I’ve been an entrepreneur for 21 years and have gone through two recessions and 9/11. This pandemic I’m experiencing is like two recessions and 9/11 all rolled up into one x 10.
My Waxing Co business in Honolulu is down 40% from March 1st – March 18th from last year. It’s down 30% from last week.
I’ve had to furlough staff who often are living paycheck to paycheck.
It’s heartbreaking for me and other entrepreneurs to lay off our teams. We work hard to provide jobs often forgoing our own livelihoods for the benefit of others.
The difference between this crisis and the others I’ve experienced is now I don’t feel alone.
I have a tribe of entrepreneurs in EO Entrepreneurs’ Organization, NAWBO National Association of Women Business Owners and the female founders at my startup Orange & Bergamot.
It’s relieving to see some businesses thrive during this time — Zoom, home gyms, online distance learning, certain online / e-commerce products, lawyers.
But whether our businesses are up or down 40% – we’ve reached out and shared specific actionable tips and tactics, industry knowledge, proprietary software, and webinar links.
We’ve even offered our own services and high-level contacts for the benefit of entrepreneurs.
If you’re a small business owner / an entrepreneur who’s struggling please reach out to me or another entrepreneur – you‘re not alone.
But will you reach out?
The hardest part for entrepreneurs is to ask for help.
We’re known to be problem solvers — our staff, our clients look to us for answers.
In order to make it through this crisis — we all have to change our intrinsic ways.
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” – Max Planck
Max Planck, a German Physicist and the founder of Quantum Physics demonstrated that when one looks at an object, the characteristics of the object change at the molecular level.
We each get a chance and a choice on how we perceive the world around us.
We can be a victim of circumstances and simply react to all that we are exposed to on a daily basis, or we can choose to view what we see as lessons and opportunities.
We always have a choice.
Make the choice to reach out.
Make the choice to ask for help.
When you succeed — we all succeed.
Be safe. Be well.
XO
Kalika