business
LOVE AND BUSINESS
What a magnificent book Love in the Time of Cholera was. My readers may now ask what has love in the times of a cholera pandemic got to do with business? As much as love was perfectly possible in the times of cholera, love and business are perfectly possible in the times of the present pandemic. We shall concentrate for now in the business story and leave love for better days that hopefully will arrive sometime soon.
I
t is very sad to see how so many businesses are collapsing or going through a very difficult patch because of the present pandemic. We are not talking about a normal downturn in the economy here. Not even a recession. We are talking about a very serious global crisis in which only the bravest are going to be able to survive. A little while ago I spoke to an old friend and client from the UK. He has a very successful horse saddle manufacturing business with a turnover of over several million pounds per year and has done remarkably well for the past few decades. He has savings and can probably stay put, and with a bit of luck recover his losses in the future. I said to him,
“We must be able to navigate in all kinds of water because the sea is rarely ever calm”. To which he answered, “The problem, my dear fellow, is that at present there aren’t any waters at all to navigate in…” This is true but certainly not applicable to all cases.
during the pandemic certainly. Maybe after the pandemic but far from it at present.
There are sectors in business that are doing extremely well. And you do not need to be a genius to spot them; just look around. Which business is flourishing at this very difficult time? Are hotels and restaurants doing well? Or any retailers selling anything? What about the hospitality business? Or the entertainment business? Clothing and fashion perhaps? Car sales? Not at all. Not
Let us just name a few to set up a departure point. Chemists and pharmaceutical business and anything related to them. Just try and get some Vitamin C from a chemist. Unless you go in the early morning their stocks are gone by noon. My friend, the chemist manager of my local pharmacy, told me Roche has temporarily run out of stocks. And the surgery glove manufactures are facing similar situations. And the face mask suppliers. And the hand sanitiser manufacturers. And the lavatory and tissue paper companies. I could spend
Only the bravest are going to survive.
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So, who is doing well right now and probably making a killing rather than a living in the business world?
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE MAY 2020
