Biggest Business Lessons From 2021 | Divij’s Den | Ep 32 I found five key takeaways that apply not only to operating a business under pandemic guidelines but also to moving forward.
1. People Are At The Heart
This first takeaway seems so obvious. After all, we rely on people to work in our businesses. We wouldn’t even have a business to operate if we didn’t have people to serve. The more we can position ourselves to care for the people who make up our teams, our vendors, our suppliers and our communities, the more our businesses benefit.
When we truly care for people, it shows in everything that we do. Likewise, people want to support those who support them. As a result, making people a priority in your business tends to pay off. One example that I always like to point to is Chick-fil-A. The company treats its employees well and provides them with great benefits. As a result, it seems to attract the best and brightest in its industry. Just as they do for their team members, Chick-fil-A franchisees often go above and beyond for their patrons and the communities they serve. When you combine this culture of caring for people with a consistently great product, the results are apparent.
2. Cash Is King
I have often spoken of the importance of keeping cash in reserve. Many business owners keep a personal emergency fund in their savings accounts. Usually, this is about three to six months’ worth of their monthly expenses. However, if we understand the importance of having a financial safety net within our own lives, why do so many of us neglect it in our businesses?
Last year is a perfect example of why we need to have cash beyond our normal operating cash flow. Having enough cash on hand to weather any crisis for at least three to six months could determine whether your business makes it. In fact, it could even be the difference between whether it thrives or merely survives. If you don’t have a cash reserve built up for your business, make this a priority.
3. Ensure That You’re Scalable
Typically, the organizations that really thrived during 2020 were those that were scalable. I’ve often touted the benefits of scalability, and last year provided us with a prime example of the need for it in our businesses. When businesses are scalable, they can quickly change to meet the level of demand. They have extremely high levels of efficiency and can expand or decrease their output through creative scheduling or by hiring just a few more people. However, a pandemic isn’t the only reason business owners should strive to make their companies scalable. A scalable business typically has greater value to prospective investors and buyers. This is because scalable businesses, from what I’ve seen, are usually not reliant on their owners to coordinate their daily operations, and they have proven systems in place that enable them to be easily duplicated.
Ray Kroc recognized the value of scalability and became one of the most successful restaurant franchisers of all time.
4. Technology Is The Future Of Business
Whether you love it or hate it, you might as well embrace it. Technology is the future of business. Over the past year, we’ve seen drastic increases in the remote workforce, e-commerce and digital marketing. In fact, with 42% of the U.S. labor force working from home full time, 2020 showed us that the traditional brick-and-mortar office space isn’t as necessary as it once was.
U.S. consumers produced the largest online shopping day in history on Cyber Monday 2020, spending an incredible $10.8 billion. With numbers like this, it’s no wonder that many businesses invested more in digital ad spending — particularly social media and paid search — last year. Businesses that embrace technology place themselves in the best position to capitalize on this growing share of the market.
