Rewind to November 2017. We’re in Rome, about to take in the sight and sounds of the eternal city as a cool rain came down.
I get an email.
Shit! One of our main clients has to scale back for the time being. Both on scope and on billing.
WTF do we do now?
We’re in the middle of Italy on a journey of a lifetime and all of a sudden it felt as though we were sucker punched.
I was almost hyperventilating on the steps of the Coliseum. From a business perspective, I understood the why behind this decision. From my own business perspective, I was upset that I wasn’t more prepared for something like this.
Now they say all roads lead to Rome, and while I wholeheartedly believe that, I also believe that when life throws you lemons, you make some damn good limoncello and make the best out of the situation (nice analogy, huh?).
This was one of those times and that was what we were going to do. Make the best out of what could have been a shitty situation.
So Melissa and I went back to the drawing board and asked ourselves some really tough internal questions.
In fact we opened up our latest ebook Growth Mindset For Entrepreneurs and went through it together.
Difficult? Yes!
Did we find some clarity? You betcha.
We actually came to a HUGE realization about our business and life from those questions.
As much as we love the internet and the “online game”, it isn’t necessarily who we are. It’s isn’t at the core of our WHY.
At our core we’re networkers, marketers, branders, and educators. Yet for almost all of 2016 and part of 2017, we abandoned our roots.
We were looking for answers and opportunities in all the wrong places.
With a forced business pivot on our hands, we knew exactly the direction we had to travel towards.
So we went back to the drawing board, put some new SMART goals down on paper, and made a plan of action that will allow to ride this current wave while identifying the next course of action for us.
Going through our own e-book made us understand more about ourselves than ever before. More about our process, our vision, our day-to-day actions, and how it aligns (or doesn’t align, depending), on our core values as a business.
It was a tremendous exercise where now, almost 5 months later, I’m so grateful we were able not only endure, but come out better than before.
Throughout this whole journey, we’ve learned so much, but looking at this specific pivot, here are 4 main takeaways.
- Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket. Eventually, the handle is going to break and the eggs are going to crack. Diversify. Diversify. Diversify.
- When life throws you lemons, screw lemonade, make strong limoncello and share it with those you love. If possible. Label it and sell it
- Focus on what you’re good at. Branding and marketing consulting is our business. Why were we trying to be something we’re not?
- Set your process, and then reset that process. It’s an ever changing business landscape and your business should be set-up in a way to navigate those waters. being stuck to a process is great, but having that process stunt your growth is terrible.