Episode 10: Life on the Edge

LIFE ON THE EDGE - AN ENTREPRENEUR'S STORY OF SURVIVAL DURING COVID-19

Life on the Edge is my story about surviving COVID-19 as a small business owner and entrepreneur outside Philadelphia. I started documenting the happenings of each day about two weeks into the mandatory lock-down so that when I look back on this time I will be able to remember it for exactly what it is. 

My goal with Life on the Edge is to provide a inside look into a small business struggling to survive, my first major crisis as a leader, and ultimately the process of saving a distressed company during a global disaster. I hope that by sharing my experience, I might help other entrepreneurs and business owners during this difficult time.

In Episode 10, I discuss progress that we made during the week on the goals that we have set for the second quarter. Despite the unprecedented circumstances and chaos, we identified relevant goals for the organization and for each teammate to work towards in Q2. There was an urge at the end of March to forgo goals for this quarter, and it would have been easy to do and understandable given the situation we were facing; however, setting goals has helped us stay focused on what we can control and has also helped us to quiet some of the outside noise that is so loud right now. I can clearly see now that setting measurable, time-bound, and relevant goals is a simple, yet very effective, tool to maintain alignment and engagement during crisis. 

Also in this episode, I share some of the feelings of frustration and stress that I am going through. Despite an overall feeling of confidence that we're going to be OK, there are moments where it gets to me and I feel like I can't keep up. When that happens, I remind myself to breathe and focus my attention on what is immediately in front of me. When the feelings subside, then I'll allow myself to bring my focus back to the big picture. Keeping stress under control is critical right now; with the sheer volume of decisions that have to be made, keeping a clear head is paramount.