Started your own business? Great! You’re an entrepreneur and you have likely thought about and planned for some of the topics listed below:
- Idea Recognition / Marketing Strategies
- Business Plans / Operations
- Financing / Legal Structures
- Point-of-Sale Services / Profit Modeling
Starting a business is a challenge within itself but virtually no small business owner has planned for the far-reaching effects of a worldwide pandemic. Let me introduce you to COVID-19.
You have countless risks to mitigate and challenges to overcome. Each day can be a struggle between success and failure. That struggle is likely to never end as outside influences change your business and how you operate.
We will be the first to admit that we do not have all of the answers. We plan for the unknowns and leverage our experience to prepare to meet those challenges head-on; however, we did not see COVID-19 coming like thousands of other businesses across the globe. Even if we had, what can a growing business do when chasing the next customer or contract?
In times like these, we reflect on how we got where we are today. Different paths in life led us to the point in 2017 when we decided to start Eleven09. Prior to that time, we had moments in our lives where we faced enormous odds and survived. Times that tested us. Times that showed us who we are and what we are made of. Times that showed us the importance of being a member of a team and the things we can accomplish when we choose to work together.
Working as a team is how we will all overcome the obstacles that this global pandemic has brought upon our country and communities. It has already fundamentally changed our personal lives and how we choose to plan for our futures and those of our families. There is no doubt that challenges will continue to arise as we all aim to adapt to an evolving way that we work and live. This is not a prediction, but something that everyone reading this already realizes and is likely already experiencing.
We are calling on our community, both personally and professionally to take a moment and think about how they can become a member of a team that supports our collective mission of beating this pandemic and coming out stronger and wiser. Many are already thinking of the bigger picture as they self-isolate to protect the most at-risk groups. Many are donating their excess sick and paid leave to those that are unable to work. These are some of the countless examples of teamwork and looking out for one another each and every day. We are all watching the government develop a response to the pandemic and its economic impact. As we wait to see how bad things will get before they get better, we ask everyone to think about their actions as a member of a team supporting America.
Over the next weeks and months, we will be highlighting resources available to those effected by COVID-19. Some will be targeted to our veteran population and others will be for everyone.
Let’s work together people. If not us, then who?
-Kyle and Lewis
