There are 19 business days in April. Let’s make the best of them during the COVID-19 crisis.
Take the time in your social-distancing work spaces to come up with 19 things you and your team can do to make a difference for your business, your staff and your community.
Here are some ideas:
Day 1 – Get your sales team members to send letters or cards (or, as a last resort, emails) to 19 of their best customers in the last year. Say thank you for their business and tell them how much you appreciate them.
Day 2 – Order a business book by phone from your local bookstore. Ask them for a bestseller or one of the classic business books that would inspire you this month. Some thought-provoking reads might include: The One-Minute Manager, Traction, Essentialism, Good to Great, E-Myth Manager or even Profit Yourself Healthy!
Day 3 – Think of up to 19 things as a team that you could do in the next year to improve your business space.
Day 4 – Order lunch from a local restaurant and have them deliver it to your team (paid for by you, not the team members). Have a video call lunch.
Day 5 – With your team, come up with a list of 100 prospects you would like to go after in the next year. Then work on a plan to reach out to them.
Day 6 – Have one of your team bake cookies and send them to neighbouring businesses that have remained open, or to essential service providers.
Day 7– Send each of your team a short note about how you appreciate them.
Day 8 – Take out an advertisement in your local newspaper or on local radio (not Facebook) to help keep them in business during this tough time and to tell the community that you’re thinking of them.
Day 9 – Buy some goodies from a local bakery and do a draw online via social media; have the goodies delivered to the winner.
Day 10 – Think of a local charity that’s struggling because it has lost its fundraiser this month and make a small donation. Encourage your team and supporters to do likewise.
Day 11 – Take 19 minutes for meditation with your team via video conferencing, using a relaxing recording to help you reduce your stress levels.
Day 12 – Get your team to think of 19 ways you can recover quickly from the economic effects of COVID-19.
Day 13 – Pick three customers or staff who might be especially suffering from this economic crisis and order them a meal from a local restaurant that needs supporting.
Day 14 – Think of at least one job for which you can hire a person or a company that will take a few days in May, June or July.
Day 15 – Send a thank-you card to 19 of your suppliers or benefactors saying that you appreciate what they do for you.
Day 16 – Have your staff write 19 reviews on social media for businesses that they’ve appreciated in the past year.
Day 17 – Use LinkedIn to connect to 19 new people or make 19 positive comments on posts on LinkedIn.
Day 18 – In anticipation that economic activity is going to resume shortly, come up with a plan for the first 19 days of May.
Day 19 – Write down 19 things you’re thankful for and what you learned to appreciate during this unprecedented time.
For reasons outside of our control, we’ve all been inconvenienced and challenged. This doesn’t mean we’re defeated. Let’s take the next period to come up with a plan that will make us better as a business, as a team, as a community and as people.
Take the 19-day business challenge and make it your own. Do small things that will make a great difference!
Dave Fuller, MBA, is an award winning business coach and a partner in the firm Pivotleader Inc. Comments on business at this time? Email [email protected]
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