I come from a middle-class family and grew up in a suburban town an hour’s drive north of New York City. From a young age, I was taught the importance of a hard day’s work, entrepreneurship, the value of education, and a marketable skill. In my teens and early 20’s I worked odd jobs and lifeguarded to make money for college.

 

I went to college in New York City and was awed by the big city and bright lights. Once again, I worked hard and graduated during the Financial Crisis, which was one of the worst job markets since the Great Depression. In some respects, there are many parallels to now and then. I was a young bright-eyed fresh grad going into a very uncertain future. Now, a veteran of industry and corporate America after nearly a decade, yet again I face a similar future after a job I had was reduced due to COVID-19. Only this time, I have experience on my side and the will to persevere.

 

In May of 2020 I started Final Approach Consulting – a full-service data, analytics and strategic advisory firm. Starting a business is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my almost 31 years on this earth. The things you take for granted in corporate America – such as HR, Finance, Legal, Accounting, and Marketing – all rest on your shoulders. Getting people to take a meeting, listen to your ‘pitch’, and understand your value is even harder.

 

Networking, Networking, Networking is key in business, albeit a challenge these days. The never-ending Zoom, Bluejeans, Google meet, and a plethora of other video conferencing platforms out there seems dizzying to establish real human connection. 

 

Then there is the prospect identification, cold emailing, and outreach that my team of summer interns and I strategize over for the week ahead, in hopes of establishing a dialogue with a complete stranger. Sales is very much about identifying the problem and making your solution invaluable to solve the prospect’s pain. In corporate America, I got very good at ‘consultative selling’ by identifying a current client’s weak point and selling a solution to solve their business challenge. Those days seems to be a walk in the park compared to my new reality of taking a cold prospect and turning them into a warm lead.

 

My friends and colleagues all said I was crazy to start a business during a Global Pandemic, ‘this market is worse than the great depression, it will be impossible to find a job, let alone get clients’. Disney, GE, and HP were formed during the Great Depression. Uber, AirBNB, and Square during the Great Recession, and are now household names. Yet, I see bounds of opportunity and industries ripe for disruption with people forced to quarantine and stay at home. Such sectors include real estate, home improvement, and health & fitness, which are booming due to our new reality.

 

The other thing to consider is with all of the layoffs, furloughs and chaos in the economy, companies still need to get the work done that their former employees did. Why? Because those same companies either survive or will become extinct. ‘How will it get done’ is really the question that should be asked. From my perspective, small companies like mine are in a competitive advantage. We are the product of the gig economy. We can come to an organization ready to execute and provide data, analysis, and strategic advisory services. We are small, nimble, and have the know-how rather than traditional recruiting, hiring, and onboarding cycles of bringing back furloughed employees.

 

I’m not advocating for companies to continue to reduce their workforces. A job loss is tragic, emotionally draining, and makes the person impacted question their self-worth (I know, I’ve been there). Rather, what I’m suggesting is COVID-19 has forced the American workforce to re-think how they approach work, life, and the American dream. What I believe we will see, and have already started to see, is in chaos, American innovation, ingenuity, and self-reliance will dominant. The mom & pop stores on main street will use data and analytics to figure out how to bring their customers back and establish a personal connection again. Those same stores will go also create virtual storefronts and shift to eCommerce. Consumers will be more likely to hand over their data for convenience and safety. And finally, more Americans will find new ways to supplement and augment their incomes.   

 

Small businesses will rise from the ashes and help solidify the American economy. As a new entrepreneur myself, I’m hopeful, optimistic, and ready to make a difference for my community and my nation.