Omar Allam, CEO & Founder, Allam Advisory Group
What is your key advice to small business owners for 2021?
We have been tested like never before. 2020 was a year full of unprecedented trials, and what we have endured will have a lasting impact on how we live and do business.
As we reset in 2021 – to restart and recover, there is a sense of optimism and relief laced with withdrawal and doubt.
I think we are going to be a very uneven paces across many industries and everyone needs to be quite measured and think realistically about fundamentals. Everyone wants to go back to the playbook they’ve had from previous recessions. This is different, this is a global health crisis. The traditional view of profit and the impact of supply chains will never be the same.
We’ve seen some industries become permanently impaired as a result of it and we’ve seen an acceleration and an improvement in the prospects for other industries. I think there is room to grow.
The wisest thing to do today is blocking the noise, never be restricted. Approach challenges and opportunities with a straight-forward positive mindset, utilizing creative thinking.
Show initiative, step forward, take risks, embrace teamwork, deliver with creativity, have a sense of responsibility and ownership. Those who overshoot, will outperform.
It is also OK if you don’t have it all figured out. If everyone in business would be authentic and admit they don’t know exactly what to do all the time, we’d be so much further ahead. Because when people feel the need to emit a perfection persona, it creates this ego blockage around them that we have to bust through to get things flowing again. It’s such a waste of time and completely unnecessary.
Let’s just admit that we are all constantly learning. When we do, it opens up so much room for trying new things (which, sometimes leads to failing). Failing is learning in real-time and there is no reason why you can’t learn the hard way. While failing can be soul-crushing, just remember that it’s the best training you can get.
Remember, small business owners, you are not alone. We are on the front lines of commerce together, driving economic growth and boosting job creation – the heartbeat of the Canadian economy.
