Recession Response Issue | Page 21

ow issues was that rrying too much argeted solutions mmediately. ickly, and the as positioned us to ic downturn. people selected to t theories, I have ike’s Business model for some often to diagnose s in this hierarchy t important thing n right now, from G GIES FROM AND THE N, AS ST OUR D EXECUTE ATEGIES. PLAYED A ROLE IN MAKING OUGHT THE WHERE IT SITIONED VIVE A EMIC. changed since emic. Mike and I t we would need to keting and move brick-and-mortar e’s worked with way to develop a rks. pivot, so we ges from a ective. We viewed pansion of what eady doing well. On Mike’s advice, we didn’t rely on government funding like other companies, which turned out to be the right move. We were fortunate to already have an online presence, but Mike understood the urgency of expanding that presence right now. We relaunched the website with a dedicated e-commerce platform that automated the sales process so I could focus less on formalities and more on perfecting my craft. Mike reminded me that, at this moment, everyone is sitting at home drinking coffee and summertime weather is about to have everyone in the mood for a cold brew. After consulting with industry colleagues, we decided to incorporate vitamin D3 into the new brew, recognizing that an immune booster would add immense value in the current environment. Not only is vitamin D3 my favorite vitamin, but it’s been scientifically proven to be effective against COVID. We used social media to recruit a 20 person beta testing group for the new “immune-boosting” cold brew. I offered bottles for free in exchange for reviews and social media shares. Online sales have improved drastically by hundreds of percent since the launch thanks to Mike. Had it not been for his targeted expertise, Cottonwood Coffee would be in a substantially different position right now. I encourage all business owners to read his books and reach out to him to explore relevant possibilities for remaining competitive in the pandemic and strengthening operations as you build your own legacy. COTTONWOODCOFFEE.COM MikeMichalowicz.com • 11