Tag: Climate Change

Opportunities In Disaster

In my part of the planet,
we usually have a lot of snow
over winter.

This year,
we had snow stay on the ground
for less than a week
and that snow didn’t reach
the top of my running shoes.

This is a climate disaster.
Spring crops will struggle
due to lack of snow pack.
Vegetation and animals
will suffer.
Owners of ski resorts
are in financial distress.

But we’re business builders.
Of course, you and I
also
see the many opportunities
in having no snow
over winters.

There are ALWAYS opportunities
in disasters.
The house that burned in a wildfire
has to be rebuilt.
People displaced by a flood
have to eat.

But we should also remember
that it IS a disaster.
People are scared, sad, mourning.

Approach the opportunities
with empathy and tact.

Your Goals ARE Important

The world is a f*cked up place
right now.

There’s talk of a world war.
The pandemic continues to disable
or kill
people around us.
There are fires and floods
and a gazillion other things
happening.

What is the point
of building our businesses?
Do those goals and other goals matter?

Yes, they matter.
They matter to US.

We’re building businesses
and working toward our goals
because that’s important to us.

That’s one of the ways we’re changing
the world for the better.

And we have some control
over
the building of our businesses
and the achieving of our goals.

We have very little control
over
the other sh*t that’s happening
in this world.

Your goals ARE important.
Allocate time and energy and other resources
to achieving them.

Advice Is Early

When I talk here
about things like
the pandemic
or climate change
or shifts in the workforce,
I am almost always
early
with any advice
I give.

This is intentional.

Because making changes
in our businesses
takes time,
especially if we want
to make them
in the most resource efficient way.

There is no point
advising you
to prepare
for something
and giving you
no time to prepare.

The best advice
is advice
given early.

Don’t expect
events
to immediately occur.

The Trend Is Our Friend

The trend might not always
be positive
but knowing that trend
IS our friend.

I see the downward trajectory
of my romance novel sales.
That is negative.
But knowing that trend
means I can prepare for the future.
It means I can wrap up
that business well.

As another example,
I see the downward trajectory
of rain and snow
in my area
and across the world.
That’s negative
for all of us.
But knowing that trend
means I can prepare for the future.
It means I can install solar power
to deal with
the decrease in
hydro-sourced electricity.

Knowing trends
will always benefit you.
Even or ESPECIALLY
if that trend is negative.

Taking Action On Customer Complaints

Folks in northern climates
love to complain
about the snow.

Now, that the snow
is going away,
due to climate change,
people from elsewhere
assume we’ll be happy about that.

We aren’t happy
about that.
At all.

Because the snow
benefits our crops.

Without the slow release
of moisture
from snow packs,
our farmers face drought.

The snow and the cold
is also necessary
for our local plants, insects,
animals, birds
and many, many industries.

Don’t assume
complaints
about an aspect of your products
mean those customers or prospects
want that aspect removed or changed.

Humans are illogical beings.
It might not mean
that at all.

Investigate
before you take action.

What You Don’t Track WILL Kill You

Governments stopped tracking
COVID infection numbers
hoping
no one will blame them
for the pandemic escalating.

That decision
is killing people.

People think COVID went away.
They’re not taking precautions.
And they’re dying from COVID.

This type of
if-we-don’t-track-it
it-doesn’t-exist
thinking is being applied
to climate change
and other problems.

And the results have been
equally disastrous.

You might be tempted
to apply this thinking
to your own business.
Sales are bad,
for example,
so you are considering
stopping tracking sales.

This will kill your business.
We have to address problems,
not ignore them.

Continue tracking key numbers
even or especially
when those numbers are bad.

How To Pay Attention

Yesterday, I talked about
how we all should
know the signs of failure,
watch for them,
and
then act on them.

There are millions
of points of failure.

Who has the excess time
to monitor all of them?

I certainly don’t
have this spare time.

What I do
is I monitor people
monitoring the possible points
of failure.

I’ll follow experts
on my industry
or climate change
or fascism
or business.

Every week or so,
I’ll scan their feeds.

And that usually gives me a sense
of what might happen soon.

Track the social media posts
of the people
monitoring failure.

That should keep you
adequately informed.

Know The Signs Of Failure

We’re installing solar panels
in our private residence.

We’re doing this
because there are warnings
of power failures
in Texas, in Alberta,
in England
and in many other places.

We don’t live
in any of those places
but those multiple warnings
in multiple locations
are a sign of
possible energy failures everywhere.

In my business,
I’m also crafting as many
marketing images as I can.

I’m doing this
because the company
owning the tool I use
is really hustling
to increase sales.

They’re crowding their site
with advertising.
They’re sending me
emails every day
trying to convince me
to upgrade my account.

They’re acting
like they’re desperate for cash.
And that is a sure sign
of business failure.

Know the signs of failure.
When you see those signs,
take action.

Reduce Stress

The average adult
is extremely stressed.

According to the 2023
Stress In America report,
24% of adults
rated their stress
as extremely high
(compared to 19%
in 2019).

Stress levels are lower
for older people.

Only 9% of those aged 65+
feel extremely stressed.

In contrast,
34% of those aged 18 to 24
feel extremely stressed.

What does this mean
for business builders?

Our employees are likely
to be under a LOT of stress.

Our customers are also
likely looking for ways
to lower their stress levels.

If we can reduce stress
with our products, our services,
our management style,
we are more likely
to earn loyalty
from the people around us.

News Means New

A buddy was surprised
when I told him
bird flu was still killing
thousands of birds
and other animals.

He was investigating
starting a free range
chicken farm.

He told me he hadn’t seen
anything
on the news
recently about bird flu.
He assumed it was over.

He didn’t see anything
on the news
because
media got bored of that ongoing story
and moved on.

News, in today’s world,
means new.

If it is
disastrous flooding
in Europe
or wildfires in Australia
or COVID deaths
…well…everywhere,
the news isn’t covering it
because all that
is now considered ‘normal.’

(And also because
covering it doesn’t sell
their advertisers’ products
or promote their owners’ agendas.)

Don’t assume
if it isn’t
on the news,
it isn’t happening.

Do your own research.