Life-altering events like recessions and pandemics naturally alter the course of history and change the path for all moving parts of the economy. Already with COVID-19, we are seeing the early shift in how customers and businesses interact. Many tech and non-tech companies are requiring their employees to work remotely for the first time in their organization's history. The air travel industry's revenue and occupancy is in rapid decline. Retail stores are wiped clean of food, painkillers and toilet paper each and every day.
While some of these changes are immediate responses to the current situation within the United States, there are some shifts that will continue past the pandemic, altering businesses in this digital age for many years to come.
Charlotte Inno reached out to a group of tech leaders to ask them to offer some wisdom to those in the tech community who aren't sure what will happen over the next few days, weeks, or months. And while each piece of their advice varied based on industry and outlook, a unified message began to emerge: We're all in this together.
Greg Brown, Administrator of Charlotte Angel Fund
The number one thing that I believe younger entrepreneurs need to hear right now is from those seasoned entrepreneurs who have been through tough times, such as that difficult season of 2007 through 2009.
For those who have no first-hand experience with anything like this, here’s what I would expect they need to hear:
- It will take longer than you think to raise more money.
- Therefore, you have to act fast on the expense side, meaning, if you’re not presently profitable you should act based upon a scenario that is worse than you would presently call “conservative.”
- Love your current customers – zero church has to happen to make up for new sales that will be delayed.
- If your business fails, that doesn’t mean that you are personally a failure.
Tim Griffin, Founder & CEO of Cloosiv
It’s never easy for an entrepreneur at any stage of the journey, but this situation is especially unique. It’s critical to have thick skin right now and understand that you will likely need to make some really difficult decisions – not just in terms of staff but also in terms of the direction of your organization. It’s important to ask yourself, "What are we going to do to survive this?"
Confidence in yourself is going to be key here, so even if you’re not internally confident, you as the leader need to communicate in a way that motivates your team and is foundationally secure. Lead with humility and recognize your own humanity and limits during this difficult time.
Do not absorb this impact alone – the journey of a business owner or entrepreneur is incredibly lonely as it is. Despite not having a lot of time to speak with others, make sure you find time each day to confide in someone you trust. Taking care of yourself mentally is of the utmost importance.
And remember - everyone is enduring the same thing right now. Although the impact is different for each person, we’re all experiencing the effects of this situation simultaneously.
Josh McKinney, CEO of Ekos
In this uncertain time, empathy and kindness are more important than ever. Every single person, company and customer is facing negative effects from the coronavirus. We always aim to be an authentic, trusted partner of our customers and now we have a chance to put our values to the test.
The best thing we can do is to be here for our customers. For us at Ekos, that means communicating regularly, providing resources, offering free training, sharing best practices and connecting customers to others in their industry. The craft beer, cider and wine industries are being hit hard with restaurant, bar and taproom closures, but we’re helping to share among our customer base how their peers are pivoting to curbside pick-up or delivery options to keep their businesses afloat.
Most of our customers are small business owners who are important parts of their local communities. During this time, we continue to lead with empathy and prioritize community and bringing people together. While physical togetherness is discouraged, we are already seeing incredible examples of people rallying around local businesses and demonstrating support in new ways.
Katie Hotze, Founder & CEO of Grocery Shopii
As the leader of a company, you must prepare for the worst and hope for the best. That could mean securing emergency financing as a backup option or brainstorming alternative ways to monetize a piece of your business on short order to create additional revenue.
For example, do you have any data you can mine to generate a report for a niche audience? Do you have an opportunity to add consulting hours to an existing project?
Finally, where can you trim costs on short order without causing an impact to your team?
Maybe you have office space that could be paused, or you can consolidate users on a platform to cut back costs for teleconferencing services.
Get creative and engage your whole team in that brainstorm. It’s amazing what wonderful ideas and internal support are generated when you make preparedness a team effort.
Christopher Langford, Partner at IDEA Fund Partners
First and foremost, lead with compassion and humanity. The pace of this event is unprecedented and the disruption to life is hard. Give as much flexibility as possible for people to adapt and to emotionally and mentally cope.
Plan for twelve months of capital markets to dry up by:
- Eliminating as much non-essential expenditures as possible. Cash preservation mode must be in full swing.
- Review all tasks at your firm and seek to find areas of spend that can be reduced or eliminated to extend runway for at least an additional three months - but perhaps six months.
- If possible, founders should think about deferring cash compensation for a time period.
Lastly, develop a virtual meeting schedule to enhance your businesses connectedness while ensuring critical deliverables are being met.
We’re still searching for additional insights to share with the community. So if you have insights to share, please let us know so we can continue to share during this rapidly-changing time.
