Are you going crazy yet? If you're any business owner, you've got one thing on your mind 24/7: Cash flow! As sales dry up whether your essential or non-essential, your cash flow has gone negative. And it looks to stay that way for quite some time...even after we get the all clear and start spending again.
I've been mulling this over the past couple of weeks. I've talked to a number of small business owners who are coping so far. One is able to continue business at a reduced level with all his people working from home. Another had to close her two retail locations; So far she has managed to keep her staff on the payroll and with the recently announced Federal wage subsidy program is optimistic she can ride this out for the next 6 weeks. Finally, a small manufacturer pivoted from his main business into providing a COVID-19 product in high demand. What these business owners all have in common is a calm head. They've all been able to rise above the noise, get above the 'crazy'.
The outcome of this crisis is that we will all learn how to be better at what we do. We'll learn how to cut out the noise and focus on what's really important. Both to our businesses and to ourselves. I'm optimistic that what the world looks like after this crisis has passed will be better.
Until next time...
Stuff happens! If nothing else, COVID 19 is teaching us that harsh lesson.
I've been talking a lot recently with family, friends and business associates. All of our conversations begin with how we are individually dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. All of us are still working; all of us are working from home. We are social however so we are all getting antsy. Using our cell phones to make calls reminds us that they are 'telephones'! And ZOOM has become our friend both for business and personal.
It strikes me that some of the topics we discuss revolve around how to help each other cope through this crisis. Below are some of the thoughts I shared in my latest book, 'Growing Up: Canadian Jamaican'. Some of them apply as we all grapple with new normal:
- Don't be a D! Consider that we, our community, city, country, continent, planet, are in this together!
- Help another when you can.
- You are special...to someone! If you are lucky you will have a number of special people in your life. Cherish them! Stop what you are doing to help them.
- Stuff happens. It will happen multiple times. Some will be your fault...don't make those mistakes again. Some will not be your fault...so what, it's still stuff! Get on with it!
- When you have setbacks, assess and move on.
- Seek out advice...remember that you don't;t have to act on everything. Assess advice and make your own decisions.
- Personal strength is being able to keep going when the tide is against you.
- Optimism is essential! If you are pessimistic about the future, what's the point in going on?
- Don't take things too seriously. Seriously!
- Find the humour in everything. Yes, everything!
- When the road runs out, stop the car and start walking.
- Don't let the bastards get you down! This one from a very good friend.
- Never ever give up!
Until next time...
"Do the right thing". That's my advice to business owners small and large as we all deal with the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. No one at any level is immune to the effects of schools closing, airlines cancelling flights, restaurants offering delivery only, grocery stores with empty shelves. It's easy to say '14 day self isolation' to an employee who 'may' have been exposed to the virus. It's not so easy for that employee to face unpaid time off dependent on unemployment or personal savings to survive. As more businesses close, the domino effect across the entire economy will increase. The time is now to do the right thing!
Do the right thing:
- Government leaders: Close the country down for the next 2 weeks. Let's kill this bastard virus once and for all!
- Business leaders: Support your employees. They are with you in good times, now be with them in these bad times! Pay them to stay home!
- People: Take your heads out of the sand! This is not a rehearsal...this is the real thing. Self isolation means exactly that: No group contact!
What does this have to do with marketing? The companies that do the right thing, even though it may be painful in the short term, will make it out of this stronger. Their employees will thank them for their support; their customers will remember that they did the right thing for all!
Do the right thing. Now!
Until next time...
In high school we had to take a 'Creative Writing' class. I didn't enjoy it. Having to write 'creatively' seemed ridiculous. All writing is a creative exercise. Telling a story, fiction or non-fiction is 'creative'. I didn't right much but I had stories swirling in my head!
In broadcast school at Conestoga College we learned that before we could speak we had to write. That was true for the newscasters as well as the radio DJ's. At my radio gig in Guelph, I learned to write what I planned to say before I flipped on the microphone. Great experience!
In 2005 I took up blogging. It was the dawn of Social Media and online blogs were all the rage. My first posts were awful! Thank you to those of you who endured my early ramblings. But I stuck at it. Writing allowed me to get stuff off my chest.
Writing this third book, 'Growing Up: Canadian Jamaican' was cathartic! It's raw! Writing the stories was the easy part...pulling the trigger on publishing it was hard. I hope you enjoy reading the stories from growing up in Jamaica and Canada. I'll be ecstatic if I can help even one person!
Until next time...
