Constraints = Creativity

The past few weeks in Canadian business have been tumultuous, with near-daily developments surrounding a potential trade war with the U.S. triggered by the Trump tariffs. We are facing a scenario that most of us have not seen in our lifetime. This impacts all Canadians but anyone who owns a business has been bracing for direct impact. The uncertainty and lack of detail surrounding the changes makes it tough from a business planning and crisis mitigation perspective. It feels a bit similar to early 2020 at the beginning of COVID-19. 

One thing I’ve noticed this time around is that I feel significantly more calm and level-headed with navigating this situation vs. 5 years ago with COVID. 

One of the big lessons I’ve learned in the past few years is that constraints fuel creativity. Nothing puts a fire under your butt to brainstorm and come up with out-of-the-box solutions like things not going according to plan. I would even take it up a notch and say that constraints are a blessing. It’s tough to see it at the time but the good that comes out of it is almost always clear when you look back. Some of the obstacles that were put in our way have led to some of the most interesting and effective moves we’ve made as a business. 

Our most consistent constraint as a business, compared to some of our competitors, is that we are self-funded, having taken on zero external capital. Being limited in budget has caused us to make certain choices that are a bit atypical, mostly because we simply couldn’t afford to look at other alternatives at the time. However, it turns out those choices have proven to be objectively the right choices for us in the long run. Would we have made those same choices if we were offered the entire spectrum of possibilities with no budget constraint? Probably not. 

I’m writing about this now because we’re about halfway into the 30 day tariff extension, and nobody knows what’s going to happen after this period. That being said, I know being faced with this pressure is going to force our team to get creative in ways we never had to before, and I know it’s going to lead to some good stuff, even if it may not seem like it at the moment.

I’m going to end off by sharing one of my favourite quotes that I come back to often (and I’m pretty sure this was one of my high school yearbook quotes): 

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” - Oscar Wilde

To anyone else who might be feeling the same way right now, whether you’re a business owner or not, or whether you’re faced with something in your professional or personal life - I can almost guarantee something great is going to come out of the perceived pit that you’re currently in.