We could all lose a lot of money trying to predict the future. But, for some folks, it’s part of the gig. Take Algenon Cash for example.

Cash is both a restaurateur and an investor. Both jobs require him to have some idea of what’s going to happen down the road, but ask him what 2021 will look like and he’ll tell you:

“I’m afraid to answer the question. You know, if you asked me that question a year ago in 2019, I had so many plans, right?” he says.

What he does know is that last year was what he describes as “ground-shifting.”

“You either had a choice of just wallowing in that or you could try to take that and say, what am I going to do to learn from that and get better at it,” says Cash.

And that’s true for all people with small businesses in the food and beverage industry. Monica Moyer opened Archdale Bakery on March 1, 2020, just two weeks before Gov. Roy Cooper mandated a statewide shutdown.

So, ask her what’s going to happen this year, and she’ll respond with:

“I hope to be sitting here with you in this establishment, a year from now, but I really can’t say.”

See more of what these entrepreneurs see for the year in our Project 2021 Report.