Has the pandemic hit your business? Make sure you have the right perspective!

The trials and tribulations of the last year or so have been never ending for many business owners. The stop start due to COVID restrictions, increased cost of COVID compliance, homeworking, restricted working, continual rule changes, loss of staff due to illness and self-isolation, the re-evaluation of people’s lives, the impact on the bottom line and the lack of holidays. The list is endless and I know for many can be quite depressing.

But maybe we need to take a leaf out of the writings of men and women who wore togas over 2,000 years ago- the Stoics. The Stoics were a group of philosophers from Greek and Roman times whose writing resonates today just as it did over 2,000 years ago.

Epictetus wrote that “Every event has two handles, one by which it can be carried, and one by which it cannot. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead use the other- that he is your brother, that you were raised together, and then you will have hold on the handle that carries.”

What Epictetus was saying was that life can be viewed in different ways. We could view the last year as all negative or we could alternatively view the year in a positive light as the greatest challenge of our working lives. We have adopted new technologies for homeworking, pivoted our businesses to open new streams of revenue, discovered who in our teams we can really rely on, improved working practices, tested our resilience, built closer and stronger relations with many customers and suppliers, gathered a great appreciation of the importance of family and friends, and maybe even adopted simpler but more rewarding lives.

It is easy to focus on the negatives but if we stand back we can perhaps view the many positive aspects of the pandemic in relation to our businesses and personal lives, and we might find that whilst our businesses and personal wealth may have suffered that we are now in a better position to forge more meaningful lives and to take advantage of the many opportunities ahead of us and to appreciate them more.

Business is not just about systems, marketing, the team and a great product but it’s also about our mind-set. As a business owner you lead your organisation and having the right mindset and looking for the positive in what has happened will not only help you mentally to cope with the challenges we face but will also ensure you maintain a positive message for your customers and for your team.

At Friend & Grant we can assist you in all areas of your business and that includes taking the time out to reflect on where you are and more importantly where you are going. Please contact Mark Friend or Andrew Grant or your client manager to discuss the many ways we can help you grow your business.

The content in this blog is correct as at 29 July 2021 See terms and conditions.