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You should always be looking forward to predict if your products could be made obsolete by developments you make, by those of your competitors, or by new entrants to the marketplace – or a combination of all. It can be difficult. What do you do if you are a dominant typewriter company and demand drops to near-zero?

A recent story in The Jewish News provides a testament to entrepeneurial ingenuity, perseverence and innovation—featuring a client of SCORE of Southeast Michigan.

Right now, the particular challenge most are facing is reopening and/or adjusting to a new service model, and it’s important to recognize how internal culture, growth and development can influence your outcome and success. I’d like to share with you, two small business etiquette themes that can make a difference for your business:

Don’t let any easing of COVID-19 pandemic lull us into a false sense that things are, in any way, back to normal. The pandemic is representative of a class of risk items that are very rare in their occurrence (low probability) but have catastrophic consequences (high impact). Here are some ideas of other such events that could catastrophically impact a business.

If you own a business or are considering starting a business of your own, the learning never ends. Here are my recommendations for must-reads. Whether you own a business, lead a business or plan to start a business, these are, in my view, the essentials:

Gino Wickman, founder of E-Leap and author of The Entrepreneurial Leam, provides guidance to "entrepreneurs in the making" looking to find a mentor to help them grow their businesses. Watch the video to learn your next steps and how to maximize your relationship with your mentor.

As businesses reopen, thought and effort should be put into helping people transition back into the workplace. The following checklist format might give business owners some ideas on things to cover to help bring people back.

Cortney Moody, founder of Comfort Paws Mobile Canine Spa LLC, a self-contained mobile grooming unit that allows her to groom dogs in the comfort of their owners' driveways, is back open for business.

Every leader should continuously develop potential successors. Most leaders do nothing and then are horrified that no employee is really ready. That’s the best case in this bad situation. What if the situation got worse? What if there was the “unfortunate bus accident” or “sudden heart attack” and the leader was just no longer available?

Are you a current or retired business executive or small business owner? Do you have experience, wisdom, insights and expertise to share? Are you ready, willing and able to share elements of what made you successful with the next generation of small business owner and operator in southeastern Michigan? Then volunteering with SCORE just may be for you!

Armando Ojeda, Co-Chair of the Southeast Michigan chapter of SCORE, was recently interviewed by Lending Tree to provide expert analysis from a a mentor's point of view regarding the importance of small businesses—whether just starting up or reopening post-lockdown—doing thorough competitor analysis.

COVID-19 has driven us to use electronic media. Zoom usage has exploded. Unfortunately, many companies cannot even operate during this time. The smart ones are keeping their employees and customers informed using email, texts, social media, videos and phone calls.