We have all had to learn a lot during 2020. No one could have adequately prepared for a year in which a global pandemic shut down the entire world, a year when “Contagion” became the must-see movie and when everyone asked themselves – could this really happen?
My company, Frank Porter, is right at the centre of one of the most affected sectors – tourism. We provide property management services for short-term rentals in the UAE. Pre-Covid, tourists could not get enough of Dubai. In March, as Dubai closed down, the city turned into a tourist ghost town.
Every business has its own unique ‘Covid’ story, and its own moment of reckoning. We learned a massive amount about ourselves and our business during this time – lessons that will stay with us even as the crisis ends.
1. Adapt your business to new realities
All companies start out with their ‘target’ consumer in mind – the ‘ideal customer’ to sell your product or service to. But what if the underlying assumptions change? We are far from the only business affected by the tourism lockdown in Dubai – restaurants, bars, tour operators, spas and many others felt the tap turn off.
It has been reassuring to see all sectors in Dubai rally throughout the pandemic
In our case, we quickly pivoted and focused entirely on longer stays of one-to-three months for those stuck in Dubai. Once the total lockdown lifted, we dedicated our energy to local tourism and staycations.
As the market/global situation changes, so should your business. Adapting to current market conditions may seem self-evident, but some businesses set in their ways are often slow to change. It’s important to view your business as a constantly evolving entity – versus something static that was set in stone by your first business plan.
2. Quality before growth
We went through an exponential growth since our launch in 2017. This growth was massively slowed down as Covid hit and the downtime allowed for some introspection. We began to really dive into each and every aspect of our business, seeing what is working and what is not.
This led to big overhauls in almost every department where quality has slipped. We had to acknowledge that high growth came at a price, and now was the time to address it.
Looking at it in retrospect, quality should always come before growth. If you don’t continuously address quality and your ‘core’ business, it becomes increasingly difficult to do it as you grow. It is like trying to upgrade the engine on a moving car. Yet this is exactly what happens to every business prioritising ‘growth at all costs’.
To build a viable business, you need to put the majority of your energy into maintaining the quality of your product or service. Then, growth will come organically.
3. Be humble – don’t forget your ‘start-up’ journey
As your business grows, it’s easy to forget where you started. I don’t even want to remember some moments of our start-up journey, let alone relive them. Covid has required us to be humble and go back to basics.
With so many changes in a very short amount of time, it really felt like we were doing a start-up again – scaled down, all hands on deck, working all hours, figuring out government regulations, restructuring, etc. It required a mind shift for the whole company, where every person was doing something they didn’t want to do or were hired to do.
The reality is that no business journey follows an upwards graph. Sometimes you need to go back to getting your hands dirty.
What I learned, and what surprised me, is how many people refuse to go ‘backwards’ due to sheer ego and stubbornness, all at the expense of their business or job. Ego is really your worst enemy! It’s quite important to stay humble and remember your start, no matter what stage of the business you are in. This way you can always adapt faster to new circumstances.
4. See the bigger picture
When the lockdown started in Dubai, there was early talk about tourism being dead, people only traveling for work. There was this continuous doomsday view that lay heavy on a business that is focused on tourism. We learned to completely ignore the negativity by focusing on the bigger picture.
Of course, tourism will be back as people love to travel. Of course, we will not be stuck at home forever. We operated with the broader view in mind, allowing us to mute the distractions.
The ability to step back and see the bigger picture is vital. It is very easy to get stuck in the day to day problems and not see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Times of crises are especially difficult as they breed hysteria and groupthink. There is little logic involved. If you start listening to every sceptic and every opinion, you might as well put you head in the sand. In order to move forward, you need to block the noise and trust yourself.
It has been reassuring to see all sectors in Dubai rally throughout the pandemic, adapting to the new normal. Employees took massive pay cuts and worked just as hard, or harder.
Businesses had to change direction and plans have been cancelled or postponed. Yet you could feel the resilience of the people. To me, it is a confirmation that the people of Dubai believe in this city and its future, and 2021 will be the validation of those efforts and beliefs.
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By ITP
More of this topic
My Covid story: how my hospitality company survived the coronavirus
How one small business managed to not only survive the shutdown, but find a way to attract new customers
We have all had to learn a lot during 2020. No one could have adequately prepared for a year in which a global pandemic shut down the entire world, a year when “Contagion” became the must-see movie and when everyone asked themselves – could this really happen?
My company, Frank Porter, is right at the centre of one of the most affected sectors – tourism. We provide property management services for short-term rentals in the UAE. Pre-Covid, tourists could not get enough of Dubai. In March, as Dubai closed down, the city turned into a tourist ghost town.
Every business has its own unique ‘Covid’ story, and its own moment of reckoning. We learned a massive amount about ourselves and our business during this time – lessons that will stay with us even as the crisis ends.
1. Adapt your business to new realities
All companies start out with their ‘target’ consumer in mind – the ‘ideal customer’ to sell your product or service to. But what if the underlying assumptions change? We are far from the only business affected by the tourism lockdown in Dubai – restaurants, bars, tour operators, spas and many others felt the tap turn off.
In our case, we quickly pivoted and focused entirely on longer stays of one-to-three months for those stuck in Dubai. Once the total lockdown lifted, we dedicated our energy to local tourism and staycations.
As the market/global situation changes, so should your business. Adapting to current market conditions may seem self-evident, but some businesses set in their ways are often slow to change. It’s important to view your business as a constantly evolving entity – versus something static that was set in stone by your first business plan.
2. Quality before growth
We went through an exponential growth since our launch in 2017. This growth was massively slowed down as Covid hit and the downtime allowed for some introspection. We began to really dive into each and every aspect of our business, seeing what is working and what is not.
This led to big overhauls in almost every department where quality has slipped. We had to acknowledge that high growth came at a price, and now was the time to address it.
Looking at it in retrospect, quality should always come before growth. If you don’t continuously address quality and your ‘core’ business, it becomes increasingly difficult to do it as you grow. It is like trying to upgrade the engine on a moving car. Yet this is exactly what happens to every business prioritising ‘growth at all costs’.
To build a viable business, you need to put the majority of your energy into maintaining the quality of your product or service. Then, growth will come organically.
3. Be humble – don’t forget your ‘start-up’ journey
As your business grows, it’s easy to forget where you started. I don’t even want to remember some moments of our start-up journey, let alone relive them. Covid has required us to be humble and go back to basics.
With so many changes in a very short amount of time, it really felt like we were doing a start-up again – scaled down, all hands on deck, working all hours, figuring out government regulations, restructuring, etc. It required a mind shift for the whole company, where every person was doing something they didn’t want to do or were hired to do.
The reality is that no business journey follows an upwards graph. Sometimes you need to go back to getting your hands dirty.
What I learned, and what surprised me, is how many people refuse to go ‘backwards’ due to sheer ego and stubbornness, all at the expense of their business or job. Ego is really your worst enemy! It’s quite important to stay humble and remember your start, no matter what stage of the business you are in. This way you can always adapt faster to new circumstances.
4. See the bigger picture
When the lockdown started in Dubai, there was early talk about tourism being dead, people only traveling for work. There was this continuous doomsday view that lay heavy on a business that is focused on tourism. We learned to completely ignore the negativity by focusing on the bigger picture.
Of course, tourism will be back as people love to travel. Of course, we will not be stuck at home forever. We operated with the broader view in mind, allowing us to mute the distractions.
The ability to step back and see the bigger picture is vital. It is very easy to get stuck in the day to day problems and not see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Times of crises are especially difficult as they breed hysteria and groupthink. There is little logic involved. If you start listening to every sceptic and every opinion, you might as well put you head in the sand. In order to move forward, you need to block the noise and trust yourself.
It has been reassuring to see all sectors in Dubai rally throughout the pandemic, adapting to the new normal. Employees took massive pay cuts and worked just as hard, or harder.
Businesses had to change direction and plans have been cancelled or postponed. Yet you could feel the resilience of the people. To me, it is a confirmation that the people of Dubai believe in this city and its future, and 2021 will be the validation of those efforts and beliefs.
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