4 Ways I’ve Screwed Up in Business Since COVID Crashed the 2020 Party

What a year, huh?

Adjectives at this point don’t quite cover it, so I’ll let you take your pick.

But yeah, 2020 is one for the books.

Yet, like you, I’ve been learning.

I’ve made some really smart decisions.

And I’ve made others that I’d like to take back—or at least have a redo.

So here are 4 mistakes that, in hindsight, I’d like to have done better…

1. I was slow to see the impact of COVID on the speaking/events industry

One could easily say, “How could you have known Marcus?” but I don’t buy that. As a full-tie speaker, I, like many peers, thought I would be speaking and traveling again by the summer…then by the fall…then by the winter. Eventually, I stopped putting any emotional investment on “when” live events would be occurring again and created a business that wasn’t financially dependent on them.

What still perplexes me though, in February of this year, before COVID was viewed as a “major” problem, one of my speaker friends told me that a very respected speaker in our industry was preparing his team and business for him to not speak for at least one year.

I laughed at the overreaction.

Boy was I wrong.

I missed this one badly, which meant I was slow to make the needed pivot to become profitable as a business (which we eventually did)-- something the company savings account really suffered for.

I still find myself asking the question, “How did that speaker know and how could I misread the situation so badly??”

(again, none of us have been trained in pandemics, but there is still a lesson here)

2. I got too sucked into negative news and didn’t spend as much time on personal development as I needed to.

Some news is fine. Too much news, especially in 2020, rips your soul apart.

Not only that, but it affects your ability to get inspired with new learnings from educational books, industry articles, etc.

I’m back on track now, but this was a clear dip that lasted about 2 months.

3. I didn’t react well to the onslaught of demand in the swimming pool industry, causing significant stress on my team because of it.

When COVID first started, I truly believed it might sink my swimming pool company. Then, one day in March, I thought, “Wait a second, this could be HUGE for pools, home improvement, etc.”

My intuition was right, but I failed to staff accordingly as quickly as needed, causing my team to nearly break their backs under the incredible demand for pools during a time of quarantine.

I'm still paying for this mistake.

4. I didn’t spend enough time with mastermind groups/peers that I could discuss business with and learn from

It has been an odd sprint since COVID. Owning four unique companies, having about 140 employees currently, has led to a more “reactive” than “proactive” approach to many of my day-to-day activities.

In the midst of the rush, I’ve felt a void that has stemmed from not having enough intellectual and deep conversations with industry peers and professionals—something I personally feed off of and have always appreciated.

As a speaker, I was getting these types of conversations and learnings all the time while on the road and crossing paths with some of the brightest minds in the world.

But without the travel and events, the void was created—something I’ve since been much more intentional about addressing once I identified the issue.

Honestly, I could name quite a few more but we’ll stop there.

With these being said though, I clearly see the sunshine through the COVID clouds of 2020.

I’m also very bullish on our future and the bounce back we’ll eventually experience.

Until then, I’ll keep making decisions-- some good and some bad--and certainly learning along the entire journey.

Question for you: If you’re willing to share, what business mistake have you learned the most from in 2020? As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts below.