You’ve communicated clearly. You’ve stabilized your people and your cash. Now what?
Now, you push forward.
In this phase, the challenge is shifting from crisis management to reimagining what comes next.
This blog is written with practicality in mind. I’m assuming you already have a clear mission, vision, and values in place. If not, I’d encourage you to revisit At C-Level #2, #3, and #4.
But if your business took a significant hit during this crisis—whether from a pandemic or another major disruption—it’s worth asking:
- How “essential” is your business to your customers?
- What alternatives did they turn to during the crisis—and why?
- Will they return to you quickly once things normalize?
- If not, what can you do now to bring them back sooner—or pivot to meet them where they are?
This isn’t just crisis triage—it’s foundational marketing. But in the middle of disruption, it’s easy to lose touch with your customers and their evolving needs.
You need to re-earn your relevance.
A Story: Becoming “Essential” Globally
In one electronics repair business I led, we began losing bids because we only had a single U.S. location—shipping costs made us uncompetitive globally. Customers told us clearly: you’re not making the cut.
So we listened. We raised investor capital, acquired a very small, well-run repair shop in the Netherlands, and partnered to launch a start-up joint venture in Hong Kong. That gave us the global presence we needed—and we were reinstated on the bidding lists. They asked for presence, not size.
Eventually, our largest customer said we had become “the best in the world at what we do,” which was our vision!
That transformation started with listening—and acting.
What Should You Do Next?
Once you’ve re-engaged with customers and identified the shifts needed to stay relevant, the next step is prioritizing.
I like to use a simple tool to score potential ideas:
| Idea | Impact (1–10) | Resources Required (1–10) | Score = Impact × Resources |
| #1 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| #2 | 10 | 10 | 100 |
| #3 | 8 | 4 | 32 |
- Impact can be short- or long-term.
- Resources include time, money, talent, and equipment.
- Score helps highlight ideas that offer the most leverage.
Then, ask:
- Can we do this with what we have?
- If not, can we realistically find what’s missing?
And remember: no model replaces your intuition. If your gut says something’s off, revisit the assumptions.
Finally: Redirect Capabilities
Take a look inside. What people or capabilities can you redirect toward the most promising opportunities—without destabilizing the core business?
This is the essence of emergence: not just surviving a crisis, but using it to grow into something stronger.
In the next post, we’ll explore how to rebuild—not just for recovery, but for sustained relevance and resilience.