As I write this article, we are now entering lockdown week 9 of the COVID19 pandemic which has pretty much grounded the economies of the world to a grinding halt in addition to over 300,000 having lost their lives.
Obviously the health and wellbeing of us all is of paramount importance and we all have to think and act so much differently that we have even done before. If – like me – you are a business owner, we all need to make sure we have put processes in place to make sure the health of everyone who enters our premises is secure. If you are an employee, you need to make sure that your companies have put these processes in place and that you are happy with them. We all have to take our own share of responsibility.
I am sure one area a lot of us have been really thinking about over the last few weeks is our incomes. Is what we are doing to generate income good enough to sustain us throughout our lives and are we are doing the right thing or are we doing it in the right way?
Millions have been furloughed, and undoubtedly what will follow are redundancies and figures have been mentioned of over 1 million businesses not opening up again. If – as business owners or employees – this does not make us really think about what we are doing to generate incomes, I really don’t know what will. This pandemic has hit us all like a fast-moving train and all of us to some degree have been in its path.
Yes, we do have to really think about our health and yes we do have to think about our incomes and we need to make sure both are in good health to allow us to sustain any other “What if” that will come along and stop us in our tracks, and also to ensure that both will last us for our lifetimes.
So from my own personal experience, let me give you a few suggestions
1. LEARN – We must learn from this experience and we need to make sure we are so much better prepared than we have event been before for the next “What if” that will come along – and it will
2. BE EFFICIENT – We need to run our businesses so much more efficiently than we have ever done before. Do not try and be all things to all people. We must focus on doing what we are good at and get professionals in to work on the areas that is not our expertise.
3. SUSTAINABILITY – Look at how our business is structured. Is it sustainable? Is it positioned to be able to handle another “What if?” If it is not, then we need to change our business model. We are not going to be able to do this on our own, so get expert help. If we keep doing what we have always done, we will always get what we have always got – and if its not working, why keep doing it?
4. ADDITIONAL INCOME STREAMS – My suggestion is to look at other income streams. We need to make sure we have more than one stream of income coming in. We need to be able to make money while we are sleeping. We need to look for an income that will still produce no matter what. Our main job or business is probably an active income. Look for passive incomes. There are loads of good opportunities out there. Check them out and lets make sure we are so much better prepared than ever before.
I am available to help. I have experience on all the above. Please email richard@lionheartmanagement.co.uk
This article was first published on LinkedIn by Richard Knight on 18/05/2020