4 easy things small business owners should be doing while everything goes to h**l.

The past year was a rollercoaster, and the start of a new one does not magically reset everything. The good news is there are still small, practical things you can do to add value to your business while the world feels uncertain. Here are four easy moves small business owners should be making right now.

1. Listening to Great Podcasts

Every business owner stands to learn from the way other operators and thought leaders work. Keeping up with them is easy now. Bill Gates, for example, publishes a personal blog called Gates Notes and a podcast with Rashida Jones, and he is far from the only one. There are plenty of business podcasts worth your time. Here is a go-to list for young entrepreneurs:

• Valuetainment
• The Joe Rogan Experience
• Bill Gates on Gates Notes
• NPR: How I Built This

2. Securing a Good Insurance Policy

Hold your old insurance policies up to brighter light and make sure you understand exactly what is covered and what is not. Many business owners went into the pandemic assuming their policy would cover their losses, and a large share of those claims were denied. The lesson is to invest in a policy that fits your budget and reflects your real risks. An all-risks plan sounds like it covers everything, but one hard lesson from a bad year is that an all-risks policy does not actually include all risks. Plan accordingly.

3. Digitize and Invest in Tech

An online presence does not have to mean building a brand new Instagram from scratch. It just means keeping one foot online and one on the pavement. Digitize some of your operations so you keep up with the technology running this world, because owners who fall behind on tech get left behind. If you run a brick and mortar shop, make getting a better grasp on tech a priority. Here are simple steps you can take:

• Start using apps in your store like Delightree to run your operations.
• Set up a TikTok account your frontline employees can post to during downtime.
• Invest in online marketing.
• Start a blog.

Bring more technology into how you run the business so you do not get left behind.

4. Incentivizing Your Workers

One important thing you can do while times are hard is give your workers a reason to keep showing up. Keeping your workforce consistent helps you weather a rough stretch, and money is one of the strongest incentives you have.

Many essential workers came out of a hard year with a clearer sense of their worth, and walkouts and protests over pay made headlines across the service industry. It can feel cheaper to refuse a raise and hire someone new, but the cost of recruiting and training a replacement often outweighs the cost of paying your existing team a bit more.

So do the right thing. Raise your employees' wages, and you are far more likely to have a team that still shows up when the next disruption hits.

Happy New Year, everyone.