All Businesses Will Fail In a Couple Of Months??

[Fox]

Do you already have a business and are you already taking action?

Seems to be a few threads on here who view this virus like some kinda shortcut around actual work and a real plan.

"Is the best option to just survive or is there a way to still take action?"

I hope you are joking.

Start taking real action based on a long term plan that you control.

 

[JAJT]

There is always a dozen great reasons not to take action.

There's always a recession, or a virus, or too much competition, or too little, or tariffs, or less than ideal trade conditions, or bad currency exchanges, or worker strikes, or a less than ideal political environment, etc...

Pick a problem, solve it, and while you should anticipate risks and mitigate them to the best of your ability you also shouldn't obsess over them.

Owning a small business requires you to be adaptable to an ever changing landscape full of potholes and land mines. A great business owner has a map and destination in mind but also isn't afraid to make course corrections as needed either.

Also worth noting that every recession has winners and losers. The losers TEND to be the businesses that tighten their belts - they cut down on staff, advertise less, control spending, and attempt to ride out the storm. The winners tend to be the ones who double down on their efforts - they increase advertising, hire sales staff, get aggressive with their goals, and poach customers from the belt tighteners.

 

[JAJT]

What would you do if there wasn't a pandemic and recession?

Do that.

It's literally that simple.

There will always be healthy people with money (aka - customers). Focus on what they'll do. Not what the bed-ridden poor will do.

Also - there are good strategies to avoiding the issues of a recession. Simply focus on products and services that people don't cut down on during hard times. This isn't exactly a new way of thinking - people have been talking about "recession proof businesses" for ages.

Hell - if you insist on focusing on the coming doom, focus your business activities on that. Get into the death business if you think this pandemic will be devastating. Start a "celebration of life" company or "turn your ashes into a tree" business. Figure out what problems the surviving people will have and solve them. Or give people the means to not get sick - start a surgical face mask company.

You're strangling yourself in fear, uncertainty, and doubt. It's not that hard to come up with ideas that will work in literally any business environment.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Fox]

Let´s think we are right now in Hubei province in China and under full quarantine. How would you act, because that is the situation I expect that will arise.

For example right now Germany is doing the least in taking precautions and it´s not different in many other countries. There are over 100k people in Cologne celebrating Carnival. It´s the perfect environment for spreading the virus.

You are watching too much news.

Turn off the TV and focus on working your plan.

@JAJT has amazing advice above but you are currently stuck in a doomsday fear mindset.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Bekit]

- What business can thrive in a recession + Corona?

Look at it this way: What problem can you solve? (The virus has created a whole lot of new problems that are up for grabs for a leader to execute on.)

• Manufacture masks
• Manufacture pharmaceuticals
• Organize a courier service for deliveries to people who are quarantined
• Create sourcing routes to get hard-to-find medications that people need to survive, such as anti-seizure medications or heart medications or even anti-depressants, once the supply from China runs dry
• Create a service where someone can "brighten a nurse's day" by ordering stuff that can be delivered to hospitals for stressed, overtired hospital staff. Make it easy for this to be a community effort where multiple people can contribute, like they do with care packages for soldiers, or Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.
• Solve the problem of what's going to happen to all the elderly, special needs and handicapped people who depend on a primary caregiver when that caregiver dies from the virus
• Solve the problem of what's going to happen to children whose parents both die of the virus
• Solve the problem of helping businesses quickly re-route their supply chains to other locations
• Solve the problem of restarting manufacturing of parts that can no longer be sourced from China, such as critical grid components or vehicle parts. If the trucking industry breaks down due to inability to replace parts, then food won't get delivered.
• Solve the problem of getting supplies to and from the farms. This past fall, there was a propane shortage in the Midwest, causing farmers not to be able to dry their grain. If the people in agriculture can't get one critical component, then the food supply could break down. And that would be bad.
• Keep going. There are some big problems here. Some people will rise to the challenge and become indispensable. Others will "just survive."

If you can't solve the whole problem, can you solve one critical piece that will contribute to the solution? Can you form a strategic alliance of the people that someone solving the problem would need to connect with? Can you lead a grassroots network? Can you create one central location where everyone can go to get all the resources for a topic in one place? Can you

- Is the best option to just survive or is there a way to still take action?

It's hard to think of a scenario where the best option would ever be to "just survive." It is almost always possible to take action.

Make yourself valuable and you will be rewarded.

 

[JAJT]

I still think most people are still underestimating the situation.

Huh?

It's not that we're underestimating the situation - it's just that nobody is treating it like an excuse. Those are two very different things.

You're saying "virus, virus, virus" and we're saying "virus, got it, so.... business, business, business".

This virus clearly has the potential to shut down various things for various lengths of time. People on this forum have had their business interrupted by the virus. The attitude from the successful among us, however, has been to adapt, overcome, and improving future planning.

Walk outside - are people panicking and rioting? No? Then they are spending money. Go sell something to them. If the virus shuts you down for a few weeks or months - adapt, overcome, plan better, and do what you can until the storm passes - like everyone else will.

 

[AllenCrawley]

Interesting statistic...
41,000 people die every year from second hand smoke.

 

[Andy Black]

A client selling office supplies has noticed more sales for office chairs recently. I'm guessing for people working at home.

 

[bibbysoka]

Let´s think we are right now in Hubei province in China and under full quarantine. How would you act, because that is the situation I expect that will arise.

For example right now Germany is doing the least in taking precautions and it´s not different in many other countries. There are over 100k people in Cologne celebrating Carnival. It´s the perfect environment for spreading the virus.

Dude. The real Flu has killed more people than corona virus. Drunk drivers kill more than this virus. Obesity, cancer, and various diseases have killed millions and millions more than this virus. Why live in fear of death over it? You seem to either be really young or just like @Fox said, you watch way too much news. Get back to work, focus on your ideas. You're in a safe country right now, stalemating simply because you are afraid of 'what-if's'

 

[Bekit]

Here's a local service business that I bet is going to make extra money during Corona season:

Mobile IV Therapy & Nutrient Infusion - IV Rehab | CO & WY

Mobile IV Therapy or vitamin infusion therapy is a common low-risk procedure used by doctors to rehydrate the body. Helps treat colds, flu, hangover, & more

www.ivrehab.com

It would probably be super simple to set up something like this in your area. Just make sure you know how to keep your staff from getting infected.

My business hasn't been affected in the slightest. It's offline, don't import, fully local.

OP, if you want to mitigate risk, look for a "recession-proof" industry. For instance, everyone will always need to eat. Children will always need education. Look at the gamut of activities that humans have been pursuing for centuries and you'll get an idea of the areas where someone can always do business.

You're obviously a successful entrepreneur, probably net worth in the 8 digits, retired, and coming onto here under a made-up identity of "copywriter" to while away time by providing advice.

I'm flattered.

Folks who attended the summit can weigh in on whether they think the copywriter thing is just a guise...LOL

 

[Andy Black]

> Overthinking is the art of solving problems you don’t have

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Fox]

The starting phase of most businesses are bumpy and exactly in these situations you don´t want to take too much risk and let me tell you - I love taking risk haha.

In general I believe most people do not realize the seriousness of the situation. The cases in Italy, South Korea or Iran can happen out of nowhere any time anywhere. Right now everybody saying the flu is worse and everything - the flu causes more deaths at the moment but the potential the Corona Virus has is on another level in comparison to the flu. In China right now 750 million people are quarantined - 1/10 of the world population is under quarantine.

Every Battle Is Won Before It Is Ever Fought - Sun Tzu

At the moment preparation and strategy is key!!

There was no virus when you joined the forum over a year ago.

What have you done since you started this thread?

If you are so convinced then go do whatever your plan is and report back.

What are you waiting for?

 

[BizyDad]

When in human history has there not been some kind of catastrophe either happening or looming on the horizon?

Really glad our collective ancestors didn't live in a perpetual state of waiting for the crisis or threat of crises to wane before they built anything.

We'd all still be living in mud huts and sacrificing animals to try to ward off bad weather.

This reminds me a story told by Ben Franklin in his autobiography written in 1793. He had a friend who admonished him for buying a house in Philadelphia.

The market was going to crash. The friend thought he should have waited. Several years later, Ben bought another house, and the friend was still waiting. Philadelphia couldn't possibly keep up that rate of growth.

Long story short, the friend ended up buying his first house 15 years later and paying something like three times what he would have paid if he had just bought it at first.

There's always some impending disaster.

There is always a reason to be scared of starting.

 

[BizyDad]

Germany. I am in the starting phase of creating an agency (service: landing pages & Google Ads). Done market research everything you need and the niche is orthodontics. Now Im struggling - if the virus gets serious, which is very likely, it would not look good for this niche... Matter of fact various other niches would suffer. I do not know if I should continue or rethink everything again with everything that is going on.

You can say this about any endeavour right now. Just start. If you do nothing, then you DO NOTHING. Where does that get you?

If you are so concerned about being industry specific, then branch out into other industries. Or other countries. Spread the risk around.

Good luck to you.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[BizyDad]

Taking action is not the problem here. What concerns me is the direction which I should aim for. Again pandemic + recession is a situation humanity has not tasted, at least in our globalized world.

When I think about long term, right now I have no idea what my next steps should be..

Then stop thinking long term. You are trying to predict the future and you can't.

Think short term. No matter what, you need your next client. So spend your time trying to find that person you can help.

Put one foot in front of the other. You might be surprised where you end up.

 

[TKDTyler]

Here is someone who saw a need and is executing:

Next Gen Pollution & Viral Filtration Mask With Botanicals

Australian designed, botanically infused, designer masks. Ergonomic, highly breathable, and reusable. Blocks over 97% of PM2.5.

www.kickstarter.com

Opportunity is everywhere.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[JAJT]

1/10 of the world population is under quarantine.

Do quarantined people stop having problems that need solving?

Are they suddenly unwilling to pay to solve those problems?

With a mortality rate (quick google) estimate of 2-5%, doesn't that mean than 95 - 98% of people recover and want to go back to living their lives (IE: buying things).

Is everyone in the population sick at the same time? If not, doesn't that mean the unaffected are still buying things?

Dude - you make it sound like a tenth of the planet has put their credit cards and cash away and are all sitting by candlelight rationing whatever food they have in their house and waiting for the end of days to finally come.

This is a serious outbreak but it has a start and an end and not everyone will be affected at the same time. Just because they can't leave the country does not mean they are all suspending all forms of commerce.

Unless this virus is wiping out all human need, there is opportunity.

 

[Fox]

^ exactly.

This thread:

You: “virus”

Forum: ya don’t worry about it - make a plan that you control and get to work on that

You: “virus”

Forum: am okay... then make a plan around the virus and get to work on that instead

You: “virus”

 

[Rabby]

The real opportunity revealed by Corona virus is that people who keep doing the normal things that obviously need to be done will reap the many rewards. The people who hesitate, hem and haw, and let yet another disaster change their course because uncertainty scared them into inaction will just fall behind. It will be another day in the story of the world, sad to see because we could have so much more quality of life if entrepreneurs would just keep moving and do the job they're supposed to be doing. Which is improving their environment, the world, and the quality and utility of various things. Go do that.

And no, I don't think people will stop going to the dentist because some people are getting a virus. Yes, it's an unpleasant virus, but unless you know more than all the pandemic scientists and economists and statisticians and psychics (heh) on the planet, you don't know what it will ultimately do, or how many people will die, or whether or not there will be economic repercussions. It could be the start of a Bulgarian real estate boom for all we really know about crap like this.

And the 750 million people who are "quarantined" are under travel restrictions. They're not locked in an all-white sterile facility staffed by government workers in biohazard suits. They're not being experimented on in the lab that starts the zombie apocalypse. Concerned old men with PhDs are not rubbing their hands together wondering what to do about the 750 million medical prisoners. How do I know? Because no such facility exists, and no nation on Earth has the power to herd 750 million people into one place and keep them there. Those people are walking around in their streets buying vegetables. The big difference is they're traumatized by news, so they are taking probably-ineffective measures like wearing paper masks on their faces while they buy vegetables. Be accurate when you think about what's going on... anything else is just gonzo language and mental masturbation.

Next step: go sell some dentistry to concerned parents with kids who have craggy teeth.

 

[MattR82]

I feel like even the businesses that are hit hard over the next few months have a huge opportunity when things start to recover. Take the forced time off to make those changes to your biz you were only dreaming of, then come back hard, more efficient, with a better biz, and probably with less competitors..

 

[loop101]

You could look at which companies prospered during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic:

Impact of the Flu | DPLA

The Digital Public Library of America brings together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and makes them freely available to the world.

dp.la

Hundreds of small businesses also had to close due to staff shortages and bankruptcies were common after the pandemic.

Interestingly, one industry flourished during the flu outbreak—the liquor industry. In Baltimore, Maryland, saloons were spared restrictions other businesses faced due to the alleged medicinal value of liquor. In Charleston, South Carolina, dispensaries were set up so citizens could receive a rationed quart of whiskey, which many waited hours in line to get. Alcohol, it seems, brought Americans relief, however temporary.

In our times, probably alcohol and marijuana.

I also think anything that helped people avoid each other. Robots, drones, VR, remote work, living off-grid, wilderness survival, etc.

 

[WJK]

I know I have plenty of chairs both in my office and my home office... Who knows why there would be an uptick in sales? I do know that I went to the grocery store for my weekly shopping trip. Many of the shelves were empty. I was telling my friends and my husband that it may have to do with young women not knowing how to cook -- since they can't go out for their meals. How do they know what to buy and how to prepare it when they get it home?

The shopping experience was head-scratching. All the pasta, beans, rice, canned veggies, and toilet paper was gone off of the shelves. So were the fresh milk, bottled water, and eggs. I live in rural Alaska and we've had one case of the virus here in the whole State -- and he came in on a cargo plane and tested positive. What are these crazy people thinking when they buy all this stuff? Don't they have food on their shelves at home? We have almost 4 feet of snow on the ground. Who needs to stock up on bottled water when we have this very deep snowpack that's free for the taking? And, by the way, my water wells are doing great. I can turn on a faucet and get all the water that I can use. None of this mass hysteria makes any sense to me.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Johnny boy]

My lawn care business is good.

All customers are on 12 month contracts and auto pay with their cards. You can bet I’m running their cards each month.

90% of my costs are variable. If shit really hits the fan I can fire my employees and do the work myself. Larger profit margin just on a smaller scale.

As long as my customers’ cards work, I’ll be okay.

 

[Andy Black]

None of this mass hysteria makes any sense to me.

I don’t think it’s hysteria. I think a lot of people want to take a bit of action.

 

[Ing]

Hi compatriot,
the social security here in Germany is perfect! You wont have to suffer much in the comming recession! Don’t worry!
Serious: the worst case szenario is not bad enough to realy fear it!

Have had much fun this weekend, I will not have a coronavirus and the Chinese businessmen I talked to today and yesterday ( yes, they wort Sundays, too) are very friendly and have much knowledge.
BTW, a friend of mine died last year after an accident, a good friend of mine has cancer of lung with metastasis in his brain.

No, I absolutely not afraid of th corona virus and not of the recession.

And when you need ideas for earning money in bad times, that search through the forum and youl be rich in 5 years, if you only take action 1% of the suggested ways to do.

Viel Glück!

 

[Timmy C]

So we know that the Corona Virus is gonna hit hard - very hard. On the other hand we await the recession and now with Corona it probably will speed up. I think we will probably see the start of the recession still in 2020.

Now I´ve been thinking:
- What business can thrive in a recession + Corona?
- Is there even a business that can thrive?
- What is the best economic/business decision one can make?
- Is the best option to just survive or is there a way to still take action?

What do you guys think how the world will move in a couple of months and how it will effect our lives?

I must have found a mysterious and hidden way to take action amongst all this, i don't know how i did it honestly.

I just released another cooking class, and am half way through producing my first sales class on rapport building.

All jokes aside i wouldn't worry about it to much, just put yourself out there and produce things.

Shit starts happening when you do.

 

[Kevin88660]

So we know that the Corona Virus is gonna hit hard - very hard. On the other hand we await the recession and now with Corona it probably will speed up. I think we will probably see the start of the recession still in 2020.

Now I´ve been thinking:
- What business can thrive in a recession + Corona?
- Is there even a business that can thrive?
- What is the best economic/business decision one can make?
- Is the best option to just survive or is there a way to still take action?

What do you guys think how the world will move in a couple of months and how it will effect our lives?

Cleaning company will thrive. Environmental hygiene will be a top priority.

Eldercare will. They are more vulnerable in such situation.

The good thing is if you are into these two business you do not have to worry about demand vanishing just because the corona virus faded away.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[BizyDad]

*Googling "real estate laws in Bulgaria"

*Googling "what language is spoken in Bulgaria"

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

@Sayd OG not to be judgmental... but my assumption is you're younger?

Correct me if I'm wrong... but if I'm wrong then you should know that the "world is going to end" like a bagillion times in the last ten years... and we're still here.

If you just want to talk about "viruses that will kill all humanity"

You have mad cow disease, the avian flu, the swine flu, H1N1, and literally dozens more...

Not to mention wars in the middle east (a bagillion times), wars in Africa, war with Iran, Brexit, etc. etc. etc.

Dude, this list goes on forever and ever...

These people are right when they say you're letting stupid shit get in your way.

Don't think about the outside world. Provide value to the business community and you can make an income.

Provide MORE value than anyone else... and you'll make a huge fortune.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[G-Man]

A client selling office supplies has noticed more sales for office chairs recently. I'm guessing for people working at home.

Correct. I've been getting larger than normal orders at higher than normal prices. Distributors are telling me that customers are making "office in a box" packages of computers, displays, printers, etc to send to their people to work from home. It's a boom market for anyone that has ready to ship stock inside the USA.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.