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Edition 355 – Reflection on 2022

Written by Dean Robinson.

Another year over and done with. The sounds of Christmas are all around. The perfume of a late Spring hangs in the air. The cicadas are at max volume. Before long, the beach is calling.

Reflecting back on 2022, here’s some of my observations:

  1. Uncertainty is a continuum. In consecutive years we’ve experienced bushfires, COVID, floods, war in Europe. Don’t expect the future to be any different.
  2. Your people are burnt out. That sense of uncertainty is playing into their personal lives, accelerating their feeling of burn out. Unless you take the initiative to help them, their life decisions may detrimentally impact your own in 2023.
  3. Niche businesses continue to outperform. Always have done. Always will.
  4. The next time you complain about poor service in a restaurant or cafe, don’t forget that, for some of us, it’s not that long ago that we couldn’t partake in such pleasures. Some perspective always helps.
  5. Knowing where you want to take your business is the number one factor in determining your degree of success in business. No destination = no direction.
  6. There’s a strong co-relation between an owner’s frustration with their own business and the lack of a plan for their business. The less clear the direction, the higher the level of frustration.
  7. As much as my supply chain friends will hate me for saying it, businesses that rely on stock for their livelihood are carrying higher levels of stock than ever before, just so they can meet the demands of their customers and overcome the ongoing disruptions to deliveries. As a former client’s mantra was, “Stock sells Stock”.
  8. Business owner in their 40’s are wrestling with the “do I want to keep doing this” question about operating their business. The question is nothing new. The age at which it is being considered is, however. It has dropped between 10 and 20 years.
  9. Interest rates and inflation have proven double barrelled surprises in 2022. My guess is that the third arm in 2023 will be wage increases – and significant ones at that.

To all of you, no matter how you celebrate the festive season nor what your beliefs are, from me and my own family, Merry Christmas for 2022 and for a restful, peaceful time away with your families to stop and reflect on the year that has passed.

This Week’s Tip

“Take the time to turn off all devices over the break – it’s the only way to completely switch off.”