4 Things We Learned About Doing Business in 2020

Calling 2020 a shit show is an insult to shit shows. The general consensus is and will likely always be that last year was a dumpster fire of monumental proportions across the board. Most of us were stuck inside and faced with learning how to survive on new terms within a new reality. 

The silver lining here is that some times, in the face of adversity, people will end up surprising themselves and if you look back at your own experience over the last year, certainly personally but specifically on a professional level, we're willing to bet that you were surprised at your own ability to adapt, reimagine and tackle everything that was asked of you.

Here are the 4 most common things we learned about doing business in 2020.

WE CAN WORK ANYWHERE
Many of us were unable to work from our offices during the height of the pandemic. And so were our spouses, partners, parents and kids. This likely meant that your homes quickly had to be converted into one or more office spaces, as well as a working school in some cases. Routines were shattered as we all peeked around the corner into the unknown and began working full time in the virtual space.

And look at what happened. We did it. Our businesses kept businessing. CFOs CFO'd from home. Teachers taught from home while their kids sat across the table being taught online. Of course, certain social industries like events and dining have suffered, but in our own little ecosystems, we kept going and doing and making it happen.

​WE CHANGED IT UP
Most of us have been more than happy to take advantage of the way businesses have had to adapt to serve us. ​From major corporate institutions to the gas station on the corner. Every business was touched in the last year and forced to find new ways to meet the needs of their customers. Yours, most likely, included.

Marketing strategies changed to reach clients in new ways. Internal processes shifted to accommodate our customers and their needs. And this should speak volumes for each of those businesses and the people in them.

​WE BUDGETED LIKE ROCK STARS
Whether your company was hit hard by lack of employees or lack of customers, we were forced to find ways to examine our budgets and make them work. We were forced to get creative with resources and our margins. We had to look closely at expenses and what could be cut where, and we likely found ways to make this work for the strategic betterment of the company.

WE GAINED PERSPECTIVE
Yes, businesses struggled on a massive scale, but hopefully businesses were able to value and create new, more authentic relationships with their customers and coworkers. In a year where so many were touched by tragedy in their personal lives, most of us learned to be grateful for our friends, families and whatever work we were doing and the fact that we were able to keep doing it.

Now that it's in the rear view and our eyes are all tightly focused on our new normal and an eventual shift back to our old normal, it's nice to look back on what was uncovered in that year that was like no other.  We hope that you and your business have escaped relatively unscathed and that you take all that you learned into 2021 with you with the best of intentions.