2021 Here we come

Hello Team –

This last year has been a wild ride for all of us both personally and professionally. We have dealt with challenges that none of us were prepared for and got a humbling reminder that the world around us relies on a delicate balance that allows “business as usual” to continue. COVID may likely be the most disruptive event in our lives so far but we can be sure it will not be the last. It is important to internalize the events of 2020 so we can be better prepared for and expect future challenges. It is easy to remain happy and build business during good times, but true greatness is forged by those individuals and companies that can persevere and adapt through hard times.

• Amazon was one of the few companies to survive the dot com bubble
• Apple nearly went bankrupt in 1997
• In 2008 Starbucks had to close nearly 1,000 stores
• In 2011 when Netflix went to streaming, they lost 800K customers and their stock dropped 77%

Each of these companies and the individuals that operate them kept their eye on the prize and have since built amazing organizations.

Challenges to building business can come from internal factors like in the case of Apple & Netflix, while others are caused external market factors like in the case of Amazon and Starbucks. The world has seen several crises’ and it is important to remember that everything is cyclical, there will always be ups and downs. When you study history, you will not only be better prepared for challenges, but you will expect them to happen. In fact, these crises often present the greatest opportunities.

For us, 2020 was the first in our 9-year history that our sales, and staff numbers did not increase. While this is a hard to pill to swallow the positive effects that came from reflecting on these challenges are exactly what we need to become the company we have always been destined to be.

As individuals we all continued to participate in our personal, and professional development. Between book club, monthly PD sessions, experimentation with business process, and business growth, I know without a doubt that each of you are entering 2021 as a stronger, smarter, and more well-equipped individual than you were one year ago.

I am calling 2021 the beginning of TN 2.0. The first 9 years was phase 1 and during next 9 years we will build on everything we learned to truly achieve greatness.

Accomplishing this will mean more challenges, more experimentation, and more failures along our path. As one of my mentors used to say, the path to success leads straight through the dump, there is no shortcuts and price of admission to the club of greatness must be paid in full.

So cheers to 2020 as the year we will look back on as the catalyst that started us along this exciting path. Thank you for joining me on the ride!