By Milestone|3 March 19, 2020

Amidst the health situation and softening market, a lot has transpired. Unfortunately more has transpired in the brain (thoughts) than in the physical marketplace (actions). Questions such as “What is going to happen? What else may happen? Should we start now? When will it be over?” run over and over again in the mind and each time question leads to another question and soon there are more questions than we can never answer. If you feel that way, no worries. You are perfectly normal. It is understandable for anyone to thread more cautiously in times of doubts or uncertainty. Who won’t, right?

However, market situations do not go up or go down forever. It fluctuates, it repeats and some even say it rhymes. We must not stop actioning on the current markets or on our businesses just because they are temporarily affected. We know that one day the present will be the past and the future will be the new present. So what we do something today is not only to meet today’s needs but we are also preparing ourselves for the future a.k.a. the coming ‘present’. Instead of waiting for good things to happen, why not we prepare ourselves before good things happen again.

How many times have we wished that we could pause time from ticking like a pause button of a video player? How often have we wished we could take some time off to strategize and improve our processes and systems? The current market and health situation offers us a break from our usual busy transactions. It’s as if Dr Strange has just clicked that ‘pause’ button using his time stone.

We can go take a break or bitch about what a way to start the new decade. Or we can take this golden opportunity to strengthen our business foundation. If our system has been weak, this is the best time to find that bug and kill it once and for all. When we are to penetrate a new market soon, this is the time to reach out to more strategic partners who are more open-minded to new business ideas than ever before.

If our skills are weak, this is the best time to upgrade ourselves. And for some reasons, many always think skill set is just about skills. We could have missed the biggest truth that is right in front of our face. Why some companies could command higher pricing in their service? Their expertise and experience. Why some employees could be paid much higher than others? Their expertise and experience. Do you see the relation? Expertise or skillsets command higher pricing. It’s an asset. What about the experience? It’s an asset that appreciates over time. When someone says please invest in your skills, it literally means invest in an asset that appreciates over time!

During this health challenge, remember that we want to stay away from the virus and that does not mean we stay away from our customers. Don’t abandon them as Will Smith puts it aptly, “If you’re absent during my struggle, don’t expect to be present during my success.” You may not want to keep in touch literally with customers (I doubt they want you to) but with today’s technology, we have too many ways to keep in touch. Keep them updated, offer some help as an investment and after all, it is about a human helping another human.

We believe humankind will weather this challenge just like what we did in the previous decades with other challenges. We believe that things will turn for the better. The question is will you be ready by then if you don’t prepare now?

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