At the most fundamental level, the No. 1 priority of a business is to survive. At no time is this more evident than now—in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Other business priorities take a back seat. The new goal is keeping your team and customers safe while breaking even and surviving.
Like most others, Washington State named breweries as essential businesses. Despite that, we lost almost 50 percent of our volume overnight when bars, restaurants, and our own taprooms had to close in mid-March. We needed to ensure the safety of our customers and our team, pivot quickly, and look for new opportunities to survive.
During times of crisis, when you’re focused on survival, it can be incredibly challenging—but also very important—to see things from others’ perspectives, be they your team, customers, suppliers, landlords, or wholesalers. We need to make sure that we are not focusing on solutions that benefit us to the detriment of our stakeholders who are also going through their own struggles. It has never been more important to take a long-term approach, inclusive of the needs of all our stakeholders, and focus on the long-term goals of our businesses.