Are you feeling exhausted from the constant bombardment of the COVID-19 news? An avalanche of news, advice and opinions about what to do and not do during this crisis. I did not know there were so many “experts”. Every day can feel like living in a twilight zone.
Is it too early to start pivoting from surviving to thriving?
As some businesses restart their engines to get back to work soon, are they really ready for the new business norm?
Most businesses in the IT Channel never did shut down. As part of the essential services community, they have been helping everyone and every business migrate to WFH and stay up and running. We have interviewed many and shared some of their stories on eChannelNEWS.
Unfortunately, we are seeing many channel partners struggling while others are growing faster than ever before. Why is that?
As an essential business, it seems logical that every IT business should have done well during this crisis. Maybe those who are hurting were simply not essential enough to their customers before the pandemic. When you pile on the pain coming from holding a significant amount of receivables from customers who were hit hard (and may simply go out of business), it’s not difficult to understand why they are hurting. With margins already too thin, there is very little buffer for most channel partners to take a big hit on their receivables.
When I compare those doing well to those doing poorly, I am seeing a clear difference in leadership and business models. Leaders who have been working smart on their business instead of just buried working in their business, are seeing the big payoff. Channel partners with a bigger managed services and digital transformational portfolios are experiencing huge growth during this crisis. Some superstar partners were able to pull the WFH trigger without missing a beat.
It feels like 2 years of digital business transformation just happened in 2 months!
Those with the right game plan and leadership prior to the crisis are just accelerating growth while others struggle to survive. The best time to have started the transformation was years ago. The next best time is today, if you commit 100% to the change.
If ever there was a critical time to stop and rethink everything, it’s NOW!
So what to do?
If you are already kicking it, just double down and keep doing what you are doing. It’s already smooth sailing for you. Actually, now may be a good time to consider buying up some of the struggling MSPs/VARs at a good price. If you haven’t already, consider joining a peer-group of like-minded business leaders to keep on accelerating a smarter business. It’s truly amazing what you can learn and gain from peers who actually understand you.
If you are struggling, you must rethink everything to figure out where you went wrong and how to get back on track. If you are trying to think but nothing is happening, then you should engage with one of our coaches or join a peer-group. Just talking with someone who understands your business can be enough to see the way forward. Or, take some time now to complete the free best business practice assessment to know what you don’t know. You may be able to see a clearer future by simply understanding your weaknesses and strengths.
I believe the go-to place for the channel is The Channel Partner Alliance. This is the next generation home of building best business practices and recurring revenue. Test it out for yourself… Become a member to experience the extreme business building with like-minded peers in a Mastermind format.
If you just need some inspiration or new ideas, check out some of our free resources like our ChannelNEXT virtual monthly events (Next event is May 27 on WFH) and eChannelNEWS.
One thing that everyone should do (especially sales reps) is to up their social selling skills in this new digital business norm. Check out one of the best Social Selling programs by Shane Gibson. If you are feeling overwhelmed in managing your business, I recommend you freshen up your leadership skills with Tara Landes.
Are you ready to pivot towards thriving instead of just surviving? Is it too soon? Are you ready? Let’s do this together!
