Good morning,
One year ago yesterday, Inc.’s employees were sent home from the office. I remember thinking we’d be gone for a week. Maybe two, at the most.
Such naivete.
We’ve all learned a lot since then, which is why Inc. spent this week asking a selection of small-business owners: What’s the most surprising (or counterintuitive) thing you found yourself doing during the pandemic that you’ll keep doing or will shape your business going forward? For some entrepreneurs, the answer centered around personal routines: Jon Staff, founder and CEO of Brooklyn, New York-based hospitality startup Getaway, replaced his daily commute with an hour-long bath each night. It helps him decompress from stressful workdays, he says, making him a more effective leader each day.
Others have learned valuable lessons about their business operations. Nina Faulhaber, co-founder and co-CEO of direct-to-consumer fashion startup Aday, says her company was on the verge of falling into a hypergrowth trap at the beginning of 2020, prioritizing revenue and VC cash over solid business fundamentals. The pandemic forced her to cut her company’s product lines by 50 percent and refocus financially on efficiency and margins. “Within the next 24 months, we’ll definitely be profitable. Maybe within the next 12 months,” Faulhaber now says. “That’s years ahead of schedule.”
Read our story to learn five great counterintuitive lessons from the past year that’ll shape your business going forward. |
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