As the US continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, incessant racial injustice, expanding political extremism, and murder hornets, business owners have but one question in mind, “Where next?” I could say it depends, but as with everything else in life it depends is an ineffective yet valid answer to even yes or no questions. I prefer a different answer: it’s hard to say. Sure, it’s hard to say is essentially the same as it depends. The difference is that it’s hard to say inherently values flexibility and preparation, whereas it depends implies predictability—much easier said than done during… unprecedented times. But what does it’s hard to say do for helping small business owners and entrepreneurs achieve their goals?
This paradigm emphasizes the importance of three business mainstays: understand your business, empathize with consumers, and stay true to your values. As decisions become progressively harder to make, it’s more important to make sure you continue to assess where you stand on each of these concepts. I recommend you begin by examining your values because you can rely on your values even when in a vacuum of information. As a parting thought, I leave you with three values I think every business should keep in mind as they figure out where next:
1. Put people first
2. Think long-term
3. Don’t let perfection get in the way of progress
These are neither mutually exclusive nor collectively exhaustive.
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