Keep Snow from Burying Your Business

If, like me, you have been impacted over the last couple of weeks by the east
coast’s Snowzilla storm (AKA Jonas, if you are a Weather Channel aficionado),
then you know just what I mean when I say THANK GOD MY KIDS ARE BACK TO SCHOOL AND LIFE IS GETTING BACK TO NORMAL.

The storm was a doozy, but it didn’t bury us (neither figuratively, nor literally). Actually, I learned a lot about what I was doing well (and what could use work) when it comes to my business by reflecting on how we performed.

Blizzards and Business

Some of what I learned:

1. Clients are patient when you give them a chance (and they are going
through the same thing) – At first, I was going crazy trying to make sure
we kept up with deadlines we had set before the storm. That was crazy, since
much of my team was without childcare and simply couldn’t work the same
hours. (Plus, you gotta sled!) My takeaway is that when you communicate
with clients and set or reset expectations around timelines, they get it.

2. It is all about priorities – When your time is more limited, it is more
important than ever to figure out what really has to get done and what can
wait. Between shoveling the front steps for the 6th time and hiking through feet of snow to get essentials from the store, you can only get so much accomplished. Make sure you are using your time wisely. Time-sensitive, relevant social media posts still need to get out, while getting that file to the printer (who is snowed in) can probably wait.

3. Snow time is a great time for new ideas – I have long thought that the
best time that I spend on my business is the time I spend away from my
desk. Brilliant ideas can’t be forced and there is something about
shoveling a wall of snow that really opened my brain. I returned from
shoveling one day with two blog ideas and some thoughts on how to promote a
new product line!

4. Having a geographically diverse team really mitigates weather issues – I
sometimes bemoan how geographically diverse the Spring Insight core team is
(we are in four states and two time zones). It is a pain that we can’t ever
sit in the same room to strategize. But having team members in different
locations—some impacted by the storm, others just living their life as if
they hadn’t been socked with two feet of snow—was super beneficial.

5. It is okay to sled – Bottom line though, this business stuff has to be
fun. Sometimes you just have to walk away, jump on a sled, and go down a crazy hill.

As happy as I am to see that the latest blizzard is not heading for the DC area (you all know how much I love Spring), having to deal with such inconveniences reassures me that Spring Insight is truly adaptable. I am better prepared than ever for the next time something out of my control threatens to slow my progress.

‘Snow stopping us now!