BIRD WILLIAMS: You're listening to Bird Means Business Episode 43. 

Hey, hey hey! Welcome to the Bird Means Business podcast, I'm so glad you're here and you're tuning in to this episode because you want to understand how to better navigate change in crisis in your business. It's going to be a good one. It's going to be full of some examples, and just simple steps you can take as you navigate this. 

So before we get started, I want to share a listener shout-out. Let me tell you about my girl Paloma on Instagram. Y'all, I was having one of those days where I just felt like the weight of the world was on me. I was, super burdened down, ironically, by having to navigate change in crisis in my three businesses. And y'all, it was just a tough day. I was getting ready to go pick up my sons from daycare and I said let me check my Instagram real quick so that I can have that checked off. And I go in and I see these series of messages from Paloma, who had posted in her stories about how she's been a day one Bird Means Business listener, and how great the episodes have been for her and her business, and how practical everything was. She had listened to Episode 13. It's "How I Launched My Podcast in 5 weeks with $9.95". Yes. She not only listened to it. But, y'all she shows this list of her whole 30-day launch plan. I can't really express how much happiness it brings me to see, first of all, that people are listening. I mean, I know y'all are tuning in. But to see that it's actually helpful. And you made a list and all of that. So it was exactly what I needed in that moment and I was so deeply grateful for her sharing what she's learned. I was so deeply grateful to just really see the impact that it had had in her business and to see her take such initiative. So I just wanted to give her a shout-out. Again, she's on Instagram and it's @ShopPalomaBlanca. And yeah, go connect with her. It's so great to have a community of business owners. We're all in the same boat here, so lean on to your community. Okay. 

All right. So to that point, I was actually having a conversation with a different entrepreneur today and we were just talking about how incredibly overwhelming entrepreneurship can be and launching a business, getting it started. There's just so many things to consider, so much to manage. And I see it as my job to equip you with what you need to feel confident as you pursue your business, as you pursue whether you're in the launch stage, I'm getting ready to launch this business, or I'm even working through that now on launch and getting things moving and I really want to grow it. 

And so one way that we can work together in that regard is through a strategy session and this is what that process looks like. Once you book your session online on my website. I'll make sure to link it in the episode description below so that you can just click the link to book. Once you book, you're gonna automatically get a questionnaire so that I can really kind of assess where you are in your business and what you need help with most. You'll also be able to tell me what your specific pain points are in that questionnaire. Then we'll jump on that initial strategy session and we'll dive right into where you are. I'll already have thoughts around, you know how to kind of guide you to get to where you want to be. Then I have a 30-minute follow-up session. The first sessions an hour. The second session we have is a 30 minute follow up session because I want to make sure that I don't just give you what you need, and say, okay, good luck, But that I'm able to kind of hold you accountable and say okay, next week or next month depending on our specific strategy that we come up with in the session. I'm going to check in with you to see how things are going. And so that's what the process will look like. You also get an audio recording of both sessions so that you're able to refer back to everything so that you're not having to furiously take notes. And it's a lot of fun. It's something I really, really enjoyed doing and it really fires me up. So if you're looking for specific help for your business, make sure that you go to the link in the episode description and book your strategy session. 

All right, let's talk change and crisis and how to navigate that in our business. So we all know that change is inevitable and that we should expect change to happen, right? Well, this may sound dire but crisis is bound to happen too. From the small fires like a crucial piece of equipment unexpectedly needing a repair. To big fires like a rogue employee or some damaging business online business review.  And wild 2020 is a particularly extreme example of having to navigate change in business. The truth is, y'all, you're gonna always be faced with hard, hard stuff that is out of your control. And it'll feel even heightened as an entrepreneur since initially at least you're typically the only one, or one a few people who are carrying the load of navigating this change. So, okay, we're not surprised by it. We know it's going to come. We know it can feel like a lot. How do you deal with it? 

Okay, there's three steps that I'm going to talk about in this episode. Number one, you breathe. Actually, I want you all to do it with me right now. Take a deep breath. Lower your shoulders away from your ears. Even wiggle your toes a little bit. Wiggle your toes around. Move your jaw from side to side so that you're not clenching your jaw. And then breathe again. Maybe you want to roll your head around kind of feel your body tingling and feel your body move. If you've been sitting for hours, like I am very guilty of, working. Stand up. Walk around the house. Step outside and get some fresh air. Watch the clouds move in the sky. I want you to save this little quick process, to repeat, as much as you need, and every time you feel overwhelmed or in just a mental funk. 

I actually learned this when I first started yoga years ago, these simple things like lowering your shoulders away from your ears. I find that my shoulders are always up by my ears. So this small little process I learned years ago, and it still really resonates with me. So it's something that you can do, and you should do the moment you realize there's some significant change or crisis happening in your business, okay?

Number two, identify your support system. Now, this might look like, you know, reaching out to your board of advisors for direction. Typically a board of advisors will consist of people who have industry knowledge, or who have some kind of specialized skill, or who are just mentors to you who can help guide you. It also might look like just having a trusted friend or spouse or roommate to vent to. And it's very important that this is someone who will sit with you in this messy middle, of having to accept and navigate this change. But will also encourage you, onward and upward. Like, yeah, this sucks, and this is not fun, but you can do it. You were made for this moment.  You got this. Let's go. You know you're equipped. So, you want someone who's not going to just be a Debbie Downer basically.  You want someone who's going to help encourage you to move forward, okay? 

It could also look like when I talk about support system, it could even be your internal team. It might be a key employee who might need to take on more while you have to kind of manage this change or crisis in the business in a different area of the business. So when you think about your support system. I want to make sure that you communicate. Because people don't know that something is wrong, or how to help you unless you tell them. And I cannot tell you how many times that I felt so burdened down by something, something just felt so overwhelming or I couldn't like figure it out in my head, you know, as I'm working through it. And I would say, "Hey, Babe", talking to my husband, Terry. "Can you talk to me about this? Can you help me with this?" And we sit down and talk. And y'all he doesn't even say much because it's like, as I start to say the words out loud, it's as if the puzzle pieces in my mind are coming together, and I begin to even just answer my own questions by just talking it out, just having to reason with someone else. So, communicate to your support system, hey, this is happening. I need help and support whether it's just emotional support, or you know helping me figure this out, whatever it might look like. But make sure you don't just stay in your own head and in your own little funk. 

So let's just pause really quick and I want you to think about who this person is for you. Is it a friend? Is it a roommate? Is it a spouse? Is it a sibling? Ideally, you want to kind of already have arranged this kind of support ahead of time, so that you're not like dealing with crisis and then all of a sudden someone feels that you're dumping on them. You might even have someone who is kind of designated like, "Hey, XYZ friend. I love you so much, and I really would love to be able to come to you when things are tough in my business." And this might seem really trivial to some people, but you probably haven't started a business yet if so. Because if you have as an entrepreneur you know that it's really lonely at times. And my first business was with my husband, Terry, so we were in it together. So I kind of always had this person as I'm going through the process. But now with Bird Williams, I am solo. And there's a lot of decisions I have to make and it can feel very overwhelming. So it's important that you say, "Hey, friend. Hey, spouse. There might be times where I need to come to you and just vent or just talk through something, are you okay with that?" And of course, you're going to respect their time and their space as well. But it's a good idea to kind of, you know, have a person when it comes to that, someone that you can go to in times of trouble or overwhelm. So make sure that if you don't have that person or if you haven't really communicated to them that they're your person in this way, that you go ahead and make that a priority. 

Number three. So once you're, breathing because you know like I said, sometimes we forget to breathe, right? I can't tell you how many times I feel like, "Ashley, are you holding your breath? Like breathe, girl, breathe." So once you're breathing, and you're engaging with your support system, next, I want you to analyze your business plan. This is the governing document that pulls together your business's foundation, your financial plan, your operational systems, and your marketing strategy. 

Now, let's be honest, when ish hits the fan, this might not be the first thing you think of doing. What I like about this though is that it keeps you from making an impulsive decision or acting just rash, you know, "Oh, we should just do this. Let's just go with that. It just seemed like the best thing. Everyone's saying that that's what I should do so I'm just going to do that." Y'all it's almost always a good idea to sleep on a big idea or change, and especially in the middle of crisis. You see the old Ashley would say, "You know what? II need to make a quick decision so that I can make sure that I keep things moving because you know I don't want there to be bottlenecks in our workflows with someone waiting on me for something." And y'all while that is true, sometimes that is the case. I have learned that I tend to get subpar results when I make unnecessary decisions under pressure like this. Again there will be times where you have to make a quick decision. There is no time. But there are times when you don't. And so, understand the difference. And if you can, sleep on it because here's the other thing. When I say, analyze your business plan, this doesn't have to take days. It can take an hour or two. And when you're following my framework of reviewing your business plan quarterly. All of this is going to be top of mind. So it's not like you're having to dust off this archaic document that you did when you first launched your business years ago. No, you're reviewing your business plan every quarter. So all of this is top of mind. You know which marketing strategies you're currently focused on. You understand the financial limitations or areas where you have more wiggle room financially because you've just updated your financials. You know where everything is in your business, okay? 

So what do I mean by analyze your business plan? This is what you're going to do. You're gonna look at whatever the change or crisis event is at hand, and identify where the points of impact are in your business. You're going to be able to look at your business plan and do that specifically. I want you to think of the bad, good, and best outcomes, and then assign probabilities to them. This will help you to really think about where you need to focus. And then you'll come up with simple plans of action based on those outcomes. 

Let's walk through two examples. One example will be change. And another example will be crisis. Okay. Change. You're hiring a project manager and a lot of your direct reports will now have a new boss. So first you realize, it's time for me to make this move. I need to hire on a project manager. Breathe. Remind yourself of how incredible it will be for your sanity to have less to do in the business so that you can really take your business to the next level. Admit this is a leap of faith and this is scary, but it's going to help me build a better brand. So I'm going to do the hard thing in wisdom and after vetting it, which leads me to the next point. 

Number two, chat it through with a trusted adviser or a business strategist, or a business partner, or even a friend or spouse. You want to work through the kinks before you're in the interview process with this project manager. You don't want to be figuring things out and winging it along the way. This is a big decision. So you want to make sure you talk it through with someone you trust. All right? 

And then number three, you're going to go to your business plan. So bringing on a project manager will impact your foundation, your financials, and your operations in particular. So when you look at your foundation, you're going to make decisions around ensuring that this project manager is bought into the foundational elements of your business like your mission and your core values. And then in the financial side, you probably already, maybe in your last quarterly review of your business plan, you've already assessed the business's ability to bring on a project manager. But do you have new sales goals now that you're going to have this added expense? Will you need to move around other expenses, even if it's just initially to ensure that you can sustain having this person on the team? Those are the kinds of things you're going to go to your business plan and analyze with this change in your business. And then finally operations, how will your organizational structure change? Will Susan the graphic designer who loves working with you feel some type of way about having to report to someone else now? What team communication tools might change. Do you need someone who will come with their own ideas? Or do you want to hire someone who will manage what's already in place? What do you need to communicate to your existing team about this new role, this new person coming in? That's how you're going to use your business plan to kind of navigate this process. 

Now let's talk through another example. This is going to be the example when it is a crisis situation. This is when ish hits the fan. So your main piece of software is defective, and clients are getting a subpar product or service. And the worst part is that it's been going on for some time and you were not aware. So first, you sit still in the moment and you say, Yeah, this sucks royally. You will need to move quickly, and it may be very costly, and require a lot of manpower to switch over your entire software, right? Breathe. Remind yourself that there are things out of your control. And remember that excellence is doing the best with what you have in your hands So that's your plan of action. 

The next, kind of lean into your support system, and this is like a different angle to it. As you begin to do research on different software systems consider connecting with a key client or a group of clients about what they most want from their experience with your product or service. So in this way, your clients could, you know, be a stand-in for a support system and in times of crisis or change. Now, maybe you get new software because of their feedback that doesn't just fix the current problem but elevates the entire client experience. And then next when it comes to your business plan, changing something significant like your business's main software is going to affect all the areas of your business, your foundation, your financial, your operations, and your marketing. For your foundation, could this new software solve the client's problem in a better or more efficient way perhaps? When you look at financial, crossing over will likely have significant expenses associated with it. So you will have to bite the bullet, but it's okay because we've prepared for this with our rainy day fund in our financial budgeting, right? And then when you look at operations, this is going to be huge because completely different software means new training and new operating procedures. And this will probably be the biggest headache. So you're able to look at your business plan and see how is my business operating now, and with this new software what will change, or how do I need to change my different procedures, automations, etc.? And then finally with marketing, you may need to change the messaging of the features that you provide in your product or service if you're changing your software, depending on what that software is and how different it was from the initial software. You might need to change the client interface and what images are shown in your marketing or just your marketing messages in general. So there's always ways to turn lemons into lemonade here, so just remember to be optimistic. Be optimistic. Okay, I won't continue the song. 

So those are just two examples of how if there's a change in your business that has to happen, how to kind of navigate using this three-step process. And if there's a crisis, which of course tends to be a lot more time-sensitive and a lot more scary at times, how to kind of navigate that as well.

I mentioned creating a bad, good and best scenario. I like doing that because it helps kind of shape like what's the worst that could happen versus how can I really turn this into something great? And then creating probabilities for them to kind of see, hey, it's most likely that we're going to be okay. That's what you usually see when you do that. But even if not, we have a plan of how we're going to be able to adapt, even in that scenario. So you want to look at that as well. 

And then last but definitely not least, please don't neglect you. Y'all we've talked about you venting to someone that you trust. But even beyond that, make sure you're taking some time for yourself, that you're remembering to do basic stuff like eat three meals a day or more, drinking enough water, moving your body, like we talked about. Make sure that you're pouring into your cup. It might just be one hour out of 168 hours you have each week that's blocked off and called weekly personal time, or whatever you want to call it. But you have some time in your schedule for yourself. And I'm going, to be honest, I am embarrassed by the number of times that, okay so I have this weekly personal time in my calendar. But I am embarrassed about the number of times that I've just deleted it because something more important quote-unquote came up. And it was almost always work which is annoying. But I am going to get better at it and I'm encouraging you to get in the practice of taking care of yourself and scheduling it just like you schedule everything else. Prioritizing it just like you prioritize everything else. That way, when change or crisis hits your business in the future, you are okay. And in turn, your business will be okay. 

So we've talked about change and crisis. We've talked about breathing. That's something that we can all do. If you don't have anything else. If you don't have a business plan. If you don't have a support system even, which, obviously, a lot of us do. We just don't want to at times, be humble enough and remove pride to actually go out to people and say I need help. But even if you don't feel like you have that, we can all breathe. So that's a great place to start today. 

So breathing, support system, and ultimately looking to your business plan for what needs to adapt between your four business pillars, as you move forward through this new season. Y'all, it's just a season, okay? One day you're gonna look back at this moment in time, and you're gonna smile. And you're gonna be proud of yourself for doing what seemed impossible, and for getting up every day and just going at it again. And I'm proud of you too. So, here we are. Let's go. Let's do this. 

Y'all I have some big announcements in the next few weeks. Make sure that you tune into the podcast, or sign up for my weekly email for updates. I'm gonna link the email signup in the episode description as well. I super-duper appreciate you for tuning in each week. It means so much to me. And I hope that like Paloma, you're putting it into action, everything you're learning. Y'all there's always someplace that you can start. You know, even if you're not ready to open your business tomorrow, there's something you can do. And I hope that as I share these episodes, you're able to identify. You know I can do that. I can write a business plan. I can you know start to think through my money team, my CPA, and my lawyer. 

There's something you can do today and I hope these episodes inspire you to do just that. And if they do, can you leave me a review on Apple Podcasts. You just go real quick and just say how you feel about the podcast. It would mean so much to me. I would really, really appreciate it. You could also subscribe so that you can make sure you don't miss any of the episodes. And as always, make sure you share if you know other entrepreneurs who could benefit from this knowledge. Make sure you share the podcast with them as well. All right? All right, talk to y'all next week.