Since we've all started isolating, I've had the chance to talk to dozens of people about their situation and how they're responding to COVID. While I cannot possibly list everything I've learned here, I wanted to try and summarize some interesting thoughts in a series of posts that I will be running for the next little while. Stay tuned for further posts on that topic.
Adapting to change
From all the people I've spoken to, every sector has been affected differently. People working primarily in hospitality and retail have all but stopped working and are looking for ways to pivot into new sectors that would value their expertise and need it to adapt to the fast-paced changes that are needed. Other sectors, such as construction or commercial offices, have to adapt for and with their clients, but there is no shortage of work for them and they can foresee being continually busy for quite some time.
The common theme is that all have had to adapt, some more drastically than others and these rapid, unforeseen changes can be a lot to digest, both from a business perspective, but also at a personal level. It's been exhausting for just about everyone I've spoken to and vacation time is not being taken (where would you go anyway?). We'll address this particular challenge in another post.
What's oddly reassuring is that we are all in the same boat, so there is value in continuously connecting with others, calling long-lost friends and colleagues, because these connections, which cannot happen randomly in person anymore, are vital for a community to remain relevant and innovative.
I can't tell you how many, mostly terrible business ideas I've had pop up in my head because of the conversations I've had. While most of those have no legs upon investigating them further, a few seem promising and I am now in the process of testing them to see which ones could turn out to be valuable.
What are your hacks to make up for the lack of real-life connections and how you get ideas to pivot your business in order to stay relevant?
Do you need to pivot, but don't know where to start? Gimme a shout here we have a team of superstars ready to help!