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Mindset, your most Banks and other lenders know this; hence, the reason why
they rarely make exceptions for mortgages, lines of credit
important asset and even business cell phone plans for new businesses.
Ability to adapt
I'm grateful that we had a full year of lessons, ups and
downs, and growth before COVID-19 hit. Small businesses,
for the most part, got hit hard by the pandemic. Many
adapted by offering PPE, changing their fulfillment
process to minimize contact, or figuring out how to create
additional streams of revenue.

We adapted quickly by focusing on online ordering for our
restaurant clients to help them stay in business and build
email and text lists so they would be armed for the next
possible shut down. This helped dozens of restaurants stay
in business. It also generated additional revenue streams
for us, which helped us stay afloat.
Positive mindset

We are living in unprecedented times of uncertainty; many
folks are living in fear. But that doesn't have to be the case.
COVID-19 has presented opportunities for all business
owners. If you have an abundance mindset and focus on
By Adam Niec solutions, not problems, you can make it through the dark
Certain Pay times and come out stronger than ever before.

hat a year 2020 has been. It has presented It's not always going to be like this. Markets will return to
new challenges and opportunities for all normal. Consumers will eventually not be afraid to leave
business owners. No matter what industry their homes and interact. In fact, many people don't buy
W or sector you serve, you have been affected into a doom and gloom scenario, which is good, because it
by COVID-19 and the unprecedented, forced changes it keeps spirits up and money moving.
has brought.
The most important asset for a small business owner is
During the pandemic, you may have been affected in a right between your ears. Mindset is everything if you want
positive way, or you could have lost everything. Either to survive. I've seen clients tighten up and lose their minds
way, you are still you, and you can overcome whatever because they couldn't do business the way they were used
is thrown at you. Successful business owners know how to doing it. Because of their inability to adapt, they lost
to pivot and adapt. I refer to this as agility, the ability to their businesses.
change something in your business model to not only stay
in business, but also thrive and grow. On the other hand, I've seen merchants quickly change
their product offerings, structures, business models, etc.,
More than passion and it has caused massive abundance for their employees,
There's a reason why banks don't offer mortgages or lines of customers and family. The main difference: how they
credit to new business owners before the coveted two-year responded to COVID-19. Life doesn't happen to us; it
milestone is met: being in business for at least two years. happens for us.
Here's the hard truth of this: most businesses fail, and most
of them fail in the first two years in business. It's extremely My late father-in-law always looked on the bright side and
risky to loan new business owners money because they used to say, "It's all good." Many things happen that are
simply haven't had enough experience. completely outside of our control. We all have the ability to
decide to respond in either a positive or negative way. The
Many new entrepreneurs start their businesses because choice is ours.
they're passionate about a recipe or an idea. Any successful Adam Niec is the co-founder of Certain Pay, whose consultants lever-
restaurateur will tell you that you won't survive on passion age mastery of credit card processing and combine global experi-
and hard work alone. You need a plan, and you need to ence with local knowledge to help merchants focus on the big pic-
figure out how to delegate, so you aren't wearing so many ture to succeed in any business environment. For more information
hats. on Certain Pay, visit www.gocertainpay.com. To reach Adam, email
aniec@gocertainpay.com.
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