“Phases” is the Word of the Week For Entrepreneurs

Wednesday Wisdom, Inspiration and Business Strategies for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses

Phases are an essential part of life. How else could the moon change from fullness to crescent shape in a month or a baby grow from being held in one’s arms to tittering down a hallway a year later? How could an entrepreneurial seed start as an idea only to expand into a million-dollar enterprise ten years later? Or in today’s pandemic, how could one’s hair, without dye and cuts, go from fashionable to out-of-control? It’s all about phases.

A phase is defined as a clearly distinguishable period in a process, in the development of something, or in a sequence of events. We see the word used more every day as our local and state governments plan an economic reopening of businesses and community activities. Every article in this week’s Syracuse Post Standard outlines different phases of reopening local regions in all areas of life and business cautiously planning on avoiding new cases of the Coronavirus.

One of the articles highlighted the fact small businesses are facing difficulties bringing back hourly employees since unemployment wages are higher than their past hourly rates. An extra $600 a week has been flowing into the bank accounts of employees furloughed by the Coronavirus making it essential for them to survive but near impossible for small business owners to match due to a lack of corporate revenue. There is nothing in life that is all positive or negative, not even the fairness of small businesses trying to get back on their feet.

Becoming a woman entrepreneur meant each of us had to create plans, economic, marketing, and financial ones to phase in our brilliant entrepreneurial idea into a living, breathing business which grew phase, by phase, to where it was in mid-March 2020. I believe the only way for female entrepreneurs to grow again is to do the same type of phase planning we did when we started our companies. As much as we wish we didn’t have to, we must review our business plans and adapt where we see necessary in order to successfully phase ourselves back into viable businesses. We can’t wish this crisis didn’t happen, we must look honestly at where we are, make projections based on our gut feelings and perhaps customer surveys and research, and create our own plans in alignment with government regulations to remain solvent with growth in sight.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is meant to motivate you to create new phases of reopening your business entity as the economy starts again. Part of that exercise must be worst-case scenario planning in case we are hit again with closures this summer or fall. What can you do right now, next month and next quarter to stabilize your finances, communicate with customers, and innovate new services or products to fit the demands of a new way of doing business? You owe it to yourself, employees, and customers to have a plan and communicate it. It is necessary to settle your client’s nerves and yours.

Hopefully, in a year from now, you’ll look back at photos of your overgrown hairdo, relaxed work schedule, and creative plans to stay afloat knowing it was all a phase and loving the fact things are regular again.