By Kim Bode, owner 8THIRTYFOUR Integrated Communications
So, 2020 has been a bit of a challenge. I believe the word tossed around frequently is “unprecedented.”
I’ve been talking to my small biz friends and we are all feeling a bit overwhelmed, now this isn’t a new feeling for any of us, but we are in uncharted waters and making decisions we thought we would never be presented with.
I talked about how I pivoted the business to ensure there was a business, but no one could have anticipated that 6 months later we would still be dealing with this and the mental health toll it is taking on all of us.
I’ve all but given up on sleeping since all I do is dream (more like a nightmare) about everything we’re dealing with. Here is just a sampling of what small business owners are dealing with.
- Work from home fatigue
- Going back to work safely
- Understanding liability around COVID-19
- Keeping employees protected
- Ensuring employees are happy
- Ensuring employees have all the resources to do their job whether remote or in the office
- Maintaining positivity at all times (until you can finish off a bottle or two of wine on the weekend)
- Supporting and listening
- Financial woes
- Unreliability of the USPS
- Business development
- Talent attraction and retention
That is by no means a complete list, but it’s what I could name off the top of my head.
The amount of crushing pressure business owners are under right now is ridiculous. We have had to become master EO interpreters, therapists, cleaning supply procurement specialists, negotiators, hypemen, half glass full people, mindreaders, master problem solvers, solution providers, Zoom prodigies…and the list goes on.
I guess what I want you to take away from this blog, we’re feeling really f*cking alone right now and quite frankly we feel singlehandedly responsible for keeping our doors open and our employees happy and it’s really, really exhausting.
Reach out to a business owner, or if you are employed by a business owner – maybe tell them you appreciate them because they’re doing the best they can.