THE COMEBACK PLAN

Is your business feeling the knock-on effects of the pandemic? Or are you facing a career setback (or two)? Worry not – Antonia Taylor reveals how to get your work mojo back

How to steer your career through a crisis

When COVID-19 hit my business this spring, like so many others, my mind turned to the inevitable impact on clients and budget cuts. How would the business I’d poured so much love into for seven years adapt? But this time, I was prepared for the tough challenges ahead. At the start of 2019, I’d had the most successful year to date, running my small business PR and brand consultancy. I had a portfolio of dream clients, and was investing in a creative events passion project. That February, things turned. Because of Brexit, a number of my clients’ businesses suffered, so they had to freeze budgets or cut back on PR: one high-profile client told me she’d had the worst quarter since starting her multimillion turnover business; another found his firm unprepared for ‘seismic’ shifts. Since a lot of my clients were SMES (small and medium-sized enterprises) in recruitment and retail, they were particularly

‘REACHING OUT TO OTHERS HELPS YOU STAY MOTIVATED’

vulnerable. The bad news kept coming. And as it did, it felt like the business I’d sacrificed so much for – 5am starts, missed sports days, cancelled drinks with friends – was dissolving.

As for so many founders, I took my business failing personally. Hearing, ‘It’s not a reflection on you’ on repeat, hurts as much as the gut-wrenching rejection of a break-up when you’re a teenager.

For weeks, I operated in a toxic cycle of fear-based decisions. I questioned everything: was my business still relevant? Where would I be in a year? Memories of childhood financial insecurity supercharged my anxiety.

Taking time to reflect, I slowly challenged the story in my head. I started to see how perhaps I had contributed to my business’s problems, too. Spending hours on my side-hustle, taking on too much work, and not planning smartly. It was then that I knew I needed a comeback plan.

It turned out that the setbacks were actually a chance to rethink my business, build it back up into something that served my clients, but meant I could actually see my kids, too.

With so many businesses having to adapt, post Covid-19, and many of us facing challenges at work, having a comeback plan is essential. After all, as I’ve learned, a rocky time encourages you to get honest about what you want from your work – and then you can go and make it happen. Here’s how:

YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE THE END IN MIND. JUST START

I spent so much time scrabbling for answers outside of myself – I’m still unsubscribing from ‘Six-figure entrepreneur’ webinars – and not taking actual action.

Helen Perry, who built a second-act career as a successful Instagram expert, agrees: ‘After I had kids, I lost myself for a good while, and spent hours searching for the “answer”. Finding a way back is about taking one action at a time – training, joining a social network, starting a newsletter. Doing one task will teach you all you need about where to go next.’

Break down your bigger picture and start each week with, say, three clear goals. Schedule the time to do these: reach out to five previous clients, show up on Linkedin three times, attend a video editing training. It’s the consistent doing that builds confidence and momentum.

KNOW THAT YOU MEAN BUSINESS

Treat this like a project – with a defined time frame and budget. With reduced revenue and proactive cost-cutting, a three-month turnaround was realistic for me. I put more creativity and less money into marketing, swapped glossy London networking for local, more affordable events, and Marie Kondo-ed the unused subscriptions and tech apps I’d accumulated.

I gathered testimonials from clients and launched the newsletter I’d put off for three years, resulting in immediate client responses. As Rita Gupta, director at LGFL lawyers says, ‘Relationships are the through-line. Think strategically about how to nurture new and existing relationships. Research 10 new prospects a day, make time to connect with them. Check in on former clients. Ask for introductions. Show you care. Let people know you’re out there, so you’re front of mind when they’re ready to do business again.’

EMBRACE THE GREAT UNKNOWN

A breakthrough moment was realising that my business could look different. I created more flexible, specialist project options for personal brands, opening up the female-founder market I’d always wanted to work in. This model created more freedom in my work-life balance, too.

Author and journal coach Greta Solomon encourages us to trust the unknown. ‘Doing what you’ve always done won’t give you the drive and energy to move forward successfully. You won’t find the next version of you in the seeds of the old one. Get curious about what you really want. Write a list of things and aim to be uncensored, because it’s not about what you think you can get, but it’s about what truly brings you joy.’ In hindsight, this setback meant I could step off the hamster wheel of success, and find a more creative and relevant way to grow my business.

BE A BUSINESS BESTIE

Always take time to nurture genuine friendships in business. Instagram’s a great place to connect with like-minded founders and freelancers, to forge partnerships, collaborations and simply enjoy making contact.

Kim Arnold, marketing and writing consultant, became a ‘business bestie’ after a client introduced us. A Skype call became coffee, became a margarita; we’ve referred opportunities as well as run projects together.

Arnold says, ‘It’s tempting to isolate yourself when things aren’t going well. But reaching out to others helps you stay motivated and to incubate new ideas. Shortlist five contacts that you admire. Share that you’re having a tough time and ask if they’d spare 30 minutes to chat. You’ll be surprised how many people have come through a similar rut and are willing to give you advice and support.’ Pay it forward, too! I’ll always make time to help a fellow entrepreneur.

ADOPT A ‘FAIL FAST’ MINDSET

As leading performance coach and hypnotherapist, Phanella Fine, says, ‘When did you last download version 1.0 of an app? There’s a reason apps have so many iterations: successful start-ups launch before they’re ready, learning from mistakes as they go. They ‘fail fast’. Rebounding quickly from career setbacks involves embracing this attitude, too. Instead of getting stuck in grief or blame, explore whether and how you contributed to what went wrong and consider what you would do differently.’

My side-hustle events partnership was a lesson in fast failure. I poured creativity and money I should have invested in my business into a project that didn’t break even. Cutting my losses and safeguarding my friendship with my business partners were the lessons here.

Finally, trust and listen to yourself. Sit with those initial feelings of crisis and panic, the WTF moments. Start on your comeback plan, one step at a time. I promise, you’ll come back bigger and better, as you.