Your business survived the pandemic because you didn’t just let the world happen to you. You can be proud of that fact.

Whatever pivot you made, regardless of what it was, should be applauded — because you’re still here.

Maybe you did what you could to stay afloat while waiting for a post-pandemic normal to set in. You applied for some subsidies, furloughed a few employees, or reduced your costs until business came back. That’s not nothing.

Or maybe you plowed ahead to carve a path around the pandemic. You chose to offer completely different services, like streaming and virtual meetings, to embrace the new needs of your customers while they lasted.

Or, maybe you strategically embraced the pivot. You saw a new mountain rise up in front of you and knew that if you could ski it once, you could ski it again. And next time, you wouldn’t be limited to one path. You could take any path you chose.

You plotted your route and made it down the hill. You stayed nimble and found the best path as customers’ needs changed, steering into every opportunity. Maybe you found yourself developing a platform, creating hybrid meetings, producing canned content, or developing new websites.

Regardless of what kind of changes you made and whether or not they were wildly successful, you’re far better off than if you’d done nothing.

If you’d done absolutely nothing, your business would have shut down around March 20, 2020. You might have held out another month or two, but the fact of the matter is this: You wouldn’t have stayed in business very long.

So whatever you did, it wasn’t nothing. If you’re still in business, you made some great choices.

Say No to ‘Should Have’ Syndrome

It’s easy to sit back and think of the “better” choices you could’ve made during the pandemic.

Maybe you’re sitting there right now thinking to yourself, “I wish I’d gotten into streaming,” or, “We should’ve pivoted harder.” Or maybe you embraced the pivot and now you’re worrying: “Nobody needs this anymore. Maybe we should’ve made different changes. Was it all a mistake?”

You may have some regrets, but let’s face it: In a crisis, how you get out of the crisis is not as important as the fact that you got out of it.

There may have been an easier way to get down the mountain. But as you’re skiing downhill, there’s no time to plan a different path. You follow the momentum and make the best choices you can.

And the great news is, you made it to the bottom. Whatever path you skied down Pandemic Mountain, it was a good one.

So maybe no one is coming to you for streaming services right now. Was your pivot a mistake? Absolutely not.

Through that experience, you taught your organization how to be nimble and your clients to bring their problems to you for creative solutions.

And now, you get to do it again. Notice it’s not, “You have to do it again.” You get to, because change is the nature of business.

If we get complacent and another crisis hits, we won’t know how to react. But we’ve been reacting for two solid years now. Just because we see things start falling back into a pattern — say, only in-person meetings for a quarter — doesn’t mean we can fall back into the habit of not considering and planning better ways to get things done.

A Good Time to Take Chances

You don’t have to wait for another crisis to make changes.

With today’s limited supply and high demand, you couldn’t ask for a better time to test out a change. We have a forgiving marketplace in terms of what buyers are asking for and how broad of a solution they’re willing to accept.

Why not take a new idea to market? Why not try a new pricing paradigm or a new way of doing your proposals?

Right now, if you just return a customer’s phone call, answer their questions, and give them good information, you’re a hero. If you can actually provide them support because you have capacity and because they’re a good fit for you, even better.

If you have availability, the customer is happy. If you have options, the customer is even happier.

Now is the time to try out some new ideas.

Engineer the Future

As you’re contemplating what changes to implement, remember to consider the future. Engineer what you want to happen based on what you think will happen.

What do you think will happen in the next six months? What about the six months after that? Based on those projections, what do you want to happen?

There may not be a recession now, but do you think there’s going to be a recession in six months? How do you want your business to handle it? Doesn’t having a reasonable idea of when a recession might occur give you a strategic advantage?

Or maybe you think there won’t be a recession. That’s great. Plan for a future with no recession. How will you better serve your customers in that scenario?

No matter what you believe the future will bring, you’re going to find customers who are aligned with you. So here’s the winning formula: Embrace your view of the future, and engineer how you will be successful in that future.