With crisis comes opportunities

Change can be difficult.  Especially when it is not our choice.  The current COVID-19 crisis has caused us all to change whether we like it or not.  

Early in this pandemic, many expected things to return to normal so we could get on with our lives.  As reality set in we realized that there might be a "new normal", and some things might never go back to the way they were.

For many Thurston County business owners this change has been devastating, requiring many to adjust course, or ‘pivot’ into a new direction or course of action. 

We have seen this with restaurant pick-up and delivery service, transitioning to online meetings and increased  digital marketing and e-commerce. 

For one Olympia resident, the forced shutdown of her business led to an opportunity that is bringing her skills and passion together in an exciting way. 

Khurshida Begum, a professional keynote speaker and business trainer, watched her client events evaporate one by one throughout this entire year.  With her ability to generate revenue limited, she turned her attention to something she really enjoys, cooking.

Khurshida has always believed it is important to bring people together to eat, connect, and share knowledge with one another.  By pivoting and redirecting her attention on providing meals to others, new exciting opportunities became available to her, including the finding of a new commercial kitchen to work from.

This new kitchen will provide Khurshida with the ability to offer meal pickup and new catering options for organizations. Her food selection features preparing meals that are rich in flavor from her native country of Bangladesh. 

With crisis comes opportunities that might otherwise have been missed.  The only question is will you go afterthe opportunity when you see it or simply let it pass you by?

Daryl Murrow is a Lacey-based author, speaker and business coach who helps business owners generate more clients, close more sales, increase their overall revenue and profits quickly and inexpensively.