What I Sent: Team Email on April 9, 2021
Every Friday I email the entire Batch team with a series of updates about the company, including what I’m learning and how I’m applying that to leading. Here is the email for Friday, April 9, 2021.
During the winter of 1913 and on into the spring of 1914, former president Theodore Roosevelt undertook an expedition deep into the Amazon to survey, explore, and forge the River of Doubt. While he could have been enjoying the spoils of his twilight years as a decorated American statesman, he instead decided to descend into literal uncharted waters.
This voyage is detailed in Candice Millard's comprehensive work The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, which I just finished. It's harrowing, meaty, and mostly leaves you wondering, "WTF is Roosevelt thinking?" (Spoiler alert: despite the perils of the rainforest, Roosevelt makes it out alive, though not without beaucoup trials and tribulations.)
Fast forward to today, over a year into this pandemic and how it's fundamentally altered our business. Some Q1 numbers for you:
Company sales are up over 86% vs. Q1 2020
Packages shipped are up over 319% (8,389 vs. 1,998)
Each division is up triple digits: eCom = 116%; Bulk = 351%; Fulfillment = 304%
Our team is solid, the sales pipeline is good, and we have big, ambitious plans for this year and beyond.
But I can't help but think we're about to enter new territory, our own River of Doubt.
Up until now, our year-over-year (YoY) comparisons have looked awesome. But, last year's performance and the first three months of 2021 are all compared to a fundamentally different business. It's the River of Doubt vs. the BSR Cable Park Lazy River. None of us had tried to run a business during a pandemic, and despite our successes, what's next still puts us in uncharted waters:
What will corporate events look like in the short-, medium-, and long-term?
How many companies will return to office life, when, and how will that compare to office life two years ago?
What if there is another pandemic wave spurred on by virus variants and those choosing not to vaccinate?
Are our purveyors able to keep going?
What will impending tax legislation do to corporate gift budgets?
How do we stay ahead of our competition technologically?
These are just some of the questions I turn over in my head each day as I paddle furiously toward what's next. There's a lot that's unmapped, but I'll take what I can from Roosevelt: stick together, keep moving forward, learn from others, and stay alert.
And oh - everything eventually leads to (an) Amazon.
