The holidays are over. It’s January 2nd, you walk into your store…now what?

Recently, Len and I were discussing this very thing. He asked me what I did, and my response was, I always wanted to be…better. I wanted the store to look better, I wanted my employees to be better, I wanted to train better, price better, be better at everything!!

That’s a big order! But then again, How do you eat an elephant? That’s right, one bite at a time.

How you perform financially for me is twofold. I do want to make my budgeted number, but first I want to do better than last year. That is the true measure.

This year we will all have a bit less inventory, a bit lower loan balance, and a lot more to do. And while we have all of this to think about, it looks as if our COVID normal isn’t over just yet.

First we have to understand that we will need to change the way we do business. We need to loan more, and take care of the customer base that we have. They are going to need us more than ever this year!

We need to change the way that we sell. Every item that we retail online, out of the area, never comes back. So be smart, and use online ecommerce to move the items that may be difficult to sell or items that we can make more online. But remember, your local customers are going to need things too, so don’t be too quick to retail online.

When our customers need a loan, we may need to work with them a bit more than in the past. We may need to loan a little bit more. But we know the numbers, and when we do right by them, it usually works out just fine for everyone.

In 2021, be better, and focus on the things that make us all a better industry. Focus on the things that you can control, and most of all, focus on the customer.