I am obsessed with building cash flow projections and financial scenario planning. Seriously.

I’ve spent the last several months working with small businesses in industries hit hardest by COVID, including personal services (i.e. salons), daycare providers, and specialty retailers. In addition to providing technical assistance to support them in applying for grants and loans, I’ve been talking with owners about the business of their business.

We’ve explored marketing and sales strategies, ways to retain current clients, techniques for identifying and reaching new target markets, e-commerce implementation, re-engaging former clients, pricing, payment terms/collection, developing new products and services, using new distribution channels, and so on. Some of these things are feasible with the resources on hand. Other changes and pivots require capital—money not all businesses have to invest in new strategies and tactics.

Very quickly, the conversation turns to cash flow—how they are managing the flow of money in and out of the business, including cash and cash equivalents from operating activities, investment activities, and financing activities. The ability to manage cash flow is a critical business skill (not an accounting function). Cash flow statements help owners measure the relative strength, profitability, and long-term future outlook for their company. They also reflect the positive and negative impact of business decisions on the bottom line.

The Value of Cash Flow Projections

In addition to providing insight to the current and future profitability and sustainability of the business, cash flow statements and projections are tools that help us get a sense of how hard the business has been impacted by the COVID-19 recession, how leadership is feeling about Q4 of 2020, and what they think 2021 might look like—because these feelings and beliefs manifest as implicit and explicit business decisions.

More often than not, my clients only have a vague sense of these things. They know revenue is down and that they have cut expenses. They know what their bank balance is. They have a hard time imagining what the future—a few weeks to several months—might hold. They want to make decisions and act but are struggling to figure out the next best step.

Frankly, it can be scary to run the numbers and turn vague impressions into hard realities. And yet, I promise, it really is the best thing you can do to get and maintain control over your business. A lot of things are out of our control. We can’t force people to buy, or reduce many of our fixed costs. We can’t predict another lockdown or whether someone on our team will get sick. So we have to control what we can.

Cash flow projections for 2020 and scenarios for 2021 give us ways to identify the most important things to pay attention to and build plans for getting the outcomes we want.

For example:

I work with a specialty promotional product maker. Much of their business is driven by special events such as walks, runs, bike rides, family reunions, conferences, and other nonprofit and corporate events. They have a strong base of local small business clients and when companies started temporary closures, shifted to work from home, and canceled events, their business slowed down considerably.

They immediately looked at ways to save money (supplies, materials, reducing staff size and hours), pursued loan and grant opportunities, and brainstormed ways to keep sales coming in. Each strategy helped in different ways but until they plotted the actual revenue, expenses, and capital investments in Q1, Q2, and Q3, they really could not assess whether they had saved and earned enough or what it would take to break even by year’s end.

By doing the cash flow analysis and projections, they could very clearly see their current financial position, as well as what the remainder of the year would require in terms of sales and cost-control. It helped them set goals—targets for revenue and expenses—around which to build focused strategies and monitor results in real-time. They can look several months ahead, then develop and implement a plan now that has the best potential to maximize revenue from existing and new customers in the coming months.

This is key: doing projections helps you create a plan, take actions that you can monitor and measure, and reduce variability, and increase the predictability of success. If you need to renew 30% of prior year customers and bring in two new orders totaling $20K in order to make your desired revenue goal for November, the sooner you know that and the more time you have to make that happen the more likely you are to succeed.

While the outcomes can’t be guaranteed, without a plan failure is inevitable. With a plan, you can do everything reasonable and feasible to make your financial assumptions a reality.

Building Cash Flow Scenarios

The next step is to take what you know about how your business is performing in 2020 and run scenarios for 2021 using that information and the data you have from prior years. Like my clients, there are several things that will factor into your scenarios:

The goal is to think about best, worst, and likely scenarios so you can do your best to anticipate what resources you will need and what actions will be required to tip the scales in favor of success.

Why Build Scenarios?

Like me and my clients, you have people counting on you. Your family, the employees, and contractors you hire, the vendors you buy from, the clients you serve. That’s a lot of responsibility. Even for those small businesses that have seen an increased demand for their goods and services during this time, success is not a forgone conclusion. Increased revenue doesn’t automatically and inevitably lead to increased profitability. While we can’t predict the future, we can look at what we know, make educated assumptions, think through possible futures, and use that information to plan, act, evaluate, reorient, and repeat on an ongoing basis.

Here’s the thing: knowing what the future could look like gives us the opportunity to think through what we can do to try and create the future we want. That’s the art of business management and strategy—planning and execution to create desired financial results. It’s time to practice your futurism skills.

Cash Flow Scenario Examples

Worst case: Let’s say you have seen a drop in revenue this year. Perhaps your worst-case scenario is another drop of comparable size in year over year revenue for 2021. Or a delayed recovery with revenue returning to pre-COVID levels in Q3 or Q4 of 2021. Maybe revenue stays steady but your cost of raw materials or shipping costs increase. The idea is to look at What if X happens and think through what impact it may have on the bottom line and what sources of capital (savings, lines of credit, loans, grants, investors) might you have or need to make it through times when net revenue is down.

Best case: This is your most optimistic outlook for 2021. Perhaps expenses remain relatively constant with no new cuts needed and revenue declines stop or revenue starts to slowly rise. Or you may have entered a new market or launched a new product/service at the end of 2020 that helps accelerate revenue growth in 2021. It might be that your current customers have decided to invest in things that will accelerate their own growth and are ready to buy again. This scenario looks at how things might improve—return to pre-COVID levels or even better—and the reasons you believe that can happen. It may also prompt you to think about how you will eventually reinvest your profits to maintain growth and increase profitability moving forward.

Likely case: Somewhere between the best case and the worst case is what is likely to happen. It is neither overly optimistic nor conservative. It blends the most likely revenue, expense, and access to capital scenarios.

You may have several best, worst, and likely scenarios. This is when it pays to work with a professional who can help you build spreadsheets that allow you to change and test different variables with minimal inputs and edits, and where getting down to granular levels of detail can really matter.

In the end, the cash flow scenarios you build will give an important tool for making immediate decisions regarding strategy and tactics, as well as a way to monitor those assumptions and compare them to actuals over time.

Remember, what we are talking about is financial planning, not accounting. You may use some data and reports from your accounting system to inform this work. However, the bulk of this knowledge will come from you and what you know about your business and your industry. Businesses coaches and strategic business advisors can help you tap into and unlock this way of thinking.

Over the past several weeks, I, like you, have received countless statements of “solidarity” from big corporations, nonprofits, and small businesses. I’ve even helped edit a few such statements. 

While those statements are an important part of the process, many of us have also been down this road before. A statement is made, actions are suggested for others, no action is pledged by the institution, and/or what is offered are surface-level activities that reinforce the idea that solutions can be easy, instant, and consistent with the current worldview. Others may not have felt compelled to address institutionalized racism and White supremacy before or have exerted the privilege White people have to disengage from the conversation (a privilege not extended to our colleagues who are Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC). 

Often in my role as an employee, business owner, board member, consultant, and sector leader working to advance racial and gender equity, I’ve been told to stay in my lane. The idea being that my lane is entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurship is about making money and creating wealth—not dismantling racism. Nevermind that businesses that have diverse leadership teams and build diverse, inclusive, and equitable corporate cultures actually outperform their competitors or that untold millions are left on the table every day by investors unwilling to invest in women and BIPOC founders. 

Advancing equity and dismantling systems of oppression is our job as human beings, especially in “our lanes” where we have the greatest potential to influence change. 

I believe we can affect tremendous change in whatever places and roles we find ourselves. So I looked at my lane and, starting back in 2016, began to apply a racial equity lens to my work. 

At the time, it was to look at how my two-person team could codify our commitment to racial equity by documenting our process (creating a racial equity rubric) so that we could be more intentional in our work and leave a roadmap for others in the organization to follow. 

Today, part of that work is helping small business owners—solopreneurs and owners with small teams—understand the role they can play in creating anti-racist business practices.

The Role of Culture

Regardless of the size or age of your company, it has a culture. Cultures don’t simply happen, they are created—intentionally or unintentionally. Every decision we don’t make has as much impact on our company culture as the ones we do. And how we choose to engage in that decision-making or act in alignment with our values, impacts everyone with whom we do business. 

Our contractors, employees, vendors, and customers are looking for real commitments and deserve our authentic allyship. This means going beyond statements and taking action in practical, measurable, ongoing ways. 

Based on my personal practice to become anti-racist, I’ve thought about what I can do as a business owner, and how other solopreneurs and small business owners can build anti-racist companies. 

Taking Action

Developing anti-racist business practices is an ongoing process. You will make mistakes, need to apologize, and to try again. I have and do. In this process, you will need to be vulnerable and authentic. You will always be learning—you will never arrive. I can think of no better way to build your capacity as a leader in business and your community. Welcome to the journey.

If I could label the theme of the past two months, at least for small businesses, it would be this: how to pivot. 

Our first pivot was dramatic and unexpected. The nation shut down and businesses everywhere shut their doors. That was out of our control. 

For some businesses, the choice to pivot from brick and mortar storefronts to online products and services was the only realistic solution. Others moved into adjacent and temporary product lines—clothing designers, t-shirt companies, and other textile companies started making masks. 

Other businesses did not (and do not) have an obvious next step. They are very good at what they do and there is no longer a market for that competency (and may not be one for the foreseeable future). As they work on figuring out what’s next, the initial pivot is from an external focus to one that prioritizes customer retention and increased attention to the business of their business—planning. 

But now, as states, local regions, and businesses begin to reopen, it is time to pivot once more. And navigating this pivot means answering some challenging questions.

Is it Time For Me to Pivot?

I was recently on a video call for the St. Louis region, State of St. Louis Business: Weekly Call with Local Leaders. It was there that I was able to further articulate some of my thoughts around this theme of transitioning—or pivoting—business in this time of crisis. 

I don’t think everyone can pivot. Nor do I think all businesses will survive this crisis. I do believe that the same questions that new, startup businesses need to answer are the ones existing businesses must address when deciding whether their next move will postpone the inevitable, or truly reposition them for future success.

As we move into reopening and reimagining our businesses, there are three things we must ask in order to determine if, when, and how to pivot.

  1. What new problems are there to solve? Or can I solve existing problems in a new way?
  2. Am I in a position to solve them?
  3. Will anyone pay me to solve them?

It always starts with understanding what problem you are solving and for whom. Ultimately, the customer will tell you whether it is a problem worth solving and one that they will pay you (a sufficient amount, consistently) to solve. 

There are lots of problems to solve. The ones that persist—the seemingly intractable ones—often have no payor. For established businesses looking to move into new markets, or for ways to serve their existing market in new ways, the revenue model is critical. It’s not just “can we do it?” but, “should we do it?” What will it take? What’s the reward? How can I test key assumptions to make sure I have a good sense of what to expect before investing time and money into making the shift? 

It’s also important to distinguish between a shift that makes sense in the short term, versus a long-term realignment of company vision, strategy, and execution. Sailmakers shifting to making masks and face shields is a short term way to use existing resources (people, inventory, and equipment) to provide real, immediate value. 

It is unlikely, however, that future mask sales will ever be able to replace sail making revenue or that the company will have the resources to retool its manufacturing operations to move entirely out of the sailing industry into the PPE vertical. If sailboat sales decline and owners forgo repairs, the sailmaker has few choices. Then again, if during this time they find a partner and build new relationships in the PPE market, they may be able to transition into a whole new line of business—the ultimate pivot.

New Solutions in a Time of Crisis

I have seen many great examples of businesses reimagining their key service or product in the midst of COVID-19, both in St. Louis and around the country. 

In the tech industry, it is common to pivot, even on a normal day, so it stands to reason that we are seeing (and will continue to see) great examples of this come out of that space. 

A Seattle company is one example. Business events, trade shows, and conferences use their technology to connect with attendees before and during the event. With all gatherings being postponed or canceled, however, they faced the possibility of losing all of their business overnight. 

Instead, they chose to pivot. They saw the impending shift from in-person events to virtual events and decided to adjust their product and services to offer support to event coordinators who were also pivoting from physical to online venues. Now they help those event coordinators create two-way video chat rooms to recreate the networking feel of an in-person business event.

Locally, that has played out with several of my clients in the corporate event space who are forging new relationships with online meeting tech experts and carving out a niche as online event specialists. They provide value from a production management perspective and can help their clients (the event hosts) by taking on the responsibility of sourcing the right technology to create the desired event experience. This is an experience that will need to become increasingly sophisticated as we all grow accustomed to Zoom calls and demand more from our virtual and hybrid experiences, be they multi-day events or live-streamed yoga classes.

Their choice to pivot is a focus on the long game. They can’t replace their gigs for spring and summer, but they can position themselves as expert partners for event hosts who will need to continue planning activities for fall and beyond. 

The faster the platform experts and the event planning experts can assess the market need, adapt their products and services, and get real-time feedback from current and prospective clients on what they want, the faster they can pivot to retain and attract new business. 

This is just one example of a business pivot, but regardless of your industry or business type, the solutions and decision to pivot come from the same place:

  1. What new problems are there to solve? Or can I solve existing problems in a new way?
  2. Am I in a position to solve them?
  3. Will anyone pay me to solve them?

As you ask the important questions about how to reopen safely and what our new reality will mean for your product, service, or business as a whole, take the time to ask the key questions that will help you determine if it is time to reimagine your business.

Taking the Next Step in Business

For many business owners, myself included, pivoting is hard. We are learning new skills, and rethinking how to deliver what, just three months ago, was a known quantity. 

Since the beginning of the quarantine, I have advised clients to over-communicate—stay in touch with employees, vendors, and customers. Now it’s time to use those communication channels to test your new ideas and get feedback. 

In the midst of it all, be sure to mind your mindset. You don’t have to be relentlessly positive. You do have to focus on abundance. Invest in yourself. Invest in your business (run the numbers and measure results).

Separate your personal ability to be nimble and resilient from that of your company. You will survive this. Your business may, too. Both will be different. Be excited by what comes next, whatever it may be. 

If you think it may be time to pivot, or you know it is and you aren’t sure how to begin, I’m here to help. Sometimes the best way forward, in any situation, is together.

I recently shared a story about preparedness on LinkedIn. It was my first startup and there was no plan in place for a crisis, when our offices suddenly flooded. But we were lucky. With a quick look at who and what was mission-critical, and access to our data in the cloud, there was no downtime at all. It was work, as usual, the very next day. 

In that case, I learned the value of being prepared for the unexpected—particularly the adverse circumstances we may face as business leaders and owners like the unprecedented health and economic situation we are all currently facing. 

And while contingency plans for a crisis are important—and completely necessary—there are other types of preparedness we must choose as leaders. Preparation for growth, change, and opportunities, just to name a few. 

Right now, the most important level of preparedness for many is having the basic infrastructure in place so they can quickly apply for and use economic relief resources. Up-to-date financial information, accurate tax filings, consistent documentation of owner’s draws, readily accessible copies of corporate documents, financial forecasts, proper insurance coverage, established relationships with bankers, lawyers, accountants, and other advisors—these are among the basic requirements for sound business operations, and prerequisites for loan applications. It’s not too late to get your house in order. 

Looking ahead, we know there will be a time when the challenges are less dramatic, stressful, and threatening. On the other side of unforeseen circumstances lives opportunity. And when opportunity meets preparedness, anything is possible. 

If I Had a Million Dollars

One of the biggest opportunities we seek in business is that of additional profit and capital, or, simply put; money. We need money in order to upgrade, expand, hire, innovate, and grow. But what happens if we aren’t prepared to take effective action when the opportunity for more money comes our way? For many of us, that day may feel far off, but there are sectors where demand has increased exponentially and where demand will return faster than others.   

Preparing for the opportunity to secure and deploy capital goes beyond maintaining the status quo. It requires you to envision how you will use the money to sustain growth and profitability. 

Now is the time to get in the habit of developing financial scenarios—forecasts that document your assumptions about revenue and expenses in a given quarter, year, or period. You’ll use a combination of historical data (your financial statements), your knowledge of the current market situation (external factors), and your best assumptions based on your strategy (internal factors). Since no one has a crystal ball, you need to run best, average, and worst-case scenarios to stress test your assumptions and plan. Document your assumptions, and review and update on a regular basis. 

It’s a skill that requires practice and a willingness to be unflinching when assessing the internal and external factors impacting your business. But doing so allows you to identify when to stay the course, pivot, or bailout. Most people don’t do forecasting alone.

Why Preparedness is the Key

We think money is the answer. Our thought process says, If I had more of it, life would be better, easier, less complicated. 

What we know in business and in life, however, is that more money doesn’t always lead to the outcomes we desire. When money is infused into broken systems, it is used up before it can lead to lasting change. We see this when lottery winners who go broke, and venture-backed firms go bankrupt. 

Not all money is good money. And money without a plan can be worse than no money at all. Even money intended to help us stabilize our businesses, keep people employed, and survive the current crisis may have unintended consequences. It is easier to evaluate new opportunities when you already have people and processes in place. 

The more time you spend setting up and tending to the business of your business, the better prepared you will be to deal with current and future circumstances. Spend some time:

Every action, every decision should be based on a clear vision backed by a specific strategy and well-defined roles for everyone involved. Bad decisions (which will happen) are costly and need to be minimized. While a lack of money is problematic, it does require us to be creative, resourceful, and resilient as we work on being prepared for the future. 

Money, on the other hand, can give us the freedom to be less precise. This is particularly true when we get an influx of money without preparation. It allows us to make decisions that feel good, productive, and important. But decisions that aren’t necessarily strategic and effective. 

Being prepared lets you be resourceful, creative, and strategic with as much information and foresight as possible.

Building a Contingency Plan for Opportunity

Whether you are executing a pivot—changing product or service lines, targeting a new market, exploring a new territory, moving to a new sales channel—or are focused on surviving, planning now can help you thrive later. As is often the case in business, the money likely won’t come unless you can demonstrate to yourself and others how that money will allow you to accelerate success and create sustainable profitability.

Don’t do it alone. Lean into your peers, mentors, advisors, trusted friends, leadership team, and professional experts to share ideas, test assumptions, and talk things through. You need a variety of perspectives and specialties to understand and respond to the complex opportunities before us. Whatever our new normal ends up being, it will require new plans, skill sets, expertise, and resources. Let the hard work you are doing now—to react and respond to the unforeseen and unprecedented—lead you to think about the plan you need to have in place for the opportunities of tomorrow. 

Purpose First Advisors supports small businesses, growth-stage companies, and entrepreneur support organizations by providing strategic business consulting and coaching. Contact us to learn more or to book a consultation with our team.

We all communicate differently. Depending on who you ask, there are anywhere from 3 to 6 (or more) styles of communication that we all implement at varying degrees and in certain situations. Regardless of how you choose to communicate, however, the art of communication itself remains a core function of leadership, especially in our current reality. Business owner, publicist, board member, strategist, or entrepreneur—whatever your current role—there are certain tools that remain essential on a normal day and in the midst of a crisis. Communication is one of those tools.

Be Authentic and Consistent 

One question we are all facing right now is: how? How do I effectively communicate with my clients and customers? What do I tell my employees if I can’t see past the next month? How do I keep lines of communication open when I don’t know what to say? 

There is no one-size-fits-all solution to our current dilemma. Others are asking the same questions you face every single day. And while your leadership style, situation, or business may warrant a unique approach to communication, there are a few things we have in common that we can learn from one another. There are ways to communicate that will help us be effective, cautious, and empathetic. 

Communication—especially now, but even pre-COVID—is more helpful to our audience when it is authentic and consistent. Authenticity allows us to pull from our own experiences, our current struggles and achievements, to meet people where they are. It means we are open, accessible, and honest. And it means we can be trusted. 

When it comes to consistency in communication, it is important to note that even on a good day, according to research done by Scientific American, processing verbal input requires a fair amount of thought and focus. And today is not your average day. 

It is okay to share information more than once. In fact, this is a great time to over-communicate. We’re all overwhelmed, so hearing things multiple times in different ways from different people helps us integrate new information. 

Authentic and consistent communication, particularly now, means being more vulnerable and transparent than you may have been previously. It is a reminder to those around you that we are on this journey together—owner, employer, client, vendor, customer, and employee.

Outbound Communication

In the midst of our efforts to be great communicators during this time, it isn’t unusual to make some missteps in our outbound communication. Brands and businesses everywhere are wondering what is appropriate to share with their audience. Is it okay to pitch a new business idea or product? How do we acknowledge the crisis in front of us and still do business? 

If you aren’t sure what to say, take a moment to pause. I have spent a lot of time over the past several weeks pausing to re-evaluate. What do business leaders need to hear right now? What questions are they asking? And what information will be most beneficial in their immediate situation?

The same applies to our customers and our digital audience. It is okay to pause and evaluate the best way forward, but don’t stop talking altogether. Let your customers know that you are still here and that you are in this with them. And give them the opportunity to continue to support you and your business. People want to act but, as always, they need to be invited to take action. Those who can’t afford to buy right now won’t take offense if you are true to your mission and values. Conversely, those who can buy won’t unless you make it clear how their purchase relates to their values. 

By applying the practice of authenticity and consistency to your outbound communication, you can continue to build trust and connection with your customers. What does that look like? Educate your customers about what is happening in your industry, your business, or how you are implementing CDC best practices. Share how you are collaborating with other businesses to help those in need. Help them solve problems that they are currently facing. Be a trusted resource. And above all, keep communicating. 

Keeping Employees and Contractors Informed

On the other end of your business are those who help keep it running smoothly. Leading our teams requires that same authentic communication. 

For those who have employees and/or independent contractors, it is incredibly important to communicate what you know about the state of your business and how it’s being impacted by COVID-19. That means telling them what you know, as well as what remains unclear. 

Help them understand what you have identified as mission-critical areas of focus. What key decision points are you evaluating? How can your employees help ensure that the company is okay now and for the long term? 

While you don’t need to distribute your P&L to your entire staff, now is a great time to make sure everyone understands the status of core customers and accounts, what new business is in the pipeline, what projects have scaled back or are on hold. And as difficult as it is to discuss money, now is the time to let your team members know what changes the company is making to preserve cash and manage cash flow. 

Above all, leading with clear, authentic communication gives you an opportunity to invite your employees and team members into the process of responding to a challenge that impacts the entire company. You don’t have to navigate this journey alone. Communication clears the way for you and your team to work together to retain business, connect with potential new customers, support each other, and stay focused on revenue. Stay authentic. Communicate consistently. And keep moving forward.

Note to reader: This post was written at the start of the pandemic and has been very popular. It’s been updated from a post pandemic perspective. You can find it here.

This season is unprecedented. I think we have safely established that truth. I’ve spent the past two weeks processing, speaking with other entrepreneurs and business owners, and doing my utmost to take care of business as usual — just as the rest of you are. 

But business isn’t usual right now, and this is what I know: nothing about this situation is easy. For anyone. As I shared with some of you recently on other platforms, the COVID-19 outbreak and all that it entails has highlighted the huge inequities in our society, including the lack of resources for small business owners. 

As my colleagues at Interise shared, “Public health experts now fear that coronavirus will exacerbate the vulnerabilities of resource-strapped communities-with devastating consequences.” These vulnerabilities include a lack of healthcare, personal income, and small business capital.

Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy — as employers, as resources, and as centers of innovation — and yet so many of them are struggling to stay alive in the midst of nationwide shutdowns.

There are many things we can do as individuals to support our local businesses, including ordering take-out (where possible), buying gift cards, making purchases online, buying necessities from local grocery stores and butcher shops, and prepaying for services we know we will need in the future, like haircuts, lattes, dry cleaning, and gym classes.

For small business owners, the options feel less tangible. Our ability to navigate this season is not found in spending, but in our own willingness to work together, plan, ask for help, and in some cases, start to dream again. 

In the midst of all the change, and seeing the amount of difficulty our nation is facing, my goal is to simply be here. I’m here to help, to listen, to encourage, to cry, and to laugh. I’m here to share this moment with you. 

As I process and listen, and wonder how I can help, these are the things I feel most compelled to remind you of. These are the things I myself need to remember as a business owner managing this season.

Stay connected 

I’m grateful for the opportunity these uncertain times are giving me to connect with colleagues and clients on a deeper level. We are taking care of business, and we are taking care of each other by talking through new and complex decisions, strategic scenarios, unforeseen challenges, and fears.

It is authenticity and vulnerability that will deepen our connections, keep us encouraged, and allow us to safely seek advice when needed. 

Stay connected with your team, your mentors, your community. Don’t hesitate to be that shoulder that someone else needs. It is through connection that we will come out of this stronger — stronger leaders, owners, and individuals. 

And through it all, stay connected with your customers and clients. Stay grounded in and lead from your mission, vision and values as you make hard decisions and engage with key stakeholders. 

People do business with people, and we need to be in deep, authentic relationships with our customers, employees, and vendors — now more than ever. Lean into your relationships and continue to be of service, create value, and create connection.

Plan for the Future

With so many unknowns, it can be difficult to plan ahead. As best you know how, take time to look down the road a bit and build anticipation for the future. 

When’s the last time you ran financial forecast scenarios? I know it can be scary to look at numbers, but knowledge is power. Knowing what expenses you can control and how changes in revenue impact your cash flow are important for the near and long term.

What content are you creating? The value-added content you create and share today will engage the people you will do business with tomorrow. Stay consistent on your digital platforms as well as your newsletters and other communications. 

What conferences lie ahead a year from now? Allow yourself the space to get excited as you plan your approach to the next available opportunity to connect with colleagues, customers, and prospects. 

Do you have any unmet goals or business opportunities? Now might be the time to flesh out those ideas and begin pursuing some dreams that were living on the sidelines.

Build a Better Contingency Plan 

As painful as it may be, now, more than ever, is the time to consider where the gaps are in your current contingency plan. What worked and what didn’t when COVID-19 first impacted your business? What would you do differently next time? 

We can always improve even our best laid plans. Let this situation inform you. Use it as a guide to add to your strength, shore up your weaknesses, and be better prepared for the future. Keeping a journal can help you reflect on your real-time problem solving as you move out of reaction mode and into planning mode. 

Support One Another 

I mentioned some ideas above for how we, as individuals, can support our local businesses. But as business owners, we also have an opportunity to support one another. This may look different for everyone — especially depending on what your business does or sells — but regardless of what you do, there is a way to share the load. 

I find it uplifting when I hear stories of tattoo artists donating gloves, masks, and gowns to local hospitals that are dangerously low on supplies. 

Bakeries donating food to homeless shelters so that no human being goes unfed. 

Art supply stores providing pre-cut fabric and elastic so that community members can sew masks for healthcare providers. 

All of these things are reminders of the kindness and beauty of humanity, and the fact that however small our offering — like sewing fabric into a surgical mask — it has a profound impact on those around us. 

We can also be intentional about doing business with other small, local companies. What can you buy locally that you might be sourcing from a national brand right now? There are locally owned  providers in nearly every field — they are often just lesser known. In my area, I know I can find locally owned IT services, e-newsletter platforms, accounting and legal services, office supplies, mail houses, printers, designers — the list goes on. You probably can, too.

Keep Learning 

One thing I realized recently is the incredible strength I gain from listening to others share their journey. That is why I choose to invest time in listening to podcasts and reading the latest books and articles. 

We created Entrepreneurially Thinking to elevate and celebrate the stories of entrepreneurs and inspire others. Right now, we are trying to strike the right balance between inspiration for our listeners and respect for our guests. While we have paused recording sessions for the time being, we continue to release new and encore shows so listeners can continue to be energized by the stories of others. 

Hearing other business owners share and process their journeys provides a jolt of inspiration and a reminder that this will, eventually, end. Let’s choose to come out on the other end with more resources, knowledge, and ideas than ever before. 

Make Decisions Differently

On an “average” day our capacity to make quality decisions wanes. By the end of the day we experience what’s known as decision fatigue, when we are prone to making sub-optimal choices.

It’s inevitable that in this time of extreme uncertainty, mental and emotional fatigue will set in more quickly as we’re expected to make more decisions, faster, and with less information. 

You simply can’t expect yourself to make the same number of quality decisions as you’re used to making. None of us will be as productive or efficient now as what we are used to in our normal daily lives. 

And that is ok. You are doing other things that matter more right now: taking care of yourself and loved ones, shifting your focus to a digital way of life, and navigating constant change. 

Instead of pressuring yourself to manage decisions like you did a month ago, give yourself grace to make decisions a little differently. 

You Are Not Alone

One of the most important things we can do as business owners right now is remember that we are in this together. And we will walk through this holding one another up if we need to. 

As you manage difficult changes, make profound decisions, and lead with your values, know that you are not alone. I see you. I understand that what you’re facing is not easy. And I’m here to help. 

When decisions feel most difficult and you are unsure how to proceed, make a choice to focus on what you can do, instead of what you can’t control. Learn, grow, support your loved ones, and take it one day at a time. 

I look forward to all the great things we will do together — now and later — and the better humans we will become along the way.

“Think like an entrepreneur!” they say. And we try our hardest to do exactly that. But how does an entrepreneur really think? Every single business, startup, enterprise, and non-profit is unique. Surely there is more than one way to be entrepreneurial? There is. In fact, the more time I spend with business owners from a variety of industries, backgrounds, and experiences, the more I realize that entrepreneurially thinking is less about doing things a specific way and more about pushing past the boundaries of business, life, and self.

It was this process of stepping outside my own comfort zone that led me to embark on the journey of Entrepreneurially Thinking, the podcast I host with the great Dr. Cheryl Watkins-Moore. We have the privilege of speaking weekly with entrepreneurs who are challenging the status quo in business both in St. Louis and across the country. 

But every person we interview has had to walk the tightrope of eliminating the boundaries that bind them, whether boundaries of race, gender, industry, or self-confidence. What does it really mean to think like an entrepreneur? Here are just a few of the many things I’ve learned from my own process with Entrepreneurially Thinking.  

Manage Risk

When it comes to being an entrepreneur, taking risks is one of the most common things we discuss. There is a reason for that. While risk looks different for everyone, choosing to build something that has never been built before is risky. That’s why I subscribe to the belief that entrepreneurs are talented at managing risk portfolios, a concept Adam Grant explains in his book Originals. While choosing to take a risk in one area of their lives successful entrepreneurs tend to play it safe in other ways.

In one of our most recent Entrepreneurially Thinking episodes, Cheryl and I spoke with Sucheta Bhide, the owner of the Resplendent Crow, a vintage furniture business in University City, Missouri. Sucheta shared her perspective on risk when defining entrepreneurial thinking by saying, “You have one life to live. Chase your dreams, and if it doesn’t work out, you can always do something else.” 

However, how Sucheta chased her dreams is the epitome of a risk management approach to entrepreneurship. She worked full-time running a cleaning business while pursuing her furniture restoration gig on the side. As the furniture business grew, she carefully chose her moment to take the leap. This is not unlike acclaimed director Ava DuVernay who made her first three films while working full time as a publicist. In essence, successful entrepreneurs find ways to de-risk their ventures rather than throwing caution to the wind. 

By managing which risks we take and when, we decrease the likelihood that our venture will fail, increase the chance for long-term sustainability, and increase our hireability if/when we should we ever wish to go back to working for someone else. Who wouldn’t want to work with someone who can think outside the box, take on the challenges of running a business, and navigate the daily risks of entrepreneurship? 

Overcome Self-Doubt

If you’re like me, you likely struggle with self-doubt, at least occasionally. When it comes to taking on new ideas, new clients, or simply the more overwhelming tasks of your business you wonder, am I up to this challenge? I know I do. 

I discuss this briefly in my post about how Entrepreneurially Thinking got started. When Cheryl and I were approached with the idea of doing a podcast, I felt myself being pushed way beyond my comfort zone. I wondered, will my skills really translate? Do I really have something to offer in this space?

When I’m at my best in these moments of self-doubt, I tell myself and others to look for evidence of past successes,  tangible examples of their capability, competence, and resourcefulness. That evidence is far more reliable and indicative of future results than any story of doubt you can tell yourself. 

When we started the podcast, Cheryl and I had been working together already. We had evidence of our individual abilities as well as our dynamic as a team—and our combined passion to advance racial and gender equity in the world of business and entrepreneurship. While self-doubt could have easily sideswiped us and derailed the project before it began, we told ourselves a different story—the story of past successes, future goals, and evidence-based inspiration. 

As the initial fear of stepping out into the unknown wore off, and the podcast took flight, I realized that by overcoming self-doubt, I had reset the boundaries of what I once considered comfortable, safe, and “me.”  

Be Authentic

One thing every one of our interviewees has in common—which is also one of the things that makes them unique—is their willingness to be authentic. Authenticity goes beyond how we present ourselves to those around us, it is also the inner working of being true to ourselves. 

By choosing to be authentic, we are choosing to admit who we are, what we want to accomplish, and how we plan to get there. It is this honesty with ourselves that allows us to be honest with our clients and build trust with those we serve. 

This is what entrepreneurially thinking means to internationally renowned artist Cbabi Bayoc. Even before he knew that his pursuit as an independent artist was, in fact, a deep dive into entrepreneurship, his overarching value was to authentically share himself with the world in every piece he created. 

Cbabi’s approach opened up a world of opportunity to him, from an album cover for Prince to children’s books and even community and school murals that in turn encourage students to explore their own dreams. Authenticity drove him to completely crash through the boundaries that confine the world of art and business, especially art that, like his, is bold, powerful, and challenges the systems of race, fatherhood, inequality. 

What Boundaries Can You Eliminate With Entrepreneurially Thinking?

Entrepreneurially thinking looks different for everyone we interview on the podcast. While there are threads of commonalities—like managing risk, overcoming doubt, and being authentic—what that looks like in practice changes from entrepreneur to entrepreneur. And so it is for you, as well. 

What does entrepreneurially thinking mean for you? And what boundaries in business, life, and self-awareness do you want to overcome? Wherever you are on your journey of business, consider the ways you can challenge yourself and your growth as an entrepreneur to think differently, push through barriers, and accomplish something new. 

And check out our podcast! We share weekly encouraging stories and interviews with business owners and entrepreneurs just like you.

Pause and productivity are seemingly at odds with one another. To pause means to stop temporarily, to take a break, or—my personal favorite—to linger for a time. 

To be productive, on the other hand, is to produce something in abundance. It is the act of yielding results. 

In the business world, we traditionally link productivity to profitability. We increase output in order to increase profit. With this mindset, being productive is evidenced through tangible rewards in the form of money, leads, or opportunity. It is the forerunner to busyness.  

The drawback of this approach to productivity is that we fail to recognize a more powerful understanding of that word—to be effective in bringing about results. 

What if, rather than measuring the quantity of input and output, we focused on the quality? Success in business comes by many different avenues, but none of them are paved in busyness. Instead, we find success linked to something far greater: thoughtful, mindful action (read: effective productivity) that is augmented by the ability to pause. 

When Did We Become So Busy? 

In our fast-paced world, busyness has become our war cry. It penetrates everything we do, from the home to the office, and everywhere in between. Our lives are dominated by a culture of busyness, and research even reveals that to be busy in the business world has become a badge of honor. 

When asked, “How’s business?” if your first answer is “Busy,” take a moment to unpack what that really means. 

In the midst of your busyness are you experiencing productivity? Here’s how you can tell the difference between the two: Is “busy” fulfilling, meaningful, impactful and profitable? Is it energizing, inspiring and creative? Does it bring you and your team joy and abundance? Prosperity and belonging? 

Effective productivity does not fall into the trap of busyness. It is meaningful, energizing, fulfilling. It is not so overwhelmed with time and pressure as we like to think it is. 

It is this juxtaposition between busyness and productivity that gave rise to the 4-day workweek at the New Zealand-based estate planning firm, Perpetual Guardian. During a trial period, employees cut their hours from 40 to 32 per week, while still maintaining their normal salary. Stress levels dropped, work-life balance improved, and productivity increased by 20%. In essence, they became more effective in their work. The company chose to implement the 4-day work week as a permanent solution.  

Learning to Linger

My default has always been to respond to emails, texts, and notifications immediately. Get it done. Move on. I’m slowly learning the art of sitting on things for a bit, rather than responding immediately. 

My reasons are twofold. First, in my effort to be responsive and efficient, I can easily fall into the trap of choosing busyness over mindfulness. 

Second, while I am still a big advocate of touching things once, being as efficient as possible, and I’m deeply committed to being responsive to clients and colleagues, respectful of deadlines and expectations, sometimes a pause to reflect is important. It gives me time to be more thoughtful in my response. 

It also helps me manage my time and energy so I can give my best, in return.

This idea—learning to pause—should not surprise us in the least. Pauses are everywhere in our lives. It is used to great effect in the music we listen to, in speeches and sermons, in poetry and punctuation. Even that tiny dot at the end of a sentence denotes a pause. These pauses are there to remind us that sometimes the best way forward is simply to stop momentarily and linger. 

And when your team is involved, it creates space for others to step up, be heard, be creative, or take the lead. 

By pausing, we place more emphasis on the quality of our work. It slows us down, promotes focus, allows for reflection, reveals new opportunities, reduces risk—all of which can make us more productive.

The Art of Pausing

The next time someone asks you, “How’s business?” take a moment to think about it. What would your answer be if “busy” wasn’t an option? 

Learning to pause is not always easy, particularly when the pings of notifications are ringing in our ears and the pressures of responsibility weigh heavy. Yet, look at everything there is to gain from taking a moment to linger. Insight, energy, creativity…these are all foundational to an impactful, profitable, and meaningful business. These are the building blocks of quality over quantity, productivity over busyness. 

Next time you find yourself chanting the anthem of “I’m too busy,” consider simply taking a moment to pause.     

Purpose First Advisors supports small businesses, growth-stage companies, and organizations by providing strategic business consulting and coaching. Contact us to learn more or to book a consultation with our team.

You have big goals. HUGE goals. And you’re ready to take the bull by the horns and get things done. Maybe that motivation to accomplish more has even become your motto for 2020…the year to get “it” done, whatever “it” is for your business. 

For many business leaders, myself included, the initial momentum of creating goals begins to fade the moment the task of actually accomplishing them sets in. That new podcast/blog/initiative/marketing plan sounds like the perfect solution until it comes to the overwhelming task of getting it done.

And so we look to fast track our success. In our culture of “5 ways to do this” and “Top 10 tips to do that,” it is no surprise that we lean so heavily on the need for fast, efficient, one-off solutions to our big goals. 

I’m often asked, “What’s the one thing I should do to…”

The list could go on. The problem I encounter, however, is that there is no single solution to resolve your goals in one fell swoop. Instead, the one thing you can do to get more done and tackle those big goals—is to start small.

The Better Way to Build

Let’s think about it in a different context. I’m currently working with a health coach. I’ve done Weight Watchers in the past (and had success) but this time around, I knew I wanted something different, more comprehensive—a holistic approach to my personal wellness moving forward. My coach, Emily Zwilling, offers clients like me the education, coaching, and support it takes to live a long, vibrant, healthy life—my long term health goal.

We’ve been working together for months as she helps me understand how sleep, stress, movement, food, exercise, mindset, metabolism, hydration, hormones, etc. all interact and work together to create health and wellness. I’ve increased my steps and my water intake, started weekly food prep, increased protein, added healthy fats, and so on.

Needless to say, I have never more keenly longed for there to be just “one thing” I can do to lose weight, be healthy, and stay that way. 

What is true for my health and wellness is true for the sustainability and profitably of my business. And yours. The thing is, there is never just one thing you can do to accomplish something important. Goals, strategies, and worthwhile business ventures require one thing after another, after another, strung together in processes, methods, and habits. 

I consult with leaders daily who are struggling to find solutions to overwhelming challenges. Together, we analyze operations, growth factors, and the obstacles that are keeping the business from turning revenue into profit. Much like my wellness journey, we have to observe the organization as a system of smaller units, looking at how each piece fits together to impact the whole. It is from that place that we can develop a strategy—and the meaningful, practical steps we will need to take in order to implement it.

How to Start Small

Starting small and working toward that big goal is not a new concept. It is, however, a concept we quickly push aside in our fast-paced busyness. But what if I told you that sticking with it, building on a series of small steps and tasks toward a larger goal really works?

It’s called micro productivity. In an effort to find better ways to get more done, Microsoft did a study on the practice of breaking large tasks into tiny microtasks. The idea was to help creatives and leaders accomplish more within their fragmented days, instead of pushing projects until larger blocks of time became available (hint: because they never did). The research revealed that having a concrete plan and actionable steps helped people accomplish large, overwhelming projects better and faster.  

Starting small doesn’t have to be difficult. It is a matter of looking at the bigger goal and deciding what one step you can take today to move toward it.

And then, you build more small steps on top of that one. With a little planning, strategy, and teamwork, your small steps can become the process you need to not only accomplish your current goal but your future endeavors as well. 

Your huge 2020 goals and your seemingly impossible business challenges are absolutely achievable, especially if you take the time to separate each one into small, attainable steps. Include your team in the process and delegate tasks according to each member’s unique skill set and role. Before you know it, that one thing that leads to business success will be your resolute practice of starting small.

Business Consulting and Strategy

Christy Maxfield and the team at PurposeFirst Advisors offer over 20 years of growth strategy and consulting experience to support small businesses, growth-stage companies, and entrepreneurs achieve goals both small and large. Contact us today to get started building, networking, and growing your business.

How Do You Make an Entrepreneurship Ecosystem More Equitable?

About a week ago we hosted a phenomenally successful trivia night fundraiser for Forward Through Ferguson. It seems fitting to keep asking: How do you make an entrepreneurship ecosystem more equitable for women and entrepreneurs of color?

Thanks to a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, St. Louis has had the opportunity to ask and start to answer this question. Even with more than a year under our belt (in a region that has been talking about racial equity for the past four years) we have just started to scratch the surface. The work started with a coalition of the willing and available (officially known as the St. Louis Equity in Entrepreneurship Collective and one of my clients.) The Collective has done racial and gender equity training participated in identifying ecosystem problems and brainstorming solutions and is collecting so we will someday know how many women and entrepreneurs of color are in our ecosystem from ideation to exit.

This is generational work. We think it starts by creating a baseline understanding of and common language to discuss systemic racism, sexism, and gender oppression. We’re looking at how the system of wayfinding and navigation work (or don’t) for all entrepreneurs and how the problems finding and accessing resources compounds disparities for some unrepresented entrepreneurs. There are questions of what type of entrepreneurship this includes (Lifestyle or high growth? Mainstreet or high-tech?) and we are wrestling with issues of power and privilege, the myth of meritocracy and in the inherent competitiveness of entrepreneurship where there are real winners and losers.

One recurring conversation is the dynamic tension between where the money is and what kinds of companies women and entrepreneurs of color typically build. The money and power are in tech-based scalable companies. They get investments and create wealth for owners and investors. They are preferred by policymakers, politicians and popular culture. They are what every economic development person wants founders to build and grow in their MSA. Women and entrepreneurs of color are underrepresented among tech company founders, while also being virtually non-existent in investment portfolios and practically absent from venture capital leadership circles.

I tell my clients to spend time thinking about what kind of company they want to build. There is nothing wrong with building a lifestyle company or a small, local business. Not every idea is scalable and not every founder/owner wants to scale. What’s unacceptable is being prevented from building the company you want. What’s unacceptable is not having a seat at the table or being marginalized for building the companies that create wealth for families and neighborhoods even if they don’t create wealth for investors. It’s unacceptable to cut ourselves off from the path of scalable venture creation because others underestimate our capability or discount the potential of the markets we seek to tap. 

To Wrap It Up

It’s about getting investors to think differently about what and who is fundable. And creating new investment vehicles to put confidence money into potential serial entrepreneurs from marginalized backgrounds. It’s also about helping founders to think differently about what they are capable of building and how building ventures that require skills and people beyond themselves gives them the power of profits to close generational wealth and wage gaps.

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  • I have said many times to colleagues, “I wish I had hired Christy Maxfield a few years ago.” Even with a 27-year-old company, I have learned so much from her. Christy has been an invaluable partner helping me operate my company more strategically, i.e. strengthening financial reporting, guiding succession planning, navigating complex people decisions, and increasing the overall value of my business. Christy brings insight, clarity, and genuine care to her work. Her disciplined approach and guidance has made me a more confident and effective business owner and positioned my company for its next phase of long-term success.
    Laurna Godwin
    Owner, Vector Communications
  • What sets Purpose First Advisors apart is that her coaching evolves with you. The support I needed at the beginning of our work is very different from what I need now, and she has adapted alongside me every step of the way. Her approach is strategic without being rigid, and she has helped me build confidence, sharpen my business strategy, and create meaningful momentum in my work.
    Paya Sample
    Owner, Peak Leaders Collective
  • Christy took the time to assess my business model, understand my goals, and identify areas for improvement. What impressed me most was her ability to provide tailored strategies that were practical and immediately implementable.
    Sue Bailey
    Owner, Celebrating Life Cakes
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