Stop Looking for Covid Excuses

Covid-19: Stop Looking for Excuses

Let’s start with some real talk.

The money hasn’t gone anywhere. No one has doused it in petrol and chucked a lit fag on it, like a Tarantino movie.

It hasn’t been sequestered by the Illuminati and locked in an unknown cave.

It’s exactly where it was before Covid arrived.

Billionaires have lots of it, beggars have none of it. I have some, you have more.

The problem only emerges when it stops flowing around the economy, as this means it is stuck in bank vaults and not flowing into pockets. Fix that and there is no financial crisis.

A popular narrative decries the shutdown of economies;

Is Covid 19 really worth destroying our economy for?

That misses the point, though. GDP is only really a relative measure used to index the relative health of global economies. Covid is a pandemic, though, so relative measures don’t matter a damn. All economies are hurting and producing less.

Why?

It’s a combination of two things:

1. Legislative changes that prohibit certain business activities. Think nightclubs, festivals and International travel.
2. Fear and uncertainty. It stops people spending. Think of the homeowner who wants a new kitchen, but doesn’t fancy taking the risk during a pandemic.

It should be within our Governmental remit fix the fear and uncertainty. If this is accomplished, this will stimulate supply side economic forces and get the money flowing back around the economy.

Stop Looking For Excuses

I stayed in a hotel last night. A popular chain. They were really milking Covid as an excuse.

Me: “Could I have a glass of water please”

Staff: “Can’t. Covid”

Requests for a knife and fork were met with the same response. Now, it is worth saying, that I have every respect and sympathy for the difficulty that is posed by new safeguarding rules — but there is no earthly reason why I could not be furnished with a glass of water, just sheer laziness.

“Can’t, Covid” is becoming an all too well-accepted component of our vernacular now. From call centres to gyms, we are falling back on Covid as a catch-all excuse.

Back in School, I had a mate whose granny had died about 14 times. Got him out all sorts of coursework and exams, the same lady still swims twice a week. In the same way that excuses ran a bit thin after a while, Covid blaming is starting to leave consumers frustrated.

Creative Destruction

Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter coined the phrase “Creative Destruction”. Remodelling the economy to suit present circumstances. Destruction of current structures and creativity to lift it from the abyss.

For all those who are using Covid as an excuse, I suggest using it to your advantage.

Covid ain’t going anywhere in a hurry by the look of it. The world has changed somewhat, possibly forever.

We’ve had the destruction element of Schumpeter’s theory. Covid-19 has arrived and uprooted our societal norms and infringed upon our freedoms.

Now it is time for the Creative element.

Look at businesses that have already thrived during this pandemic. Zoom video conferencing software has become so normalised that it has entered popular vernacular — to “jump on a zoom” is achieving the same cultural acceptance as “Google it”. Home delivery services that have invested in infrastructure such as Amazon, are also going from strength to strength.

Start-ups have emerged too. Babylon Health allows you to speak face to face with a GP when appointments are limited. Duolingo have diversified allows you to pick up a language during Lockdown. Local Box delivers fresh, local produce from surrounding economies.

I look at the mask and sanitizers salesmen with a certain contempt. You have to give them credit though; they have innovated, move quickly and are onto a winner.

The opportunity is there, you just have to seize it.

Adapt or die

To the nightclub owner, stop whinging about it. It ain’t gonna change. Rent a couple of coffee machines and open up.

To the travel agent, quit sending those angry letters to Parliament. No one is having their two weeks to Benidorm any more. Innovate, provide creative staycation solutions.

Don’t wait for things to change.

Abraham Lincoln once said “The best way to predict the future is to create it” and that is very true and valid now.

Who will emerge strongest?

As discussed earlier, the money hasn’t gone anywhere. GDP only means something as a relative measure. The money needs to flow around the economy again, a business needs to be focussed on facilitating this by meeting consumers needs and desires.

Can’t spend £100 in my nightclub anymore? No problem, I’ll treble my footfall by offering all-day breakfast burritos — or more left-field — a Shisha Lounge.

The Economies and Businesses that emerge strongest from this destructive pandemic, will be the ones that innovate best. Not the ones who complain.

Whether you are an individual, start-up or multinational it is time to get used to the new normal. Adapt your offering and procedures. Come out of this stronger by staying in tune with the new world.

If you don’t, you are staring down the barrel of obsoletion.