When Your Business Is Fine, but the World Isn’t

Everywhere you look, there is risk and uncertainty, but the biggest risk may be in letting the constant flow of unsettling news paralyze you.

I feel like I’m living in two different realities right now. At MultiFunding, things are working. Our pipeline is strong. Clients are moving forward. We’re growing. It feels like business as usual. And then I look up, and the world feels anything but normal.

Friends in Israel have been running to bomb shelters. Team members in the Philippines are preparing for potential disruptions due to energy shortages. People I know in different parts of the world are suddenly thinking about safety in ways they never had to before. Even here in the U.S., things feel more fragile than they should. So, which reality are you supposed to run your business in?

I read a recent piece about the potential economic impact of the Iran conflict that actually made sense to me. It said that within 90 days, one of two things will happen: oil will be $40 a barrel, and the global economy will be booming, or oil will be $200 a barrel, and we’ll be in a deep recession. That’s it. Binary. And anyone who tells you they know which way it’s going is kidding themselves. That framing stuck with me because it highlights the uncertainty and the need for a clear approach. If the outcomes are so extreme and unpredictable, how should you lead your business?

Now, to be clear, there are some businesses that don’t have the luxury of debating that question. If you’re in an industry directly tied to fuel costs, you’re already making decisions. Pricing, margins, contracts—those aren’t theoretical right now. The impact is immediate and very real, and the decisions are practical rather than philosophical. But most of us, including me, aren’t there yet. Our businesses are doing fine today, but the range of possible outcomes feels unusually wide. That’s what makes this moment so uncomfortable.

So do you pull back, get conservative, and try to protect yourself in case things go bad? Or do you keep going, maybe even lean in, and operate as if things will work out? You can’t straddle both approaches. At some point, you must commit to your direction and lead accordingly.

I’ve made my choice. I’m choosing to keep moving forward. Not because I know things will work out. I don’t. But I’ve seen what happens when people make decisions based on fear.

I had a client who feared the worst after Russia invaded Ukraine. And while there has obviously been real suffering since then, from a business standpoint, the world kept moving. Markets adjusted. Companies adapted. But my client stopped investing, canceled planning, and decided to wait it out until he was ready to put his foot back on the pedal. This is not a decision I would have made, but if it helped him sleep better, I understand completely.

What worries me most isn’t being wrong about the economy—it’s making choices that paralyze progress. So for me, the right approach seems clear. We’re staying focused. We’re continuing to invest where the fundamentals make sense. We’re sticking to our cadence. And I’m trying not to let the constant flow of news dictate how we operate day to day.

That doesn’t mean we’re ignoring the risks. We’re watching cash. We’re staying flexible. If things turn, we’ll adjust. But directionally, we’re leaning forward.

If the future is truly unknowable and could swing drastically, then the real key becomes your mindset—not your prediction. You have to decide: are you going to operate from fear or from a belief that things will work out? I’m choosing the latter.

In my experience, in uncertain times, standing still is usually the bigger mistake.