Advice from a Shark

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS OBVIOUSLY HIT A lot of businesses hard. But arguably no one more so than the owners of small businesses. To get some thoughts—and some help—I turned to Robert Herjavec, author, entrepreneur and one of the stars of ABC’s Shark Tank, which is now in its 12th season.

The recent interview with Herjavec is part of Better, Newsweek’s series on LinkedIn Live (Thursdays, 9 a.m. ET/noon PT), where I talk with authors, business leaders and other thinkers to help us learn how to become a little bit better at what we do. And there’s no one better than Herjavec, founder and CEO of Herjavec Group, a global cybersecurity firm, and writer of You Don’t Have to Be a Shark, to help us get through these troubled times—and beyond.

Here are some insights and advice from Herjavec about how small business owners can survive the pandemic (excerpts have been edited for clarity):

Have a Clear Sense of Reality

“WHEN COVID FIRST HIT, THERE WAS A lot of, ‘Oh, we’re going to get through this. Don’t lay anybody off. Don’t cut costs,’ blah, blah, blah. I think