GROWTH WITH PURPOSE: THE RIDE OF AN FGE BEFORE AND DURING COVID-19

You knew when you started your business that the ride would be crazy and unpredictable. But nothing could prepare you (or us) for what we are facing today with the COVID-19 crisis.

The ride of the FGE begins with the intoxicating stage—one of the best feelings out there. You’re excited because the business is yours. You’re innovating, and doing something unusual and different. 

Then all of a sudden you enter the trapped stage—you realize that this is really hard. You always knew it would be, but you didn’t know how much. You feel trapped because you are too far along to back pedal (not that you would want to anyway), but you can’t get out. 

Brute force gets you through to the light at the end of the tunnel stage, where you can see the end but you still need to figure out how to get there. After experiencing a wide range of emotional highs and lows, frustration and burnout, you gradually enter the acceleration stage where your business takes off, and the sustainable stage where your business is succeeding and stable. 

We’ve been working with FGEs for over 30 years, and we’ve learned that the cycle repeats itself. It’s probably repeating itself for you right now as we are all facing the unknown.

Look at the chart below, and rate where you are today with your business on a scale of 1 to 10. Is it different from where you were were earlier this year, before COVID-19 even entered our vocabulary? Is it different from where you were this time last year?

Many of us probably feel that the COVID-19 crisis has plunged us right back into the trapped stage. We’re trapped by what’s happening in the world. We’re trapped by what our states are mandating. We’re trapped by how our employees are feeling. We’re trapped financially. 

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on businesses large and small, and consequently, their families. 

However, I do believe this crisis presents an enormous opportunity to reinvent your business and your relationship with your business. This is a time where innovation and brute force will get us through. There is probably new meaning behind growth with purpose in this new paradigm, as well as a new definition of what prosperity means. It’s more important than ever to grow your company with purpose, and not grow for growth’s sake.

Being an entrepreneur is an unusual and lonely place, but we’ve worked hard to create an ecosystem of other entrepreneurs who understand and support you. We’re all in this together, and we’re here to help you navigate this cycle no matter what stage of the ride you are in. 

How has your ride as an FGE changed during the COVID-19 crisis? Share with us on Facebook and Instagram!