086: Creating a Transition and Restart Plan
Michele (0:01) On the podcast today, I am going to share with you some of the training that I've been offering out of my Aim with Intent Methodology to my private group. I really believe that this is the information we should all have. And so I want to share it with you. It's also going to be information that you're going to be able to catch in video form and my blog post later this month. There's a downloadable PDF that will come in the blog post. So you can head over there in the next week or two and get that. Here's something that I want to share with you. In this process that we're going to look at today. It's about creating a transition plan and a restart plan. And I am an advocate of doing all the planning in advance as much as we can. So that when it comes time to execute, we already know what to do. It is kind of like where you're thinking about what's the worst-case scenario or even a best-case scenario. And then when it's time To do it, you just do it. So with that, we are going to be looking at how to create a transition plan. What is a transition plan? Why do you need one? All of those good details, and hopefully it's going to help you not only manage during this time but prepare for what's to come. Stay tuned and enjoy the podcast.
Michele (1:24) Everyday empowered entrepreneurs are taking ownership of their company's financial health, and enjoying the rewards of reduced stress and more creativity. With my background as a financial software developer, owner of multiple businesses in the interior design industry, educator and Speaker, I coach women in the interior design industry to increase their profits, regain ownership of their bottom line and have fun again in their business. Welcome to Profit as a Choice.
Michele (1:54) All right, so let's jump right in and talk about all things planning and strategy. Honestly, I'd love this so much. I know I say that all the time and I geek out when it comes to planning and thinking and being strategic. If you listened to the podcast that I did with Darren Virassammy on our strengths and Strengths Finder, my top five strengths are maximizer, achiever, strategic, relator, and self-assurance. And so those being my top five, this all falls right in my wheelhouse. And when I started thinking about even this year, I've been planning and doing some continuity planning in my own business, things like making certain that our wills covered what was happening in my business, if something were to happen to me. I made certain that I took my husband to the bank, even though my business is fully owned by me. I wanted to make sure he had access to my bank accounts if something happened to me. I have gone through and created a cheat sheet if you will, in my business and here's how to handle all of my clients. Here's where all my contracts are, here's where the money is, here is how to get in touch with my admin, here's how to get in touch with all the other people on my team. Here's what it looks like. Here's how to get to the credit card. I have it on a file so that if anything happens, he knows where that file is, he can go in and start helping manage my business. So I've been putting continuity plans in place for a while.
One of the things we have to think about as part of continuity is what happens during a time that a business is disrupted. And that disruption doesn't always have to be negative. It's the beginning phrase that makes us think that it's negative. It just means not acting as it normally would. It could be that we are creating these plans because we want to go on a 12-week vacation. It could be because we're going on a honeymoon. That we're going out to have a baby or employee is. This could be for something great. It could be that we're having to move out of one building and we're in a disruption phase because we're moving into a new building. So there are all types of transitions that happen in the life of a business. And creating plans for that, in advance are going to put us in a better position than trying to create them on the fly when stress levels are high. And maybe options are a little more limited. And so as we think about that, this is coming out during the COVID 19 crisis. And so we can certainly think about this concerning COVID. And I want you to do that. But I do want you to think broader and deeper and wider, as we just talked about that there are going to be multiple transitions that happen in your company. And so just knowing how to think through this is going to give you a framework to be able to use it in other areas. Always a good thing to do during our downtime is to plan. So because this is also part of my Aim with Intent Methodology. Aim simply stands for aligning your team, igniting your process and managing your money. Doing it all with intent. So being very strategic in what we're doing. So what I love to have my clients do is to, let's talk just COVID 19 for a minute, just where we are right now, I am having my clients create three plans, Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. I'm going to briefly tell you what they each are. And I'm going to tell you how we go about doing it.
Michele (5:23) Plan A, that is our short term plan. And one of the reasons we're doing three plans right now is because we don't know when all of this is going to end. We talked about it in the last podcast, and you're seeing from the news around you, it's very dynamic. So I am taping this right now at the very end of March. And I know our schools are already out in the state of Georgia pretty much through April, even into May in some of the surrounding states. So I already know at a minimum that we are four weeks out, but I've been doing this work for the last four weeks. And so because of that, I am almost at my eight-week plan, right. But some people may be starting right here with a four-week plan. The reason we're planning out in multiples is that we don't know when things are going to end. And it could end differently for each of us. Think about it, if we are getting ready to enter April right now, and this podcast is going to be coming out at the very beginning of April.
Michele (6:22) By the time that our businesses start picking back up in the way that we have been doing business, we're going to be in the middle of one of our slow seasons, historically, which is summer. And so we have to think about that. It's not going to be that we're going to go back to the fast-paced, fast buying, fast everything that we had in February and early March. There is no promise that that's what it's going to look like when it all starts back. And so we have to plan for multiple options of how this could work out. So the first thing we're going to do is we're gonna look at Plan A, which is a four-week plan. This is very much a short term plan. Plan B, I would say is more of a mid-range plan. And so that's usually about an eight-week plan for what we're doing right now. And then Plan C is a little bit more long-range plan. And I've got that as a 12-week plan. What happens if we have to continue doing what we're doing in this transition period for 12 weeks? What does it look like if we do it for eight weeks? What does it look like if we do it for four? If you were doing this for maternity leave, you may do the same thing. You may think, alright, I think I want to come back between six and eight weeks. That might be your plan A, your plan B might be 12 weeks and your plan C might be 16 weeks. Like with anything when you go in to have a baby, we have the best-case scenario, but we don't know what's going to happen once we go through it. And so having multiple versions of a plan with multiple end dates or timelines just gives us the flexibility to say we've already thought about it in more than one way. So that's what I'm encouraging all of my clients in my inner circle and in my elite coaching to do. I want to encourage you to consider the same type of thing.
Michele (8:11) Now, what do I think about when I'm thinking about creating these transition plans, all we're doing during the transition plan is saying that this is not our business, as usual, something is in transition. And so with that, that means that our resources, time, money, people, all of that is being considered and looked at in a different way. We may be spending those resources differently. And so the three main areas that I always have looked at are people, processes and profits. Right. So who are all the people involved? Internal, external and support? Where are our processes and what are we gonna do about the money? So let's stop and think about that for Plan A. If Plan A is your short term plan, I want you to think about if everything were to go back to normal in four weeks. I've got air quotes around the word normal here. If that were to happen in these four weeks, what is changing in your business? Maybe you've changed some of your processes, with how you are working with technology. Maybe you're changing some of your processes with how you're marketing or how you're communicating, how you're, you know, talking to your clients and working with your clients. What are those processes that you are going to shift during those four weeks? How are people being affected? Are your people working from home? Are you working them more hours, less than hours? Do you need to furlough some? Do you need to lay off? What does that look like? We're even thinking about your money, what's coming in, what's coming out. I've got a blog post going up this month on how to create a cash flow position or a cash position. Knowing how much cash is on hand, and how long is it going to last you? We need to have all of that as part of our four-week transition plans, especially right now.
Michele (10:12) Here are some other things to think about, regardless of which claim you're doing. Think about how your finances are impacted? How is your marketing being impacted? Your communication, as I mentioned, a second ago? Your HR, all of these things happening with your employees? What about the legal ramifications and implications of doing business? How are you talking to your clients? How are you working and supporting your clients? And what about the technology shifts that are required for this? If you can think about all of that on a four-week plan, then you can pick that up and use it to kind of be the basis of your eight-week plan, which is your plan B. That says it may last longer. Here's the thing to note when you're creating the eight-week plan and the 12-week plan. They are your plan B and your plan C.
Michele (11:06) There may very well be some decision making that needs to happen in the first four-week plan, that needs to shift or adjust for it to go further. For example, the way you may have to handle cash and thereby employees could look one way on a four-week plan. But if you get to stretch it out to eight weeks, it may look very different. And if you have to stretch it out to 12, it could look totally different than what it did at four. So you need to understand how all of this works together for your company. The other thing you're going to need to think about is how do I continue to get money coming in during these four, eight and 12 weeks if that's what you need to do so that you can keep paying the money that's going out? How might that messaging change in your marketing? What might your clients need differently? How could you repackage your products and services? So that during this transition of for eight or 12, or whatever duration it is, how can you repurpose and repackage what you're building so that you can offer it differently, potentially price it differently, and at least bring in money. I have multiples of my clients that we have worked on just that. And they're making sales and continuing to design and continuing to bring in money during this time. They are offering something that they didn't offer before. So this is not a time to just go in and start discounting. I'm telling you to repackage and repurpose some of what you do so that you can make money differently. Market it differently, change the messaging. People want to know that. And they want to know that what you're offering is what they need at that time. Maybe they just want to know how to create a space to homeschool. You could go in and design that for them. Right.
Michele (12:58) Think outside of the box, think of how you can use technology. We have a beautiful opportunity right now with Zoom, with Skype with our iPhones and iPads to see their spaces behind them. There are even apps out there right now if you haven't used them, now is the perfect time that you can have them measure and snap one measurement. Now you can use it for every other picture in that room and understand the scale of what you're looking at. So think about how technology can serve you. Here's what's so interesting and what I want to share with you, and we'll look at it in a minute. Business is not going to go back the same way it went off. It's not going to look like that when we go back. It's going to have certain aspects of that, but we're going to have a shift. I personally see that we are going to have business and life that even more is online-focused. Simply because that has been one of the only ways that we can all stay connected during this. And while I hope that in our lifetime, we never have to go through anything like this, again. There may be other things that scatter us, or that scatters us in business that allows us to continue working in an online community and in an online way. So if you are not familiar with all of that, it's a great time to go back and take a look at that.
Michele (14:31) I know that even for me, I'm looking at my plan A. For some of you your plan A may very well continue business as usual. Simply because you are catching up from all the others. You may during this time, look at it and go okay. And my plan B if we have more time and we've done business as usual, what education could we do, this is such a perfect time to work on your processes, to capture those, to do education. Part of this Transition plan should be, where do I need to cross-train? Where do I need to think about duplication of work or duplication of information? So that I have it, you don't want one person to have all the passwords to everything in your company, and they've never written down and they're never saved. And then something happens and they don't come in, and you don't have it. Having people cross-trained is super important at a time where you may have to go down to a minimal amount of employees. And so writing that up, planning that in advance so that you don't get left in the lurch. It's going to be helpful, and it's going to put you and your company in a position of strength during a time like this. I know just personally, the more advanced planning, the safer I feel. Now, here's something that I want to tell you. And this is hard. I mean, I've had to learn this myself and I'm still being reminded of it. We can't control everything. So just because we plan doesn't mean everything is going to go to plan. And so we have to keep it fluid. And we have to know that things are changing.
Michele (16:14) I also know that I cannot control everything. Heck, I can't even control myself some days. And some of you might be going to hallelujah. And some of you are thinking I'm just weird, but it's true. We can only manage. And so what these plans are doing is saying, "How do I hope to manage during a time of transition." And just the act of thinking about it, writing it down and putting it on paper makes you feel as if you have some control or some ability to manage. But it also frees you up that if new things happen, because you've already thought through certain scenarios and situations, your mind now goes into solving and instead of retreat, and that's what we want. We want our minds to be taking all of this. Listen, this is what you all do every single day, in your businesses, you are problem solvers. And so we need to use and harness that same energy, that same creativity that you have that solves all of these problems for your clients and solve them for your own business. That same transition that you create for your client from the house that they have to the house that they want, and what it looks like in the middle. You do this all the time. And so I want you to realize you already have the skill set. You have the ability, it's just harnessing your brainpower to help you think that way. And the more advanced planning, the easier it is. That's also why you all can say to your clients, "Hey look, here are the plans of how this is going to go. But let me tell you, whenever we go through this, things always happen. And don't worry, we'll manage around them. You all say it.
So I'm telling you, the same thing applies to your business. Business is hard. We're going to have challenges, we're going to have challenges as a country, we're going to have challenges as a world, we're going to have them individually, you can manage it. So you already have it, it's going to be hard, you're going to make it through, we just have to focus and think about what it might look like. What will I do? What won't I do? What can I do? What can I not do? And who do I need to help me? Part of your transition plan may be bringing in new help. It may be bringing in new resources and maybe reducing resources in other ways. And so stop and think about all of those things. The goal here is to survive this and then it's to go back to thriving. We're not always able to survive and thrive at the same time in a crisis. But there are areas and glimpses of that thriving that will come through. Okay? So the goal of this is for you to just open your brain, and in a way and allow yourself to think in a way that is creative and strategic on what can you do to help this business survive until we can pick back up with our air quote, business as usual. During these processes, here are some things to think about. Be willing to be flexible, and then the roles we talked about creating new packages and cross-training and maybe getting rid of some things and bringing in other things. This is about flexibility. This is survival. Survival says I do what I need to do to survive. We want to do it with integrity. We want to do it with kindness. We do it with grace, you know all the good ways. But I want you to think about bending the rules and being flexible because real relationships are what is going to help us survive this. Yes, we have to have strong financials. Absolutely. You need strong financials. But we also have to have good relationships. And so that is a good way to think about getting through all of this.
Michele (20:14) Okay, now, you've got your transition plan, you're thinking about flexibility, you're thinking about integrity, you're thinking about your financials. And now we're going to say, the lights come back on and the world starts spinning, we're going back to hashtag normal. And so with that, it doesn't just pick back up where it left off. We are not just starting back on whatever the start date is like it may be ended on March 15. That's not the way it's gonna happen. And so we're going to take a more thoughtful approach to how we start the business back. Again, remember, most of us are going to be starting right in the middle of summer, we're going to be kicking back off as our kids are trying to either wrap up with school or have just wrapped up school. Some of us may have had to put all of our projects on hold. So this restart plan is saying, "How am I going to start back?" Maybe we've had to sadly, furlough or lay off some of our employees. Well, who do we bring back? And who do we bring back first? And which clients go first and which projects do we start them first? If we can plan for it, it again puts us in this position that we know where to pick up.
Michele (21:23) Let me give you an idea of just a restart plan on a day to day level. I've shared this on the podcast before, at the end of every day, I review my to-do list and I make a note of anywhere I need to start for the next day. Like start here, do this number one, number two. When I come to the office the next morning, I do not have to stop and ask myself, "Okay, where was I yesterday and stop and rethink it. Now, where should I start today?" I come in and restart the new day with the plan in place because I did it the day before. If we were to look at that one on a broader scale, that's all that we're doing. We're saying, "When this picks back up, this is where I will start back. This is what I will do, I will start here, I'll do this, and I'll do this." And then when the day comes that we get to start back, you have to plan. Now, just like every other plan, it needs to be fluid. You may have a restart plan that you plan for at the end of four weeks. And it may look slightly different if you don't start for 12 weeks. But if you at least give yourself an outline of start thinking about this, start looking at this, turn this back on, turn that off, bring this employee back first. Turn payroll on here, whatever it is you need to do, you're going to feel so much stress relieved when the time comes to execute the plan. You're not going to feel like you are gripping.
Guess what, you're going to get back to business, as usual, faster than that person who kind of has put their head in the sand through all this and ignored it. When the business starts back they're not going to be ready. Okay. I want you to be ready. My son said the other day, "Mom, I think when we all can go out again, we're going to be so excited to go out and to be with people, and to buy food and to go to the movies and to do these things." Listen, they are in their houses. They're going to be so excited when they've got the money, and they've got the time and the ability to call you to come into their house to do these things. They're going to be so sick of the way things look or the way things function. They need you then more than ever. The businesses that are ready and prepared to get back to work and to do the work and to keep going. They will be miles ahead of those that have used this time to wallow in grief and pity. So yes, you're going to feel negative emotions at this time. But goodness this is a great opportunity to plan.
Michele (23:53) So here's your opportunity to think about what my transition is going to look like? What am I going to try to get done during this time? I've said it, and I'll say it every single time, "Give yourself grace." The best-laid plans don't always work out. It's about the process of thinking it through. That is the exercise that I care more about than every detail being right in your plan. It's just a plan. It's just an idea. It's just a strategy, tactically, which is what you do at the moment, it may look a little bit different. But I can tell you, I know and have lived through making a bigger plan, and then just getting in and getting it done. It just feels so much better than to not even know what you're doing during the day.
Michele (24:40) Take this time, think about your business. Think about what you're doing. Think about what you're doing now. You might be reducing your products and services and you may come out of this and go that's all I want to do. I'm totally fine with that. That's fantastic. This could be a super time again, of refining and helping you decide where you want to go forward. Invite that thought process in and use it. I think you might enjoy it. Please know I'm here to help you. Reach out, let me know what you need. Join my Facebook group, Build a Profitable Business for Interior Designers and Workrooms. You can join my faith-based Facebook group called Faith in Business. You can read my blogs and check out the other podcasts. I have lots of information that I'm happy to share with you. And if you want to work with me one on one, you have a couple of options. You can jump onto my website and fill out a form that says you want to work with me on the Designers' Inner Circle or any of those pages, or you can sign up for one of my strategy calls. Or you can ask about working with me one on one and an elite coaching scenario. Whatever it is, I just beg you to be intentional about your business because success and profitability don't happen by accident.