Here’s our COVID timeline:

March 12 – VISIONALITY decided to stop ALL in-person meetings.

March 13 – We decided to run our business for the foreseeable future on a “worst case scenario” model. What if we don’t get any new business? Loose a few clients? Our staff gets sick? I re-did our budget and projections. I discussed possible layoffs with my staff and made sure they understood the federal and state resources available to them and my commitment to the wellbeing of their families.

Today – 48 Days Later (GOODNESS that’s a crazy coincidence!) – We have successfully helped each of our clients adjust their work to continue operations. We signed four new COVID-related contracts that represent 54% of our projected April revenue and 63% of our projected May revenue. We streamlined processes and reduced overhead, which is projected to increase our net profit in April by $4,165 and $11,294 in May.

Even at the best of times, we can get stuck in analysis paralysis – trying to make the ‘perfect’ decision. Lucky for me, my approach has always been “do something and adjust along the way.” Our company has a ‘No Blame, No Shame’ policy. I KNOW that we will make mistakes. And we’ve created a company culture that holds space for those mistakes so that we can be adventurous and creative and then problem solve as a team. We aren’t caught up in the pressure of needing to be perfect. We have latitude to explore things. We know that we are better together.

I made our pivots based on the most conservative data. I acted fast and I trusted my team. Most importantly: I trusted myself. As entrepreneurs, we are ‘figure-outers.’ I don’t know what the right decisions are. Or even the right data to inform those decisions. But I DO know that I am good at figuring it out.

So we’ve done the thing. The “PIVOT” in terms of revenue and business development. And now we need to focus on the wellbeing of our team. I noticed that each member of our team needs to take an unexpected day off about once every two weeks. They get hit by a migraine, couldn’t sleep, or realize that they are just simply distracted to justify billing time to a client.

And we make space for that. If someone needs the day off, we identify what can be postponed on our own to-do list and then divvy up their urgent tasks and meetings. No blame, No shame.

And that’s how I know we’re going to make it through this. We acted quickly based on the data we had available. But we also acted with kindness. At the end of the day, we’re all just flawed people trying to do our best in the world. No blame, No shame.

So I’m encouraging you to take your next step. It may not be flawless, but it will be faultless. You’ve got this. I know it.

Covid is The Amplifier

COVID-19 has amplified all of our underlying conditions – good and bad – in our health, in our personal lives and in our businesses. VISIONALITY had productive relationships with each of its clients. We had our financial processes and systems in place. We learned from the Thomas Fire and Hill/Woolsey Fires and adjusted our business model to be more resilient and agile. And most importantly: we had trust, respect and generosity throughout our team.