In my opinion, it’s far easier to manage a larger company than it is to manage a smaller company through a global crisis. The pandemic has created very tough times for smaller companies. Never has innovation been more important than it is now. Periods of great innovation are a time for doing things differently, for looking at things differently and seeing what you can change. It’s actually embracing change and being willing to be the agent of change – to be the change the world now requires. It’s that willingness to step forward and realize that your business has to change and to look for the people who are willing to change with you because no longer is the status quo what it was before. No longer is business the same as it was. Everywhere that business has been done the same way for hundreds of years – in the blink of an eye, that has all completely changed. We now have a completely new playing field for small businesses, for medium sized companies and for large companies alike. All companies have to innovate if they are to survive and thrive, especially smaller companies. To survive and to thrive, they have to be willing to change.

Here are three tips that I’ve found very important when managing a smaller company in these tumultuous times:

1. Always ask the question “What is truly possible here that I have never previously considered?” When you look at something that you have never considered before, new ideas come up, new thought processes are born, and new energies emerge. Make sure you involve your staff in this process, by asking them “What do you know?” You employ them to do their job, and they have a brain, they have awareness, they have capacities that can contribute to the business. A lot of the time, employees are not contributing as much as they possibly can to the business – so why not tap into their resources more fully? When you ask them a question, it opens up a new possibility for them to consider what they truly know. That opens up the space for them to be the leader in the business. You want to empower leaders not to create followers. The more you can empower employees to step up to lead more, the more that can create.

2. The second question you can ask is “What income stream can pay for this?” Be aware of what income stream can pay for aspects of the business. “What’s possible here that I never considered?” Once you have an income stream in place, then you know that your costs are covered and you can allow the business to grow and develop with multiple income streams. It’s so important, especially in the time of COVID to always be creating new income streams, and you do that by asking “What else can I add to my business? What else is truly possible?”

3. The third tip is to promote Flexibility within the business – the ability to move, to change, to shift and to innovate. Innovation is where you choose change and you continue to change. This applies both to your business and to your life in general. By continually changing, you develop the momentum to keep moving forward, to keep expanding and continue to improve your performances each and every day. This prevents you from getting stuck in the same place, doing the same thing and getting the same results. Be willing to be on the cutting edge, be willing to be the leader in your industry, being willing to do things differently. Many of the greatest innovations in history came from supposed “mistakes”, where people actually did something different and it created something totally different. If you’re willing to do something different, then you will be able to create something different.

In this time of global pandemic, it is absolutely vital to change. As you change, you look and you see something different, and as a different viewpoint shows up, something new and different will manifest in the world. As Steve Jobs said, “When you ask more from life, life will gift to you.” You also need to be willing to receive more from life.

Be willing to be the change you desire to see in the world.

Be willing to be the energy that creates the change, and do what’s required to make the business thrive. Enjoy that space of thriving, of growing, of changing -and keep asking “What else is truly possible?” to perpetuate that sense of expansion beyond the restrictions that COVID has lumbered the world with. That is where the true magic lies. And that is where the gift of COVID hides for businesses large and small.