For entrepreneurs, rest is not often encouraged.

Resisting the Pressure to Pivot

Recognizing the privilege and power in rest.

For small businesses who entered the pandemic with no contingency plan, thriving isn’t the goal, nor should it be. The goal for many is arriving on the other side of this 3 to 24 months in one piece.

There is a problem with how the majority of business experts talk to vulnerable small business owners during crisis. The ones encouraging rest, regrouping and self care are mostly women, people of color, and those in the trauma and mental healthcare space. “Business-men” focus on the unprecedented economic collapse, but forget who it impacts most.

Owners were already told you must eat, sleep and breathe your business. Grow at all costs. Now in a pandemic, unhealthy messages continue to be pushed on entrepreneurs extolling the value of productivity and diversification. (The 2020 word of the year could be pivot, though more likely it will be Pandemic or Coronavirus).

Other statistics (discussed further on coFLOWco here ) highlight the need for more targeted advice. For example immigrants started 25% of all 2019 small businesses.

You may be feeling increased pressure to reimagine a new future for you or your business. Nearly 80% of small businesses employ only the founder meaning the pressure to pivot is greatly on Solopreneurs. In 2019 6.5…