This is a really difficult time for a lot of people, a lot of us feel helpless and overwhelmed at the moment, but I wanted to offer my support - for free.
 
There is a serious health issue that is threatening a lot of lives around the world, and large-scale action is being taken to protect those who are vulnerable.
I want to recognise and celebrate the huge number of people who have made the tough, but right, call to sacrifice their freedom and pleasure in order to keep others safe.
It’s really beautiful to see this side of humanity.
 
These sacrifices have led to cancellations and postponements of events, festivals, holidays and work projects.
People are avoiding pubs, cafes, gyms, nightclubs and shopping centres.
So they should; it’s for a great reason.
I also recognise that for a lot of business owners, this is devastating their cash flow and their plans for the future.
They’re staring at the prospect of layoffs, empty bank accounts, scrapped plans and sleepless nights.
Pressure to fix a diabolical situation that’s completely out of their control.
Wishing they could have prepared for it.
Not knowing what’s coming next.
Stuck at home, feeling like they don’t know where to start.
Confused about their options.
Desperately wanting to do the right thing for those that depend on their business.
 
I work with business owners who want to improve and grow their companies, which is often a mix of design thinking, problem solving, mindset training, seeing what’s around the corner, running quick tests, weeding out bad ideas and walking the journey alongside them.
Through our various accelerator programs, we’ve found the right questions, tools and processes to help entrepreneurs wade through difficult times.
Anyway, I want to offer some support, for free, whenever you need it.

What tends to be helpful
Having worked with over 415 enterprises, I get to see some patterns in what’s helpful.
It’s usually a combination of logical analysis and emotional guidance – if you go too far either way you tend to get stuck.
I don't deal in miracles or silver bullets, but I might be a good sounding board.
Here are some topics we can talk about:
 
Quantifying the changes to your business
It can help having someone work through the changes facing your industry and your brand.
Outside eyes see things you don’t, and I can ask you some potentially silly questions that help you articulate what you’re thinking.
These might be changes in your products and services, changes in your customer base, changes in how you deliver and reach your audience, changes to how you work, or changes to how you make and spend money.
 
Framing design constraints
It’s helpful to turn problems into questions – we call these Design Constraints.
For example:
How might we deliver our workshops without being in the room?
How might we retrain and redeploy some of our team?
How might we create a product for under $99?
How might we use this quarantine to create amazing new products and services?
 
These prompts are great because they channel your creativity towards solutions, instead of dwelling in negative emotions.
Picking the right question makes it significantly easier to choose what to build next.
 
Creating some options
It’s really hard to pull a brilliant idea out of thin air, so we use brainstorming processes to get there the long way.
We can brainstorm new Customer Segments and Value Propositions, products and services they would love, assets your team could build, partners who could remove a headache, creative new revenue streams, etc.
The secret is in having lots of ideas, then letting the good ones rise to the surface.
 
Rapid testing
Once we have our suspicions about which ideas have potential, we want to test them in a way that’s quick, fair and cheap.
We have a sense of urgency, but we also don’t want to run flawed or biased tests – they give us very expensive false signals.
I love the Strategyzer Test Card, and can talk you through the process.
 
Financial models
It’s really hard to understand your money situation without a financial model.
I will try to make the process of building one as interesting as possible, but the important thing is that we create something simple that shows you how you’re tracking.
 
Financial decisions
Once you have some clarity over the numbers, we can talk about options for cost reductions, increased revenues, cash cows and improved cash flows.
It will be really tough to do this without the model.
 
Facts vs Fake News
Your brain is telling you all sorts of lies right now.
I don’t know which ones are which, but I’m confident we can start to separate the facts from the fake news, which allows you to focus your energy where it is most needed.
 
Identifying who else can help
I am not an expert on everything, and I like to stay in my lane.
Sometimes I will be the right person to give an answer or ask a question, but in a lot of other times I’ll recommend going to a more specialised person.
You’re probably in need of a range of good people you can go to, hopefully I can give you some ideas.
 
If and when you’d like a listening ear, please contact me at isaac@isaacjeffries.com
No pressure, no charge, I’m here if you need.
It might be a recommendation on the right tools and articles.
It might be an email to answer your specific questions.
It might be a WhatsApp or Zoom call.
Up to you.
 
Thank you for your dedication to your business, your customers and your team.
The climb up the mountain just got harder, let me know if you could use a Sherpa.
 
Cheers,
Isaac