294: Responding to COVID-19: What Entrepreneurs Should Be Doing Right Now

As a founder, you’re likely feeling a lot of stress and anxiety around the current situation with COVID-19. While we hope your business isn’t being too heavily impacted, we want to let you know that we’re always here for you and want to help in any way we can. We’ve been mulling over how we could be the most useful to the Foundr community and decided it would be incredibly valuable to sit down and talk to Steve McLeod. McLeod is uniquely equipped to share advice about the current circumstances for many reasons: he’s a business coach that has guided thousands of organizations through challenging situations (including Foundr); he founded his own company called Fire And Safety, which is now a $20 million business; and he’s a former firefighter who dealt with many disasters during his eight-year tenure. In this interview, we touch on many topics—from managing cash flow reserves to communicating with customers to adjusting your mindset—that we hope you’ll find helpful as we navigate this unfamiliar territory together. Whether you’re getting ready to launch a new business or are already running a seven-figure company, the contents of this interview should be applicable for entrepreneurs at every stage. If there’s any other type content you’d like to see that would be valuable to you during this time, please don’t hesitate to reach out at support@foundr.com to let us know. Key Takeaways How McLeod’s background as a firefighter, founder, and mentor is allowing him to guide businesses today through the COVID-19 pandemic The importance of understanding where your business is today: positioned for growth or in survival mode? Why you need to be transparent with your teams, regardless of your current situation McLeod’s advice: cut costs but don’t stop your sales and marketing efforts Why you need to focus on your existing customers and how you can help them How to keep your mindset clear during this stressful time Why connection, discipline, and alignment are more critical than ever before An overview of cash flow reserves, and how much you should have in the bank now The reason why McLeod doesn’t believe it’s the right time for work-life balance How to be a good leader in unprecedented circumstances Why leaders need to be asking themselves the tough questions today more than ever McLeod’s advice for businesses that are thinking about launching soon