Business owners burying their heads in the sand in 2020 are really dealing with quicksand. Get out now, or risk being swallowed whole by this year’s perfect storm of catastrophes.
Plan now, plan hard. Don’t wait for the New Year to magically erase this year’s problems. Look at what worked well in 2020. It wasn’t all awful. Or, maybe it was! What went wrong, what went right? Write it down, everything you can recall.
People left—either employees, customers or both? Write it down.
Did you work 90-hour weeks just to stay open? Write it down.
Did you re-gear or open up a new line of business to pivot with the changing, challenging times? Write down what succeeded (e.g., delivery, anyone?), and what didn’t.
Finally, think about the double-edged swords.
For example, did you have to slim down staff? If so, were you able to pull together a better, stronger team through adversity?Connect the dots.
After you’ve done a complete brain dump and listed out the good, the bad, and the COVID ugly, connect the dots to identify the top lessons learned from your 2020 experiences and pivots. This exercise will help you build a better 2021. It will help you cope with COVID, which isn’t going away anytime soon. It will help you cope with the political realities impacting small business, whatever they may be. And, it will help you prepare economically for the roller coaster that undoubtedly will run throughout 2021 and beyond.
Reach out and touch someone.
And by someone, I mean a trusted advisor who can take your 2020 assessment and help you move productively in 2021. If you want to touch base to see if we’re a good fit, great! If you already have someone else in mind, great! Just don’t dawdle, because once the quicksand continues to take hold, it won’t let go easily.
As Albert Einstein said, ““In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Well, we’re certainly in the middle of difficulty, so let’s work together to find the opportunity.
