9 Years

Every November 26th has been earmarked on my calendar for a few years now. In the beginning it really wasn’t much, but as the years have passed, the date has become increasingly sentimental to me. In more recent years, I’ve found myself thinking harder about what to write in these kinds of posts…what to reflect on, what sorts of stuff moved me, what things got in my way, and what things I’m looking forward to for the coming year. Before I dive much deeper, I suppose I should paint some color around why November 26th is important to me. Quite simply, it’s my business anniversary, and today we turn 9 years old.

One of the things I thought about a lot over the last few weeks was how I was going to organize my thoughts into this post. This year has been a wild one, full of ups and downs, unexpected forks in the road, and both personal and professional decisions, each of which feel like I have thought about no less than 30 times each. Many of the younger students that I mentor oftentimes present me with what is referred to as a SWOT analysis, which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. I love looking at businesses and ideas in this context, and while I suppose I could use the same here, I am going to change it up a little bit and instead break it up into three simple categories…the ups, the downs, and overall thoughts / perspectives. Off we go…

Year 9 “The Ups”

1)     Going back to 2020 for a second, that was a year full of unexpected shifts and sudden operational adjustments that frankly nobody saw coming. In most aspects, these changes can be traced back to how COVID has reshaped most of our lives and everyday actions. But what I am really referring to here is the business aspect…after all this is a business post. In the blink of an eye, the 45% of the year I would normally spend crisscrossing the world in a metal tube, shaking hands, strategizing, and networking with clients and prospects was flipped upside down. Coming back to 2021, this will be the first full year without a single trade show, and many delayed or canceled plans to meet with clients and other business associates. Why yes, in 2021, this was very much the year of being hunkered down and experiencing the new norm of mission control behind a webcam instead of at a booth or on an educational stage. So why is this on my “The Ups” list? It’s very simply actually. We survived. I saw so many businesses fail and collapse over the last year, many of which were led by some of the smartest people I’ve ever known. Key positions within companies with some of the most talented people I’ve had the pleasure of working with were gone in a matter of days, and the people behind them forced to disburse to other opportunities, many in a completely different field. I’m seriously grateful to be one of the ones still kicking, and I won’t take that for granted.

2)    As many of you have seen in previous posts, in the Spring of 2021, we moved our operations into a much larger and more robust warehouse facility…then doubled again in the fall. Last year my next-door neighbors were a motorcycle parts shop and an insulation company. While being inserted between two other small businesses was great, and I have the utmost respect for those guys, my next-door neighbor is now Jelly Belly on one side and Amazon.com on the other. I’m shaking my head as I write this because I still remember our infancy days operating out of a storage unit wondering how we would pay a $300 a month rent bill. I truly hope we will be able to stay put for a while, but since I’ve been wrong about this five times in our last nine years, I will go ahead and say I will probably be wrong a sixth time sooner or later, but that is a battle for another day. Moving is one of the most stressful things that someone can do, whether it be personal or business, and so the reason that I included this on our “The Ups” list is because unlike prior moves, the people that I was fortune to have surrounding me were some of the best I could have ever asked for. Everyone from our staff to our agents, brokers, new landlords, family, and friends were there when we needed them the most and ensured that we were able to roll through the challenging move phase, all while continuing our operation without any interruption to our clients and partners. To all of those who helped in the process, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

3)    Speaking of moving, I would be remiss if I didn’t include the fact that my fiancé completed the move of not only her business, but the rest of her family from California to Illinois over this past summer. Gone are the days of hours long FaceTime calls and pandemic era flights across the country. People who I’ve talked to who have traveled for work much longer than I have keep telling me that business travel becomes less glamourous over time, and while I haven’t yet felt the same, I will say that traveling during a pandemic is certainly not enjoyable. I’m grateful that not only are my fiancé and I together under one roof after doing the long-distance thing for 2 years, but now we have her parents a short 5 minutes from us as well. Our operations are now side by side, and a short walk down the hall connects our two businesses. So, for that, this belongs on “The Ups” list. We are beyond lucky.

Year 9 “The Downs”

1)    Anyone in eCommerce will certainly agree with me about this one. Logistics. Holy headache where to even begin. This by far has been the biggest cause of stress both personally, and in our business over the last year. For those who aren’t in the eCommerce field, it wasn’t just about the added costs for transportation or the backup at the ports that you heard about in the media. It was the constant babysitting that we were (and still are) inevitably forced to do day and in and day out to ensure that we could keep operations moving as efficiently as possible. If I had the ability to see something coming before it did, this would have absolutely been it. The reality is that nobody had a heads up, and the resulting chaos and shockwaves that those challenges sent through the spines of most operations was seriously numbing at times. I could probably write an entire post about this by itself, but since that isn’t the point of this article, I’ll leave it at that and take comfort in the fact that I can get an “Amen” from just about everyone on this one.

2)    The other down that I saw in year 9 were the challenges that we faced around staffing. Never in my life have I found myself having to pay such high premiums for awful talent in certain areas. Now I realize there is great debate around this topic, and the point of this being included is not to stir up a debate. However, I would just like to say that I am still unsure if this is just something that is due to the economic climate or if, and this keeps me up at night, this is something that is becoming our new norm. Are the ambitions and drive of the American workforce changing for good? I suppose time will tell, and I surely hope that these challenges are short lived, for businesses need to get back to focusing on what they do best, and less about worrying about if their team will show up to work the next day. We lost some key individuals in our company over the last year, some for personal reasons not really related to the overall market conditions, but still…their absence was felt, and felt hard this year. Since many were short notice, I found it extremely challenging to quickly replace their talents with someone new who not only had the same background, but also had the drive to perform at the same level.

Year 9 “Overall Thoughts & Perspective”

1)    So much has changed over the past year that I found it difficult to put my finger on something that was sort of universal in most situations. What I ended up landing on is quite simple. Be nice and think before you act. There are so many people who are physically and emotionally drained from it all over the past year. At times, I will admittedly include myself in that pool. I think how everyone needs to approach their day-to-day actions is by thinking about this more frequently instead of expecting that everyone be at the top of their game. Thinking about everyone that I’ve worked with closely; I have found that there are basically two categories…those who have an increased number of challenges within their job and those who have an increased number of challenges within their personal lives. Some even have both. Regardless of what it is, everyone has been forced to adjust recently. I think one of the only ways we, as a people, are going to get back to life as we remember it, is to show some compassion and think about the implications of whatever you do before you do them. For me, I’ve strived extremely hard to ensure that all our clients are receiving the best service possible. I’ve also trained my staff on the same principles as well. Are we perfect? No, absolutely not. But this is the world that we live in today. Think less about yourself and more about others and you’re bound to find better results. Less of the “when can I”, “When will you”, “I need”, “I expect” and more of the “How can we” or “Let’s collaborate together on” attitude.

2)    Make time for those who matter the most. I have to get better at this myself, and in 2022 or “year ten”, I’ll be scaling back the long nights and weekends. With everything that has changed, the long hours certainly have been something that pains me the most looking back. You can’t get back time that you lose with family or friends. Take the time off to disconnect and recharge. Without it you’ll find yourself burning out way too quickly and inevitably your business is going to suffer. And when you come across that person who isn’t working, or is taking that small but crucial time off, show them some respect. Time off means time off. There isn’t a “but I need” or “this is important” in your business that should get in the way of someone else’s right to balance a healthy lifestyle.

If you’ve made it this far, I sincerely thank you for hearing me out and listening to my yearly perspective. I hope that everyone is able to sail through the rest of Q4 on a high and has a great rest of the Thanksgiving weekend.

-Eddie