By Reed V. Horth for RRFA

I didn’t set out to become an entrepreneur. I don’t come from a long line of entrepreneurial people. Or a family with an arts pedigree. Nor did I have a mentor who could guide me through the pitfalls of building a business, particularly not in 2008 when the economy was sliding backwards. Nor did I have any money or family to help backstop my own slide. I only had my intellect, my database of contacts and my WHY. My WHY, was to not be homeless. My WHY was to feed myself and my girlfriend (now wife, Kat) and our two dogs. My WHY needed to be stronger than my willingness to go back to working for someone else. My WHY needed to be stronger than my will to quit.

To be honest, it was really hard. I worked incredibly long hours and took no time off. Not one day for two straight years. Nights, weekends, holidays… Every. Single. Day. I would despair in moments, and be elated at even the smallest victory. I took chances that sometimes paid off. But, others that failed miserably. A lot is learned in failure. I think the BEST lessons are learned in failure. Without being at the bottom, you don’t discover what you are capable of. If you’ve always had someone to catch you if you fell, you never know what it takes to catch yourself. And, every statistic said I would fail.

But, I didn’t. Hard times build strong businesses simply because they make hard business owners. It weeds out the innovators from those who seek status quo. It makes smart people work even smarter. It makes people find a niche and fill it. It is Business-Darwinism. If you cannot adapt, your business will be replaced by one that can.

We are presently living through one of those times. It is HARD. Even though you might not want to, you might be in a position where you must reinvent yourself, or your business, or your life. Many people find themselves out of work right now with few options. You must make yourself irreplaceable.

It will be hard. But, this period might be the best, most fertile ground on which to plant the seeds of sustainable businesses that we’ve ever had in our history. It does not require much money, just a bit to keep the lights on an belief that something can be better than it is right now. This “pause” can actually give people a chance to be TRULY creative and think about how they can do things more efficiently, make things run more smoothly when things go awry. We hear stories about businesses shifting on the fly to make adjustments and sustain. Here in Miami, the iconic Versailles Restaurant on Calle Ocho in Little Havana was forced to shutter. But, instead of laying off workers, they formed a partnership with Sedano’s Supermarkets who needed emergency staff to load the shelves and care for rabid customers. A temporary solution? Perhaps, but it shows that ideas matter, particularly to the waiters, busboys, managers and dishwashers who may need that paycheck to cover rent or groceries for their own families. Manufacturing plants reconfigure their machines to produce ventilators and masks for doctors. Alcohol distillers make hand-sanitizer and provide it free to the public. ? A friend, a car broker, who had long discussed the need for a sustainable car-buying model, is now offering to locate, secure, prepare financial forms, submit and deliver the vehicle to your door all remotely. Our business switched back to our 2008 model of focusing on motivated sellers and opportunistic investors.

These ideas create sustainability, but also instill good-will that the public will remember when the clouds eventually lift.

What can YOU do to reinvent your business? What can YOU do which can distinguish YOU from everyone else? What changes can YOU make in YOURSELF that will sustain you when the status quo is interrupted? How can YOU use this time to better yourself, your family and your business? Or, find and niche and fill it? This will determine which businesses will survive and which will not, the ability to evolve.

This. Too. Shall. Pass.

(Photo of Reed by Aaron Davidson/Getty Images)