I’m not one for blogging every day or every week, but the world has been turned upside down in 2020 and I thought it might be cathartic to write about the challenges we face.

Our clients are worried about their health, their families and their investments.  We are worried about these things too.  

I am also worried about my business, the impact this could have on my family, my employees and the viability of the businesses that we rely on to support us.

We have many things going for us such as a healthy cash balance, the ability to work from home as we’d already invested heavily in the technology to do so, and of course the fact that we provide a service which, frankly, can be done from anywhere. Talking to the local Co-Op shopkeeper at the weekend, the abuse that has been shouted at her by people angry that they don’t have any bread left, or reading social media posts from NHS workers who’ve been dressed in protective clothing for their 16 hour shift makes my challenges pale into insignificance. 

Having said that, I still need my business to be here when this is all over. It doesn’t look like we’ll be entitled to a grant (free cash you don’t need to pay back) from the Government because we sublet a room and thus don’t pay rates. Maybe Regus will defer charging our rent? Where does that leave us if Regus fails as a business? Everything is so interconnected.

We have taken pro-active steps to cut costs BUT AT THE SAME TIME we are not going to abandon our suppliers. They need their clients like I need mine or they won’t survive and they are real people with bills to pay too. When I called one of our smaller suppliers last week to make sure they were okay and explain we were sticking with them, they were unbelievably appreciative of the call saying it was good way to end what had been the most awful of weeks.

We will have to tighten our belts though, and certain projects are going to be delayed temporarily or maybe permanently depending just how bad this turns out to be. 

Now more than ever my clients need advice, reassurance and support. We will be here, doing our very best in these trying circumstances.