back up, nor will it expand your ability to offer help and resources.
Keep reaching for what you want with all the skill and heart you have available.
Don’t assume that EVERYONE is equally impacted. Don’t assume that NO ONE has the means or the desire to hire you.
Assume that SOME people still need the special brand of support that only you can offer.
Assume that SOME people still have the means to pay you.
If you are called to give, then give something.
But don’t give the store away. Give what you can with generosity while still tending to your business.
Your best chance of thriving is to stay in the game. To give it everything you’ve got.
You may have to shift. You will likely have to adapt. You’ll be called to innovate.
You may need to change your audience a few degrees.
You may need to adjust the services you offer to better meet the times.
You may need to shift the structure or rhythm or style of payment.
You may need to play a longer game, positioning yourself for months down the road when somehow, someway there will be a morning after. When there will be resources to pay you.
But keep showing up.
The work you do matters.
It’s okay to be asked to pay for what you do. To ask to be supported to keep bringing the work into the world. To reach for support to get you and yours through these times.
Assume there are opportunities.
Keep asking to be shown what those might be.
Keep raising your voice to be heard. Someone is listening.
Find your feet. Take the next step.
We don’t know the end to this story yet.