Have you ever heard of the story of two salesmen that visit Africa to see whether there is potential for their products in this new market?
One salesman was sent to the east coast of Africa and the other to the west coast. As they completed their task by doing a basic survey of the target market they both sent out their final reports. The salesman sent to the east coast reported, "No one here wears any shoes, there is no market for us here!" while the other sent a message stating, "No one here wears any shoes, there is a huge market for us, send inventory fast!"
The moral of the story is how influential your perspective can be when looking for growth as an entrepreneur. A gloomy outlook on life will make you believe that your actions won't make a difference in this world. Ideally, you should adjust your mindset to get a glimpse of things and situations in a new light; to see the world as a series of opportunities to grow and change. As an entrepreneur you need to observe and take notes of your market's potential in ways your competitors are not. With the ongoing pandemic it's crucial to seek these opportunities and make capital.
Here are a few questions you should meditate upon:
Have you identified new opportunities that may have been created due to the new business environment that the pandemic has created? What are your plans to aggressively act upon them?
How has the current market weakened your competitors and what can you do to get ahead of them?
Do you have a strong online presence where your customers can easily learn about you, purchase from you, and/or contact you?
What are you doing to encourage the people inside your company to think about growth, come up with new ideas and take risks?
Are you networking for any future collaborators that can help expand your business to new people and new markets?
The list can go on depending on your specific industry and market. Having said that, it's key to ask yourself these types of questions. You need to stop thinking about the current problems in the present-day economic environment and tweak your mindset to absorb all of the opportunities everyone else can't see.
So put on a thinking cap... Are you ready to sell shoes?