How's Business in Our C-Virus World?
We hear things are opening up. We see some evidence of that in our neck of the woods (NY Metro area). What's going on where you are? How's business?
My experience: Everyone's got a story unique to them. For some, like me, little changed when the C-Virus hit. Not that is hasn't been especially challenging. Not that our business hasn't had to deal with revenue and expense issues. It has. But we're not a restaurant. So far, we're managing.
I've read and heard that lower-income folks and middle-class folks have suffered more than those more fortunate. I've seen no data that backs this up. But perhaps we can imagine this by way of contrast with certain categories of more fortunate folks:
Independently Wealthy
Some people don't need to work. Maybe they inherited money. Maybe they earned it on their own and have saved enough so that they don't need to work. These folks may not like all the quarantining and social distancing. They may pine for the social life they once had. But they likely have pleasant surroundings at home and the wherewithal to buy what they need when they need it.
Business Owners
This one's a mixed bag. At one extreme you've got a Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon, whose humungous business has grown more humungous in our C-Virus World. At the other end, you've got millions of small businesses that make up the spine of the American economy. Small Business Administration data tells us that over 75% of these have 10 employees or less. You can break these down further into many sub-categories, ranging from businesses that have prospered, those that are hanging on, and those which will inevitably fail - if they haven't already done so.
Some additional perspective: According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, five months ago (pre C-Virus), the #1 concern of small businesses was finding qualified employees. Now? Revenue. Period.
Important point: I've met people who lump all business owners into the "wealthy" category. This is preposterous. I've known many business owners. I'm one myself. Most of us work hard and get by, maybe a little better than get by. Few are what anyone would call wealthy or prosperous. If you can't imagine this, just think of a family farm. (Yes, they still exist.) Do you think most of these are wealthy folks? They work hard and get by.
Of course, there are lots of small businesses that struggle to stay afloat, and many of these have been sand-bagged by the economic catastrophe caused by the lockdown. We mentioned restaurants before. They'd be a good example here. Most restaurants, even those that appear successful, only generate thin profits. The loss of business they've suffered as a result of the lockdown will shut most of these down for good.
Employees
Most of us fall into this category. Employees work for someone else. I've read that so-called white-collar jobs have generally fared better than blue-collar workers. It's said the white-collars can more easily work from home. That's certainly true in many cases, but not in all. If you're a white-collar guy who works for a failing company, your ability to do your work from home doesn't matter.
Besides, some blue-collar, service or lower-level white-collar workers have benefitted from the generous unemployment the federal and state governments have been doling out. I know more than a few such folks who take in more on unemployment than they earned when they worked.
What are we trying to say here? It's nothing more complicated than this: how your business (owner or employee) is doing in this C-Virus world can be all over the map. Don't make any assumptions about anyone. Yes, the wealthy have survived better than the non-wealthy. But don't make too many assumptions about those who aren't wealthy. Some may be doing better than before; others worse - perhaps a lot worse.
And why bring all this up right now? It's to reinforce what's really important. Of course, it's a good thing to know how others are doing, especially in dicey times like this (an especially dicey time at that!) Perspective always helps. But even with some perspective, there's something more important: our relationship with God. We might look at our current mess and ask ourselves how much time we've invested in our relationship with God.
Frankly, I've had special and, in most cases, extra-time-consuming challenges to address in my business. And I noticed recently that my "God-Time" has been impacted. I'm still on point during my mornings when I take time for prayer, meditation, study, spiritual reading. But I should be spending more, not less, time with God as I address problems generated by our C-Virus world.
So this all serves as a reminder and/or wake up call for me. Maybe it does for you too.
My experience: Everyone's got a story unique to them. For some, like me, little changed when the C-Virus hit. Not that is hasn't been especially challenging. Not that our business hasn't had to deal with revenue and expense issues. It has. But we're not a restaurant. So far, we're managing.
I've read and heard that lower-income folks and middle-class folks have suffered more than those more fortunate. I've seen no data that backs this up. But perhaps we can imagine this by way of contrast with certain categories of more fortunate folks:
Independently Wealthy
Some people don't need to work. Maybe they inherited money. Maybe they earned it on their own and have saved enough so that they don't need to work. These folks may not like all the quarantining and social distancing. They may pine for the social life they once had. But they likely have pleasant surroundings at home and the wherewithal to buy what they need when they need it.
Business Owners
This one's a mixed bag. At one extreme you've got a Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon, whose humungous business has grown more humungous in our C-Virus World. At the other end, you've got millions of small businesses that make up the spine of the American economy. Small Business Administration data tells us that over 75% of these have 10 employees or less. You can break these down further into many sub-categories, ranging from businesses that have prospered, those that are hanging on, and those which will inevitably fail - if they haven't already done so.
Some additional perspective: According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, five months ago (pre C-Virus), the #1 concern of small businesses was finding qualified employees. Now? Revenue. Period.
Important point: I've met people who lump all business owners into the "wealthy" category. This is preposterous. I've known many business owners. I'm one myself. Most of us work hard and get by, maybe a little better than get by. Few are what anyone would call wealthy or prosperous. If you can't imagine this, just think of a family farm. (Yes, they still exist.) Do you think most of these are wealthy folks? They work hard and get by.
Of course, there are lots of small businesses that struggle to stay afloat, and many of these have been sand-bagged by the economic catastrophe caused by the lockdown. We mentioned restaurants before. They'd be a good example here. Most restaurants, even those that appear successful, only generate thin profits. The loss of business they've suffered as a result of the lockdown will shut most of these down for good.
Employees
Most of us fall into this category. Employees work for someone else. I've read that so-called white-collar jobs have generally fared better than blue-collar workers. It's said the white-collars can more easily work from home. That's certainly true in many cases, but not in all. If you're a white-collar guy who works for a failing company, your ability to do your work from home doesn't matter.
Besides, some blue-collar, service or lower-level white-collar workers have benefitted from the generous unemployment the federal and state governments have been doling out. I know more than a few such folks who take in more on unemployment than they earned when they worked.
What are we trying to say here? It's nothing more complicated than this: how your business (owner or employee) is doing in this C-Virus world can be all over the map. Don't make any assumptions about anyone. Yes, the wealthy have survived better than the non-wealthy. But don't make too many assumptions about those who aren't wealthy. Some may be doing better than before; others worse - perhaps a lot worse.
And why bring all this up right now? It's to reinforce what's really important. Of course, it's a good thing to know how others are doing, especially in dicey times like this (an especially dicey time at that!) Perspective always helps. But even with some perspective, there's something more important: our relationship with God. We might look at our current mess and ask ourselves how much time we've invested in our relationship with God.
Frankly, I've had special and, in most cases, extra-time-consuming challenges to address in my business. And I noticed recently that my "God-Time" has been impacted. I'm still on point during my mornings when I take time for prayer, meditation, study, spiritual reading. But I should be spending more, not less, time with God as I address problems generated by our C-Virus world.
So this all serves as a reminder and/or wake up call for me. Maybe it does for you too.
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