BUSINESS COMMENT
Coast River Business Journal
April 2020 • 7
It’s Time to Embrace the Uncomfortable
By Jessica Newhall
Program manager
Small Business Development Center
Nassim Talib published “Antifragile: Things
That Gain From Disorder” in 2012. He describes
antifragility as being “beyond resilience or
robustness.” That “the resilient resists shocks and
stays the same; the antifragile gets better.” To say
the small business community has been shocked by
this pandemic is an understatement. In early-March
many businesses were emerging from the depth of
winter and looking hopefully to the return of longer
daylight hours and with that, visitors to the region
who would bring much needed dollars to buoy
their waning reserves. The cash flow generated
by this essential season would enable the re-hiring
of additional employees, pay for inventory pre-
ordered earlier in the year and restore cash reserves
depleted from off-season remodels.
The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly forced
business owners to face an uncomfortable reality
that commitments made to customers, present and
future employees, suppliers, partners and other
stakeholders may not be able to be kept. That
investments made in forging customer relationships
with careful marketing strategies, hiring and
training the ideal employees, painstakingly
working to refine product offerings, and make
carefully planned financial commitments might be
for naught.
Yet, if the past has taught us anything, we have
seen mass innovation follow times of great crisis.
Is that too grand a hope for our small business
community? It is not. Our community will rise,
not as a Phoenix, but rather as a Hydra, the Greek
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mythological creature that has numerous heads.
When one is cut off, two grow back in its place.
Leading through difficult times, whether it be
this pandemic or other difficulty requires that
business owners harness the passion, energy and
tenacity that inspired them to get into business in
the first place. This begins with recognizing fear
and anxieties, then quickly identifying strategies to
move forward proactively.
Look around you, you will see some great
examples of businesses throughout the region
whose “heads may be cut off” but are growing
two back in its place. Retail business owners like
Karen Emmerling of Beach Books in Seaside or Pat
& Tom Leiner of Pat’s Pantry in Astoria are great
examples of how to lean into this situation by being
agile and adaptive to the situation at hand.
Emmerling leveraged the unique skills and
personalities of her staff to build Beach Books’
social media presence (@beachbooks on
Instagram), resulting in increased online, pre-order
and local delivery orders. The Leiners were forced
to move to curbside pick-up and quickly recognized
that their online ordering platform and point-of-
sale were not integrating- so they quickly pivoted
to implement a new solution that delivered a more
seamless customer experience online (https://www.
patspantryastoria.com/). We can all learn from the
example they have set- in business and in how
we personally approach difficult times as leaders.
We must not be afraid to lean in and embrace the
uncomfortable. Being a Hydra may not feel good
when the head comes off- but the ability to see both
in front of you and behind at the same time can be a
pretty powerful tool.
Jessica Newhall is the lead advisor and Small
Business Management program manager for
the Clatsop Community College Small Business
Development Center. She can be reached at
jnewhall@clatsop.cc.edu.
Jessica Newhall
The COVID-19 pandemic
suddenly forced business
owners to face an
uncomfortable reality
that commitments made
to customers, present
and future employees,
suppliers, partners and
other stakeholders may
not be able to be kept.
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