I never thought this horrid year would ever come to an end! While this year has not, technically, ended we do know that December 2020 is FINALLY here! This means that we are approaching the proverbial "restart" that a new year gives us. This is the time of the year that people begin to evaluate their lives over the previous 12 months and start thinking about making changes which are positive and long-lasting. Since we started celebrating a New Year people have been thinking about changes at this time of year. Do you make changes each year? What resolutions do you make? If you're like me you look back on your year and you break it up into categories. 1. What went well? 2. What went okay? 3. What needs to be changed for next year?

I completely understand that 2020 has been a year without precedent. I also understand that much of what may have happened this year happened in spite of your hard work and not because you did anything wrong. However, I do believe that the entrepreneurial mindset is to always view the glass as half full. Be optimistic for the New Year and believe, with all the gumption that you can muster, that next year will be much better than this year. I will write today from this perspective. Let's be positive for the New Year and let's begin to chart a course for a brand new beginning.

1. What went well? I've always told my children that there is always something to be happy about. You know that life is full of struggles and, in the most trying of times, it is easy to get caught up in the mire of a difficult year. Take a look at your business and look at the things that went well.

If there is one thing that the COVID pandemic helped small business owners do, it helped you restructure your business to be able to make sales in ways that you weren't expecting in 2020. Restaurateurs learned how to package their meals for curbside pick-up and they added delivery services to their daily operation. Many small businesses have developed their online business strategy as a result of the restrictions placed on them during the 2020 COVID crisis. Look back at your operations in 2020 and look at what you were forced to learn in order to keep your business afloat. If it made sense and could be a strong contributor to the success of your business then, by all means, keep it going in 2021 and beyond.

2. What went okay? The life of a small business owner is a life of evaluation. We are always tweaking and adjusting our processes as we go along because it is often the tweaks you make today that make a huge impact in your business tomorrow . As you evaluate your business and look for the "shining stars" of your operational activities you may learn that some of the changes you were forced to make in order to stay afloat, or to keep your staff employed, are not changes that you want to maintain after the pandemic is over. I think we were all impressed when we learned that Little Toad Creek Brewery & Distillery, "The Toad," had shifted into the hand sanitizer business at the beginning of the COVID crisis. Hindsight told us that it, alcohol-based hand washes were a natural fit for a company that manufactures distilled spirits and beverages. In a recent conversation with Teresa Dahl-Bredeen about their hand sanitizer business she mentioned that they will more than likely not continue with hand-sanitizer in their product mix. "While it made sense at the time and we learned a great deal about our business by developing the product, we plan to focus on the things that we do well as a company."

3. What needs to be changed for next year? This is the area where most small business owners live their lives. Change is inevitable in a small business and small business owners become adept at facilitating change in their small businesses. The key to success for small business is to know when something needs to be changed and change it! 2020 forced us to make unexpected changes to our businesses along with the regular changes we would have naturally made as a result of the activities we implemented in January or February. The changes you make at the end of this year should be changes that are designed help you experience exponential growth in the upcoming year.

2020 was a tough year and if you are reading this article then you have survived the wackiest year of the modern era. Although there is still one month left of the year, I'm ready to start planning for 2021. Remember that there is always something to be happy about and tomorrow is another day. Like the rainbow at the end of the storm God promises us that, if it's in His will for us to be here tomorrow and take on another day, then the least we can do is be smart with the today that He has given us. Relax and get ready for the greatest year of your life! Hopefully, it can't get any worse than this year, Right?