insight : luann nigara
Diary of a Small Business Owner in 2020 A boom and bust cycle in a short period of time spins off many lessons BY LUANN NIGARA
JANUARY 1, 2020
Dear Diary: It is 2020 and we have big
goals. I cannot wait for this year to get underway! Cool number, 2020. Sort of reminds me of Y2K, except that was all about uncertainty and weird predictions. This is all about hope and possibility. Somehow the word “intense” keeps bubbling up in me. I suspect that will be my defining word for the year.
JANUARY 21
It’s a great day at Window Works! We just
had a company retreat with our succession and organizational coach, Eileen Hahn. We did team analysis and team building exercises. We rewrote our mission and vision statement. Together, we wrote our 2020 company and individual goals. It was invigorating, inspiring and satisfying to see our team work and laugh together over two days.
20 |
FEBRUARY 1
Great news.
We are planning to bring our entire team to the International Window Coverings Expo in Charlotte. This is big for us. This has been a goal of ours for years, and this year we are going to make it happen. I cannot wait for all of our employees to be in the seminars and meet our colleagues from Exciting Windows and WCAA. We’re all really looking forward to this.
MARCH 13
High Point Market postponed because of coronavirus? Whaaat?
MARCH 15
International Window Coverings Expo postponed because of coronavirus?! Yikes.
MARCH 21
New Jersey residents in quarantine for 14
NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2020 | wf-vision.com
days? How will we do this? How will we install window treatments and awnings? How will we make new sales? Restaurants are closed too? How will Vin and I eat?
MARCH 22
We need a partner meeting, stat. Top concerns: making decisions on how to run remotely for two weeks, marketing, maintaining sales, cutting expenses and communicating with employees and customers. We also need to schedule team Zoom meetings every day for two weeks. Objectives: help employees stay connected and be productive, drum up creative ways to continue to do business over the quarantine and develop a game plan for handling customer communication and order flow process as we work remotely.
