3 questions every entrepreneur must ask in the time of chaos

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Hi, docs. Welcome to the Entre MD Podcast where it is all about helping amazing physicians just like you, embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and and practice medicine on your terms. I'm your host, Dr. Una.

Well, welcome back, docs, to another amazing episode of the Entre MD podcast. I trust you've been having an amazing day, and I'm just gonna say that if you didn't listen to the last two episodes of the entremd podcast, you do wanna do that. We looked at your biggest weapon in the Midst of Chaos. One of my favorite episodes and, and how to stay calm in the midst of chaos. And I want you calm. I want you focused, I want you in control. I want you not involved in the hysteria and the panic and the anxiety and the worry and the frustration and the overwhelm. I want you to skip all of that. Okay? So if you haven't listened to it, right after this one, you want to, you know, pedal back a few episodes and listen to those. And today we're going to do something that is super, super fun. And, and, you know, I'm glad you get to be a part of it. All right, so I spoke to two doctors yesterday, coaching clients, and I'm really happy that I got what I wanted, which was helping them to be calm in the midst of chaos, helping them to be strategic in the midst of chaos and to get their hopes up again because now they have their eyes on the prize. And one of the docs literally said, my blood pressure is now normal because I spoke to you. I thought it was really funny. But he was really, really stressed about all the things that were going on, all the drastic changes that were taking place because we are right in the middle of chaos. And you know, like I said in the other episodes, it doesn't really matter if you're listening to this later and you're like, well, there's no pandemic. But you know, there's either a pandemic or there's a recession or there's some illness or there's something and you need to be able to handle those. The question is not whether people face tough times, it's what you do when, when those tough times show up, because we're all going to face them. Okay? So you have to be calm. And if you're like, have to be calm, you've lost your mind. If you think I can be calm in the midst of this, then go back to the other episodes. Okay? All right, so today I want to help and I want us to look at three questions you should be asking in the time of chaos. Okay, three questions you should be asking now. You know, my thought is you should be calm. My thought is you should be focused. My thought is people should look at you and go like, why are you not worried? Why are you not frantic? They should be asking you that. They should see that you're totally level headed because you're in plan mode, you're a strategic mode. You're in control. Okay, so we're going to look at those three questions and I'm going to start off by saying there's no right or wrong. This is not a medical test. And it's going to be messy, it's going to be weird, and you're going to wonder what you're doing. But this is just something I want you to engage in. I mean, you will find out you have an endless stream of beautiful, wonderful, profitable ideas if you'll become someone who thinks this way. Okay? So just engage. Don't worry about it. All right. All right, so three questions. The first question is if in the midst of this chaos, and you know, for this one, I think I'm specifically gonna use the pandemic we're facing. So if you're listening to this months later or years later, we are currently in the midst of a pandemic and is the COVID 19 and we've had over a hundred thousand people impacted Thousands of deaths. And there's been. I mean, like, New York is on lockdown. If this is years later, you probably can't even imagine it, but it's on lockdown. And, you know, in my state, I'm based in Georgia, we have. You can't have any meetings with more than 10 people in it to, you know, limit exposure. And churches are closed and schools are closed. Everybody's become a homeschooling parent by default. So it's just a lot of stuff. Lots of people working from home. I believe Amazon people are working from home, same as Facebook and maybe Microsoft. And, you know, everybody's like, just work from home. So it's very, very drastic changes that have happened. And in the midst of this, we're supposed to be calm and calculated and strategic and plan for the other side. And that's what we're doing. And we're going to look at those three questions, but I want you to kind of look at it in that context. Okay, so the first question is, what are the new problems that have emerged? Okay, what are the new problems? Now with my coaching clients, we. I actually gathered everybody together. This was almost. Yeah, this was a week ago. And I'm like, okay, guys, yes, there's all this chaos. There's all this stuff, but we're gonna sit and we're gonna work on these things. Okay, so the first thing was, what are the new problems that have emerged? And if you think about it, there are tons of problems. So one is, you know, people don't want to go to doctor's offices. So doctor's offices are like, oh, my gosh. I used to see 25 patients. Now I'm seeing five. I don't know how long I can sustain this. Right. Some have literally shut their doors. So people are wanting more virtual visits. They don't want to go into the. To the hospitals because they don't want to get exposed. Now you have kids at home, so parents are overwhelmed. Like, you know, all of a sudden, now you have to teach these four kids, you know, and then. But they have to go to work, though, so who's going to watch the kids? So that creates a whole other thing. And they have all these people who are working from home. And a lot of the people are like, oh, my gosh. We don't know how to help with their productivity because their productivity has dropped because they're working from home and their kids are home. And, you know, they don't have anybody directly monitoring them. So we don't know what to do with Them and the healthcare system has been overburdened. So the things that we used to take for granted, you know, there's always a mask and they're always gowns and they're always this. They're not there anymore. I mean, there are some places where they're needing to use one mask all day because, you know, you can only have one mask per day. And so then there's a lot of misinformation. Right? The right information is just flat out not there. And that's creating all kinds of other problems. So. And I can go on and on and on and on. They're just problems everywhere. People are losing their jobs because the business, you know, all, I mean, the restaurants were closed. So everybody's been technically temporarily laid off. So there's a lot of problems there. Lots of problems. So you need to be thinking, now remember we did the calm part and the focus part. So this is not for us to become hysterical and go like, oh my God, the world is ending and all this stuff. No, this is to look at, you know, objectively. What are the problems that are out there? What are the problems that have now emerged? What are the new problems we're facing? And you can list them out. My coaching clients, I made them come up with 30 and they had a little bit of a brain cramp, but they were okay. Now of these problems, now you have to flip it and look at them as opportunities. Now not being an opportunist, that is different. Okay, but a SWOT analysis is a real thing. You look at your strengths, your weaknesses, your opportunities and your threats. So we've looked at the problems and now it's time to look at the solution. Which of them can you solve? Which of them is an opportunity for you? Okay, so we're not talking about being an opportunist like buying all the toilet paper from all the Walmarts in a hundred mile radius and then jacking up the price. No, that's not what we're talking about. But we're talking about your opportunity. Okay, so which one of those problems can you solve? Okay, it's time to take a critical look at what, which one you're uniquely positioned to solve. All right, so you're going to identify those ones which should be pretty easy. And please don't let imposter syndrome or self doubt or any of those go like, well, this is something I could solve if I was that person. Okay, this is your opportunity. Which one can you solve? So the third question becomes, now that I know what new problems have come up and what problem I can solve. How do I pivot? How do I start a business or change my business to meet these needs? Now, when I say change, I'm not talking about a drastic change. Like I'm going to throw this whole thing away and I'm going to start a brand new thing. I'm talking about a pivot, okay, which is like, you know, swirling on yourself. I'm talking about a pivot. So I'm going to give you a few examples. Think Netflix, okay? Netflix didn't start because, you know, the guy just sat down and he thought, he's like, what business am I going to create? It started because he did number one and two. He said, what problem is here? And the problem is late fees. Like, I'm going to Blockbuster to go turn my movie and it's inconvenient. I have to speed, like almost get a ticket, you know, getting off from work to go return this movie and I didn't return it in time. And then I have late fees and I have all these other fees. This is just ridiculous. What if we could do it differently? What if we could mail it? Because that's the way Netflix started in the beginning was mailing, and then after that they went to an online platform. So why did that business start? Because he asked himself two questions. What are the new problems that have emerged? How can I solve it? And then he created a business to solve it. And now Netflix is a billion dollar company, you know, doing its thing. It's a new service. Now the granddaddy of pivoting is Amazon. And I think Amazon, they just ask themselves this question all day, every day. What are the new problems that have emerged and how can I solve them? So for instance, people are like, oh, you know, who wants to wait five days for shipping and all this stuff? You know, I don't want to wait, I want it now. And they came up with Amazon prime, right? And they can get your stuff to you next day. And then people are like, you know, I don't really want to go to the store, but the reason why I go to the store to get my clothes is because this, then I could try it on. If it doesn't fit, I can return it and all this stuff. And Amazon is like, fine, we got you. And they, they pivoted and started a new service called Amazon Wardrobe, where you can literally get an outfit, try it on, keep it for a few days. If you like it, keep it. If you don't like it, return it. So basically, they turned your House into a dressing room. And that's how they pivoted. And then, you know, the people who did Prime, Amazon prime, they're like, oh my gosh, I wish I could just get this today. And they created Amazon now so you can order, you can get it in two hours. And they just pivot and pivot and pivot and pivot all day, every day. So how are you going to pivot? All right, so maybe you own a practice and you've been shuffling your feet on telemedicine. You know, you should. You probably did a few visits and you were like, yeah, forget it, now is your time. Because we have a new problem. People don't want to go out. Or like in the case of New York, they can't go out. Well, they can go out for medical stuff, but they don't want to go out. And, and now you can say, how do I pivot? So I set up, I launched a telemedicine practice within my practice. Right? People don't want it to be exposed. I launch a telemedicine practice within my practice. You're psychiatrist. The stress level is at an all time high and your voice needs to be out there and you need to be catering to that because that's a huge opportunity. That's a new problem. Remember, not opportunist. An entrepreneur is somebody who helps people and as a consequence, makes money. Okay? So at the core of all these things, you'll see it's how do I help? That's your opportunity. You just need to know how to monetize that. Okay, so how do I pivot? What do I need to do? You're in real estate or you're a real estate coach. And you know that, you know, deals are going to be some really sweet deals coming up, you know, soon. And how do you prepare people for that? That's your opportunity right there. If you're a media consultant, the media is looking for people, they're looking for direction, especially from the medical community. Make yourself available, get that done. Position yourself where at the end of this whole thing, you'll be an expert because you've been on so many places and you're the go to person, you know, so just pivot. Okay, pivot. So three questions. What are the new problems that have emerged? Which of them can I solve? How do I pivot? And like I said, there's no right or wrong answers. Just take out printer paper and just sit and just write and write and write and do a brain dump and ask people, you know, you can do Mindstorming, where it's just you thinking you can do brainstorming, where, you know, you get some others, and you guys are thinking about it. Don't criticize the answers. Just get a ton of answers and start working from there. So do the exercise. It will be messy. You. It will be tasking. Your brain will go like, I don't want it. Focus on quantity. Put a lot of answers out there, and your best answers will come the longer you think. Okay, now, before I let you go, I'm going to share a concept that I think is huge. And I don't even know what the real name is for it, but what I call it is staring. And what that is is, for instance, these three questions. I can answer them, maybe throw out 5, 10, 15 answers for each of the questions, and then I just stop and I'm staring and marinating on and thinking deeper on it and focusing on it. I have a huge dry erase board in my bathroom. Like, huge. Like, if you saw it, you'd be like, Dr. Uno, what is wrong with you? Huge. And, you know, I would just write it there, and sometimes I'll just sit and I'm just looking at it and staring. Because the longer you look, the better ideas you get. I mean, it's so amazing. So you should do it, but keep thinking. So rather than scrolling aimlessly on social media, keep thinking, what are the new problems of all these problems? Which problems can I help people with? How do I need to pivot my business so I can be the answer? So I can be the solution? Okay, all right.

So here we are.

I hope you're like, yes, let's do it. And you're leaving this place where positive and encouraged and inspired and on fire and ready to be a part of the solution rather than being so worried about the problem. Okay? So I want you to be a HOPE ambassador. That's what we've been doing for the last few episodes. And I want you to share this podcast. Okay? I want you to share this episode. There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of anxiety. There's a lot of hopelessness out there. But we're not hopeless, okay? We're not hopeless. We're going to get through this. All right? So I want you to share the word. It will help somebody else. And if you haven't already, I want you to sign up to be an entre insider. You get weekly emails from me where I'll keep you inspired, I'll keep you motivated, keep you empowered to be a great entrepreneur, and I'm throwing this out because of the times that we live in. If you need coaching, whether it's one on one coaching or group coaching, I want you to reach out. Is Dr. Una D R U N A Dr. Una at on tremd.com, you don't have to be alone. We live in weird times. We live in interesting times. We lived in chaotic times. But it is also a time of unprecedented opportunity. I want you to be in a position to take advantage of that. So thank you for listening. Let's stay connected and we are going to come out on top at the end of all this and I will see you on our next episode.

If you love this podcast please take a moment to subscribe, share and review it on itunes as you go about your week. Remember, you're not just an md, you're an entre md. Don't forget to tune in next week for another great episode.

Until next time.