Art Shaikh – DigitalWill Company – Providing Essential End-of-Life Services

2021 and 2022 has been a tough year for business around the globe. In your experience can you share how businesses prosper in 2023?

The roller coaster that was 2021 and 2022 has made it difficult on most businesses, most of all tech startups. Venture Capital funding has become less abundant, and the innovation of many new technologies is being stifled. 2023 will be a year where the wheat is separated from the chaff. The companies that are able to pivot and adapt to the new climate are going to survive and eventually thrive.

The economy has been turned on it’s head in the wake of the pandemic. What should businesses focus on in 2023?

Businesses need to focus on providing an exceptional experience to customers and employees in 2023. What we learned throughout the pandemic was that the workforce is tired of being treated like a number on a spreadsheet. Employees need to be shown that they have a voice and are making a difference in their company. Customers are expecting a top notch end-to-end experience. As more businesses leaned on technology during the pandemic, more and more consumers became accustomed to it. Any business that isn’t leveraging technology to make experience seamless for consumers will have a hard time in 2023.

What are the pro’s & con’s of working from home and have you any first hand experience?

We were initially 100% remote, as the pandemic necessitated. However, the speed at which tech companies need to grow can’t be achieved in a 100% remote capacity. We moved into an office and set up a hybrid and flexible schedule.

How can business owners combat the rise of inflation and what have you done that you can share?

Inflation has been caused by many factors, war among them. The biggest inflationary pressure we have felt has come from policies that are making it harder to borrow and lend money. The higher interest rates created by the Federal Reserve’s efforts to combat the inflation have put investors in a different position than they were only one year ago. So we have had to navigate a new path and create revenue generating products more quickly.

In the last 5 years we have seen the rise to Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, NFT’s, Digital Marketing and many more! What do you think will impact the world most in regards to online selling?

There will be a lot of brands overleveraging the AI technology used in Chat GPT in their marketing, which will make everything come across as homogenized. The use of blockchain technology will continue, but the cryptocurrency and NFT trends will end.

On a more subtle note. If you could have dinner with three people, dead or alive who would it be and why?

One person in particular would be my father, because I miss him dearly, and would love him to see that his legacy is being carried forward. I think it would be a great learning experience to have dinner with Mark Benioff of Salesforce. And I think it would be fun to have dinner with a Bears legend like Mike Ditka.

Reading is still one of the most popular ways to learn anything. What is your most recommended book(s) by who and what did you learn from them?

If you want to grow a company, you need to read “Blitzscaling” by Reid Hoffman. His methods are being taught in business schools and it is a blueprint for growing a tech business.

What is your purpose for getting out of bed each day and what do you aim to achieve in the future?

Building DigitalWill to help the millions across the world that don’t have access to estate planning and other essential end-of-life services.