2020 Wrap Up
What a year, to say the very least. As we venture on throughout life, it’s important to take stock in both the good and bad.
Let’s start at the beginning: a very good place to start.
January was the start of new and exciting things for SLH. We acquired both a brick and mortar office, and an administrative assistant! With a new office and a new assistant came the streamlining of internal procedures and the development of new internal processes: both of which were very much needed. The office served the purposes of being a central location for our company and providing a proper workplace for our new assistant. January and February were, on the whole, very productive months for us as we took steps in growing our business and optimizing our systems.
March was a bit of a whirlwind to put it delicately. The month started with a devastating tornado that hit downtown/East of Nashville. Unfortunately, our office was located in East Nashville, directly in its path. The tornado took off the roof of part of our office building. After that, the building was closed for several weeks following in order to facilitate repairs and restore power. This meant that our new assistant would now have to adjust to working from home.
However, the tornado’s impact didn’t end there.
Power was out for quite some time in the affected areas. As a result, establishing utilities for builders’ projects took a back seat with utility companies. This was understandable, as their priority was restoring power to existing homes. Still, it did cause for delays in our projects. With all the rebuilding that had to take place, we were faced with a shortage in materials which caused increases in cost and further delay. Next came the virus that would define the year….. You guessed it: Covid-19.
Covid-19 impacted not just our company, but many, if not all, builders and renovators alike. On the operations side of things, supply and demand shifted quite drastically. As individual home-owners found themselves with more free time, there arose a spike in demand for home renovation-related projects. This sudden change led to backordered materials, which added to project completion times.
We were incredibly lucky in that we did not have to lay off any employees. We were also lucky that as an essential service, we were able to continue operations, though in a rather modified manner. We needed to be extra vigilant in our planning, learning how to alternate crews between job sites in order to best accommodate social distancing practices.
Though delays and roadblocks obscured the path, we were able to rise to the occasion and learn a great deal in the process. We also gained valuable experience and attained a better understanding of navigating challenges that arise within larger projects.
We also accomplished several key company goals this year. One such goal included taking the next steps in moving our business towards commercial and multifamily real estate. Another goal we achieved was hiring an assistant. In acquiring an assistant, we were able to streamline our existing processes across the board from filing to bill pay and beyond, and increase our marketing and social media presence through more consistent posting, direct mail, and email campaigns. Oh, and we also welcomed the fluffiest member of our team this year: a goldendoodle named Danby.
This year has not been easy for anyone. To say it’s been a rollercoaster would be an understatement. However, there is much to be gleaned from our collective experience of the Covid-19 pandemic. 2020 was a year of learning and adapting over anything else. We as humans also demonstrated the amazing power that we have when we band together and lift each other up through adversity.
So, 2020 didn’t exactly go as we had expected. However, we made it through and will continue to strive for growth as individuals and as a business. And after everything that was thrown our way this year, we absolutely know that we can.