What Does "Finding Opportunity in Chaos" Actually Mean?
Finding business opportunity in chaos means accepting the conditions that actually exist, not the ones you wish would return. It means staying engaged with what your customers need right now, evaluating short-term opportunities as bridges rather than detours, and holding an affirmative vision of where you’re building toward — even when the path shifts.
How do you find opportunities inside of chaos?
Back in 2012, Slate ran an amazing article that categorized all humans into two broad categories: Order Muppets and Chaos Muppets.
We’re either Kermit trying to get everyone to practice or Animal screaming while Camilla and the Chickens mill about pecking at things.
Friends, right now, it feels like all the Order Muppets are away at a self-improvement convention and the Chaos Muppets have gone smash. The chaos has layers and levels.
Most bizarrely, America has done a quiet Brexit, because our current administration declared: “We don’t feel like competing in the world in the same way anymore! These are our demands!” Deal, smash! Partnership, smash! Diplomatic relations, scream with cymbals! This is not something we prepared for, but we still have to deal with the fallout.
Then you have the swirl of tariffs. On, off, overruled, back again, maybe until July, maybe longer… who knows? But even when policy is inconsistent, disruption is still disruption. And for some, the tariffs debate has already proven to have devastating effects.
We’re also now at not-war, which no one wanted. (Because must smash deals made by Order Muppets!) But don’t worry, there’s talk that we can fund said not-war by cutting health care benefits… because that’s another system that’s working great for most of us.
Finally, you have to layer “the AI of it all” on top of everything, because it’s not only impacting how we work, but also who does and doesn’t get to keep their jobs in an already wobbly economy.
So while there may have been periods in the past where we could say, “OK, things are a bit rough now, but will eventually get back to normal,” this is not one of those times. The layered, chaotic changes have gone too far and continued for too long. The world order has changed.
It’s not just a matter of waiting for conditions to improve so you can execute that plan you had in late 2024.
Do I understand the urge to treat all of this as temporary?
Of course.
Like many of you, I don’t want any of this to be happening. And while I am still hopeful for the next version of all of this, I’ve moved on to processing and mourning the loss of what we’ll never get back.
If you’re waiting for “normal” to return, or for the next point of stability to start, you’re going to miss what’s available now.
Because yes, there are opportunities for you, as a business owner, inside of this mess.
I’m not saying that as a superficial bid to turn what we’re living through into a cute little business lesson wrapped up in a colorful toxic positivity bow. But if you can accept the conditions that actually exist, instead of building around the ones you wish would come back, you can start to lay some stepping stones toward making it to the next version of all of this.
Listen to what your customers need now, and what problems are emerging or becoming more urgent.
That’s the shift we all need to make: stop asking when things will go back to how they were before, and start asking what’s possible in our present reality.
Some opportunities are only good for right now
We work really hard to define our ideal customer, our best form of engagement. It’s possible that your reliable customer avatar isn’t buying right now.
There’s a good chance some of the work coming to you currently isn’t the work you would’ve picked in a more stable market. That doesn’t automatically make it a bad move. It simply may be the best option available under the conditions that exist.
Think of these as opportunities you might date, but not marry. They’ve got some red flags, some unattractive habits. Not at the level that will end with a Dateline exposé, more like a fun week in Cabo, but that’s the end of it.
They’re still real opportunities, and they could also be bridges that buy you some time.
Meaning, even if they’re not forever or ideal, they can still help you:
Function and make money, when the future is uncertain
Experiment with new offers and untapped capabilities
Learn something new that has a real impact on your business
Move in the direction of the right clients and work
We’re in a weird, crunchy time, and no one knows how long any of this will last. Nine months? One year? Three years?
So, stay open-minded about new work that comes your way.
“Is this a good ‘right now’ option, or is it not for me?”
This isn’t an easy question to answer.
Depending on where you’re at with your business, instead of questioning whether or not an opportunity lines up with your ideal, ask yourself:
Does this get me to the other side?
Does this help me keep my team and the business intact?
Does this get me to more of the clients I want?
Does this move me more in the direction I want to go?
If the opportunity gets you through, keeps you functioning, keeps you paid, gets you closer to the kinds of clients or direction you actually want, and you can take it without pretending it’s your forever plan, then it may be a good-for-right-now opportunity. Choose intentionally, and manage the relationship with boundaries.
You still need an affirmative vision of the future
I’ve talked about this before, but it’s not enough to say what you don’t want your business to be or what you don’t want to happen.
You also need an affirmative vision for the future of your business:
“We will get to the other side, and this is what I would like the other side to look like.”
Chaos has a way of making you forget what you’re building.
Then you become reactive:
“Well, I’ll take whatever. It’s just what we have to do.”
And that’s exactly why knowing what you’re trying to build is a really important way to keep yourself grounded during times of upheaval.
This is particularly true if you have a team, where you need to communicate the “why” behind certain choices you make in the short-term and how they help you move you toward your long-term goals.
If the thing you’re building toward is a more backward-looking version of normal that’s not coming back, this is your moment to update that vision. Despite the chaos, you can proactively choose what you would like the world to be, and use your personal filter to find the right opportunities.
Keep moving through the ick conditions
You can’t stop marketing. You can’t stop branding. You can’t stop talking to people. You can’t stop paying attention and just hope that if you wait long enough, some straightforward, easier market conditions will magically fall at your feet.
They won’t.
What you can do is stay engaged.
Keep listening for what’s changing. Keep paying attention to what your customers need, what your industry is doing, and what opportunities are actually coming toward you.
Some of those opportunities will be wrong for you. Others will be the best option you have right now. If that’s your reality, that’s okay — stay in business, do the best you can, and stay true to yourself.
Your job isn’t to come up with a perfect, permanent answer in the middle of a moving target. All you need to do is stay clear enough to recognize what gets you through, what moves you in the right direction, and what are the real distractions.
And then you keep going.
That’s how you find opportunity in chaos: by staying engaged enough to see what this moment is actually making possible.
Start-stop-keep: chaos edition
Ready to get started? Great, here’s what you do:
START treating “good-for-right-now” work like a bridge; ask “does this get me through, keep me paid, and move me toward the clients and direction I actually want?”
STOP waiting for “normal” to come back before you make decisions; that’s how you miss what’s available now.
KEEP an affirmative vision of what you’re building so you can filter opportunities instead of taking whatever shows up.
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