🦠 Covid Was Easy
🗞️ Media Detox
🛟 Sphere of Control
🦠 Covid Was Easy
In March 2020 I wrote, “The coronavirus is a shared experience. We’re all in it together. Every person and every company, globally, is fighting to survive this pandemic — both for our health and businesses.”
In March 2025, the Uncertainty Tax is not a shared experience. Every region, industry, and culture is having a unique experience.
Canadians are dysregulated by tariffs, while South Africans are grappling with cuts to USAID. In the US, our clients’ experiences range broadly based on industry and region, but generally, business sentiment is positive.
What made the pandemic so much easier was the shared experience. Decisions could be made quickly and decisively because we had certainty. We were in it together. We understood the stakes. We could move.
Uncertainty is creating an inaction tax: Decisions are being delayed to see what will happen. Indecision and delays are behaviors we need to stop.
On the other hand, the behaviors to harness are empathy and curiosity. Try to truly connect with and understand your customers and their experiences. Don’t assume they know where your company is coming from. And more importantly, don’t assume where they are coming from.
Choose to be hyper relevant. This may be one of the most effective strategies to find sales opportunities and growth in an uncertain market.
🗞️ Media Detox
It’s hard to look away. Every day is ending in a cliffhanger.
I have found myself following the tariff story like it’s reality television. I can’t stop watching. I’m addicted!
Andrew Selepak, a media professor at the University of Florida, writes, “Bingeing a show is like a person with a gambling addiction going to Vegas for a weekend. When bingeing, you continue to feed the addiction without getting relief from the emotional attachment, which only causes the individual to dive deeper into a need to see how story arcs play out and how characters develop from one episode to the next.”
Much of the uncertainty we are experiencing is a media strategy to capture attention. Cliffhangers don’t come with detailed policy reports or guidelines because that doesn’t make for good news.
I feel the toll of this media addiction physically. It is spiking my anxiety and stress levels to the point where it’s impacting my sleep. I cannot affect or change any of these global decisions, but I can control my environment. I can choose to tune out.
What works for me, may not work for you. The key point is to recognize and control what is consuming your attention and energy.
🛟 Sphere of Control
Business owners always have a choice. You can:
🚪 Exit
🌱 Grow
🐢 Turtle
Turtling or riding it out is not an option. That will make things worse.
That leaves business owners with one of two real choices: 🌱 Sell or 🚪 Sell. Both are viable options, but commit!
Are you going to take your chips off the table and exit, or are you going to innovate, fight, and grow your business?
The lack of a shared experience in 2025 may be your opportunity. In this market, there are winners and losers. Some industries are thriving, while others are surviving. Some regions are booming, while others are in limbo.
If you choose to 🌱 Sell, ask: Who and where are the customers that will drive our next stage of growth?
🤔 Thoughts on Today's Issue?
We’d love to hear your feedback. Reply to this message with any thoughts, comments, or ideas for future issues.