Four Ways to Future-Proof Your Small Business

I think it’s safe to say that none of us knew 2020 was going to turn out like it has.

No one predicted it (okay, maybe a handful of people did), and no one knows exactly what our future looks like from here.

And that can be really frightening.

We like certainty, security, comfort, answers. Not uncertainty, insecurity, discomfort and the unknown.

We’ve all seen people panicking, buying up all the toilet paper, rushing to buy or sell stocks (maybe we’ve even done some of this ourselves).

There’s a lot of fear in the business world right now. In the whole entire world, as a matter of fact.

Nothing is the same as it was six months ago. Chances are, it never will be again. And we really don’t know what the world will look like six months from now.

So, what kinds of things do we need to do to make sure our business survives? To make sure we can still have the kind of future we’ve been working toward and dreaming of?

Even if it looks a little different than we’d planned?

I can think of a hundred different things, but that’s pretty overwhelming, so I’m just going to share four.

Four things you can do to future-proof your small business.

#1: Take care of yourself.

Self-care. This one, somehow, often gets shoved to the bottom of the priority list. I get it. There’s so much urgent stuff to take care of that taking care of yourself can seem more like a luxury, something you’ll get to if you have time left over in your day or your week.

But what happens if you run yourself ragged and end up flat on your back, out of commission physically or mentally or both?

YOU are your own most important asset, and you need to care for yourself like you know and understand that fact.

Hopefully you’re in tune with your body, your mind, and what you need to function at your very best.

At the very least, you should be:

Sleeping 8-9 hours per night.Drinking lots of water and taking vitamin C.Staying active.Eating balanced, healthy meals.Staying up-to-date on physicals, dental appointments, health screenings, etc.Managing your stress levels through exercise, meditation or prayer.Finding ways to manage your fears.

The truth is, if you don’t look after your body, your mind will be soon to follow.

There’s not really any point in your business lasting into the future if YOU don’t last into the future, right?

Take care of yourself. You’re worth it.

#2: Build cash flow.

There are a lot of changes happening, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the freedom that comes from having a steady stream of passive income.

And yes, this may feel like the time for hiding out and waiting for the chaos to blow over—but it’s not.

Now is the time to take action.

It’s never been more important to invest in building passive income than right now… especially with a business model that can take hits and still survive.

Obviously, if you know me, you know I’m talking about a short-term rental business.

Even during hard economic times, you can hit your retirement goals by investing in real estate through a short-term rental business.

I’ve written—and spoken—extensively about how the ultimate retirement plan is investing in things that will continue to keep the cash flowing with or without your help.

A retirement account isn’t going to cut it these days. Stockpiling assets isn’t good enough. You want that money to be flowing.

People with a retirement account just have money saved but no vision for the future.

People with a retirement plan have a destination in mind.

The definition of a retirement plan should be: to build, own or control enough assets that produce income greater than your expenses without you working.

And that’s exactly how short term rentals work for you.

You build those assets—those short term rentals—today, tomorrow and the day after that. You get cash flow immediately, but you also get to watch those short term rentals increase in value month after month, year after year.

Then, when retirement comes, your assets will earn all the income you need, while you take it easy.

Economic crisis or not, there’s no better time than today to start investing in short term rentals.

Trust me—your retirement self will thank you.

#3: Adopt an infinite mindset.

Author/Leader/Entrepreneur Simon Sinek has coined what he calls an “infinite mindset” or the “infinite game.”

A business with a finite mindset is inflexible, stays the same, refuses to adapt to a changing world.

A business with an infinite mindset is willing to change and adapt and reinvent itself in the face of a changing world with changing rules.

What’s another word for this? Pivoting. You’ve got to be willing and able to pivot, adapt, change, rethink, rework, reinvent, adopt an infinite mindset.

I don’t really care what you choose to call it. Your business won’t survive without it.

In a recent Zoom call with his team, Simon said the question is not: How do we keep doing what we’re doing? But rather: How will we do what we’re doing in a different world?

You CAN come out stronger at the end of this. If you haven’t had an infinite mindset before this, NOW is the time to start.

The question is not: How are we going to get through this?

It’s: How are we going to change to get through this?

How can we contribute in a new way? How will we bring our messages to people in new ways? What will we become?

Do you have an infinite mindset when it comes to your business?

You need one.

#4: Lean on your community.

We’re stronger together. We just are.

If we don’t come out on the other side of this leaning on each other, then we’ve missed the boat. We’ve missed this huge opportunity to band together, work together, help each other out.

You can’t do this alone. I can’t do this alone.

We need each other. There is power in having community. Our ability to work together will be what gets us through this.

No one single person is going to have all the answers, not even me. We need to use our knowledge and experience to help each other out.

If you consider yourself a leader in any capacity, make sure you stay up-to-date and fact check everything you read. Your people are looking to you as a leader, so you need to be aware of what is true and what isn’t.

Your team, your people, are counting on you to do the right thing and make smart decisions.

Make sure you’ve got mentors, people you can trust, people who can answer your questions, who have way more experience than you do.

We need each other.

You’re not alone. You’ve got the whole Cashflow Diary community of real deal short term rental business owners right here with you. Join the free community now!

We’ll get through this; we just have to stick together.

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