Winston Churchill used these words in relation to the founding of the United Nations, as a result of the second World War. A good thing, can be the result of a bad situation. I’m certainly not a world leader, neither am I able to unite nations. Still, I embrace the idea that we are all able to learn, adapt and come out stronger after this Covid-19 crisis. The word crisis literally means “point at which change must come.”

January 2020 started strong, numbers were good, people confident and business committed to make this the best year ever. The MICE-market was at its peak, Turkey was one of the leading destinations with great growth numbers. Clearly on it’s way to become a global player for MICE-business. Until we were all surprised, this “Wuhan-flu” changed everything. We went from a flourishing economy with high hopes, to a lockdown with fear. People being afraid of the future, asking themselves “what’s next”?.

We need to stay focused on the things we have, instead of looking at what we lost. In times of setback and uncertainty, we need our energy to be focused on positive things. One of these positive things is the fact that we have time. In the past time was our enemy, always too many things to do and too little time. Now we have plenty of time and a lot less things to do.

Second is our network, the people we interact with, they are also hit by this situation and are also having to deal with it. They are looking for ways to come out stronger, do things better or different.

Besides this, we also have a lot of experience and knowledge of the market. We tend to forget that over the years and years we have been doing our work, we created a massive library of do’s and don’ts. Common knowledge to some and a complete blind spot for others.

When combining time, network and experience you get a perfect mix for the future. That’s why you should reach out to your colleagues, suppliers and also buyers to discuss their challenges. What are they looking for and what can you do to be of assistance. Don’t try to sell your buyers a product, listen to them and hear what their challenges are. Share your concerns with suppliers, what are your and their struggles and how can you work together. Colleagues are also looking for ways to improve, just ask them if you can help.

I gave it a try and reached to a few colleagues from the past. We sat down and discussed our challenges, asking ourselves “what can I do for you?”. I decided to follow their advise and start consulting companies with their challenges in terms of business strategy. I’m now a full time consultant, enjoy sharing my knowledge and learn a lot along the way.

As money is scarce, I work on a “no cure, no pay”-model.

Interested, just send me an e-mail: stephan@wice.co and let’s see if I can do something for you.