2020 was an especially difficult year for many businesses. Yes, many other industries thrived in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was reported that the video game industry generated revenue that’s higher than both the sports and film industries combined. This is because, with people following the stay-at-home order, more customers are eager to be entertained by video games.
Many other industries have found success during the pandemic. Netflix and other streaming services transformed the way we consume entertainment content in the comforts of our home. But there are also many other industries that struggled in the face of the pandemic. Some were even crippled and closed down.
The pandemic is still ongoing. Yes, there are bright sides such as the developed vaccines. But the threat is still there. So let’s make sure that our businesses are better equipped and prepared for any threat. Here are the things we should consider as we set up our business goals for 2021.
Improve Our Relationship with Our Employees
When we think about the things that we need to improve this year, we should start with the internal aspects of the company. We have to start with the employees. We know that they struggled very much last year in the throes of the pandemic. They dealt with the challenges of working from home. Some of our female employees started juggling multiple roles. Apart from their role as our employees, they worked as mothers, home-makers, and even teachers at the same time.
So we, as the leaders of the companies, have to start putting first the needs of the employees. We have to help them make sure that they’re equipped to do their jobs. Let’s refurbish the health insurance that they have. Improve the work-from-home setup. Let’s even look for the best car loan rates and get company cars to use for employees’ transport to and from the office so that they’re safe from the coronavirus out in the streets.
Strengthen Our Online Presence
In the middle of the pandemic in 2020, many of us have already transitioned to reaching our customers online. We were able to cope with the closing of our physical stores because we improved our online services. But we could still improve a lot in our online presence. We could always keep on strengthening it.
Let’s start with our website. We have to make sure that it’s always easily accessible to the public. Most of our customers are on their phones anyway. So let’s make sure that our website is compatible with any device.
Let’s also start thinking about developing a mobile app. Now, this requires more investment than others. With this, we will need to outsource software engineers if we don’t have an in-house one. And they cost a lot of money. But if our businesses are in the restaurant, retail, or any other industry, then mobile app development may be one of the sound investments we could make this year.
Set Up Specific Milestones and Always Celebrate Them
Setting up specific business goals per quarter is an obvious task for any business. Any smart business owner would know that. But what we don’t always remember is the importance of celebrating when we reach all of our goals. And that needs to be changed this 2021.
Let’s think about setting up goals for revenue. We should also look into our goals for expansion. Do we want to reach more customers? Then we should research new markets. Find out what customers in other cities and states. Find out what they need. And figure out how we could better serve them.
Let’s also identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that we need to keep track of. First is, of course, our online engagement. How many people visited our website or used our app this month? How many of our visitors made orders and turned them into paying customers?
And whenever we reach a specific milestone, we should celebrate them in any way that we can. We have to recognize every win that we achieve. 2020 has taught us that. As businesses struggled to keep their doors open in the midst of the pandemic, we realized how important it is to not only survive but also thrive during such challenging times.
If there’s one thing that the pandemic taught us, it’s the value of preparing for any challenge. Businesses should be able to find opportunities in the face of adversities. We, as business owners, should know how to cope with and adapt to even unprecedented changes. So let’s use 2021 as the chance for a new beginning.
