2020’s Business Idea of the Year: Resilience
The following article was written by Robert Killen, Director of Lane SBDC
What a year 2020 has been?
2020 has tested all of us: individuals and organizations; rural and urban; public and private; black, brown and white. In business, the word “resilience” is now top of mind, and many businesses will be stronger because of it. But not all of them.
Resilience is not a product you can buy off the shelf. It’s not even a new skill you can learn. Resilience is a state of being, defined as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties. Achieving it requires us:
- to embrace resilience as a mindset,
- to challenge our expectations and procedures, and
- to have the flexibility to adapt when the need arises.
Businesses in this state are better equipped to respond to changes to the economic landscape.
Previous to this year changes to the economic landscape might include such quaint happenings as a downturn in holiday shopping or an increase in energy prices. With COVID-19, 2020 has brought us a one-two punch of a global pandemic and the resulting restrictions that continue to threaten entire sectors. Then it brought devastating fires along with the uncertainty of a head-shaking presidential election.
It is easy to question whether any amount of resilience could have prepared a business for the events of this year. And the truthful answer is “mostly no.” No restaurant could have prepared to close for weeks and then reopen at 30% capacity. No travel agency could have predicted cruise ships to be docked indefinitely.
However, even in these worst-case scenarios, businesses are finding ways forward. Not all of them. But some owners who have considered diverse scenarios and embrace adaptability are developing new business models that are working for them.
Thankfully, resilience is a value anyone can embrace at any moment and, given its newfound popularity, organizations throughout our region are finding ways to educate businesses about it. From the Chamber’s recent Fall Business Boot Camp and upcoming Taking Your Business Online: Cohorts, to Lane SBDC’s ongoing Strength + Resilience series, resource partners are helping local businesses optimize and adapt.
Business owners, who are looking to strengthen their resilience as a result of the events of 2020, should know that they don’t have to go it alone. There are dozens of agencies providing advising, connections, training and resources to business throughout Lane County. No matter where one is seeking to improve or has plans to adapt, there is an organization that can help accomplish it.
If you don’t know which organization that is, the Springfield Chamber, Lane SBDC, and the region’s collaborative effort – Lane Business Link – are all here to help you find it.
Nobody wanted 2020 to play out as it has. But it has taught us the value of resilience. By embracing that value we each have the potential to be stronger in the year to come than we were back before this year became a four-letter-word.
