With an ever changing situation in the world, businesses being forced to close and our economy on the rocks, now is definitely a good time to consider your back up plan.
What are you going to do if it all goes wrong? Presuming you are still lucky enough to be employed/ working in the first place.
I’m fortunate, for now, that I work in an industry (or at least for a company) that has weathered this storm quite well, thus far, and bar a month off on furlough, I’ve been kept in employment throughout.
However, I am acutely aware that things could just change overnight, and if that happens I need to be prepared.
Not 50p for a phone call and a piece of string, Boy Scout prepared. But, a network of people who could open the next set of doors, and a personal brand that is known and respected.
If or when (and hopefully it won’t) that call was to come I want to be in a position to grab all opportunities, and beat the competition should it be a race.
That doesn’t mean you need to float a new business tomorrow, invest all your savings in bitcoin, or go mad on LinkedIn adding all and sundry in the hope it’ll pay off later on.
But, think about what you enjoy, and your skill set and see where the two cross over.
Nothing is ideal, but aim for the ideal. You don’t want to have to start something from nothing the day after the bad news, so lay the foundations now.
Be methodical and logical in your approach to promotion. If you have some skills that you could demonstrate on social media, perhaps you put out a bit of free content. Write a blog (all the cool kids are doing it) if you have some time for editing look at sharing photographs, podcasting or even video.
The successful businesses who surf through this storm will have their pick of the candidates when they come to expand, so be present, show off what you can do and become their first choice, before they even know they need to make a choice.
Hopefully you won’t need a back up plan. But if you do, be ready with the best back up plan you could possibly have.
Best of luck out there. Andy
