Doing Well and Doing Good
Pros
2020 was an unprecedented year. We started strong and expected to nearly double in size. But as Covid-19 spread, we placed our focus on our people and making sure that they were safe and healthy. In early March, we sent all Wizeliners to work from home and equipped them with everything they would need to transition to the new working model. All Wizeliners already had MacBook Pros, which made the transition easier, but we also provided monitors, office equipment and extended a food stipend for a couple of months. We've also continued to pay the office and kitchen staff in all of our offices. Once we knew that Wizeliners and their families would be fine, we worked closely with our customers to provide adjusted rates and payment terms to help them navigate the uncertain times. The worst case scenario never happened - and we actually continued to see quarterly growth. At the end of 2020, we had more than doubled our global headcount to well over 1,000 Wizeliners - and added countries like Nigeria, Poland, Costa Rica, Argentina, Singapore and many other places where Wizeliners work. On the commercial front, we saw net growth from our existing accounts and new account growth accounted for over 60% of our growth. Growth will continue into 2021. Increased scale will bring more opportunities for Wizeliners to work in different parts of the world (once it's safe to travel) on a wide variety of projects. Today, we have Wizeliners in 6 of the 7 continents, and the global footprint will continue to grow. We will also invest in our Academy programs to train people in our communities. In 2020 we reached nearly 10,000 students with Academy - we expect our reach to increase to 100,000 in 2021. Our team in Vietnam is already back in the office - and once it's safe in other regions, I look forward to seeing Wizeliners in person.
Cons
I don't consider these cons, but with hyper growth, we need to focus on communication, building up our leadership and setting up the processes and the reporting to be able to manage the growth more effectively.