Don't plan your business for any return to normality

[Justin Smith]

I said a few weeks ago that the first big test of this government's commitment to us all getting back to normal would be will they get rid of masks for secondary school pupils at Easter which was part of the road map back to normality. Well, despite the fact masks for pupils was never really necessary in the first place and the stats are all way better than they modelled for they have failed the test.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-56651135
Secondary school pupils to keep wearing masks after Easter

I am coming to the depressing conclusion that this country will never get back to normal, the government have been so successful with their strategy (to scare everyone into compliance) that they have also succeeded in scaring themselves.

Boris Johnson is a proven weak willed liar so it really is no surprise that his government have proven themselves to be so untrustworthy. He is the worst prime minister this country has ever had.

Sadly I am concluding that businesses should not plan for anything positive, other than if you sell face masks or Covid tests.....

 

[Ozzy]

I am coming to the depressing conclusion that this country will never get back to normal

Well that's about time! Welcome, pull up a chair, we've been waiting for you.
Now it's time to start planning and adapting for the new normal.

 

[Justin Smith]

Well that's about time! Welcome, pull up a chair, we've been waiting for you.
Now it's time to start planning and adapting for the new normal.

Obviously I think any "new normal" is the biggest over reaction in the history of the world, but how can anyone plan anything when they do not even know what the "new normal" will be ? Just how far are the government going to go in their obsession with Covid at the expense of everything else ?
I can tell you one thing, assuming they don't permanently mandate masks in shops (and anything is possible with this load of weak willed cowards) at the entrance to my shop will be a sign "You do NOT have to wear a mask in this shop".

 

[Ozzy]

how can anyone plan anything when they do not even know what the "new normal" will be

Well that's what is so great about people like you and me, you know the business people and the "Entrepreneurs" of this country. We embrace challenge and overcome obstacles in our way. We adapt and move forward, just like I'm sure you're doing in your business right now. Looking ahead, adapting and planning for all permutation of the possible futures, because that's what we do.

 

[Justin Smith]

Well that's what is so great about people like you and me, you know the business people and the "Entrepreneurs" of this country. We embrace challenge and overcome obstacles in our way. We adapt and move forward, just like I'm sure you're doing in your business right now. Looking ahead, adapting and planning for all permutation of the possible futures, because that's what we do.

The possible end points of this are so massively different it is unlike anything since the war. It is still possible there will be a reaction against all this and we end up pretty much back to normal, on the other hand it is entirely possible these Zero Covid madmen will gain the upper hand and we literally have social distancing and masks forever.
I am only grateful that my business is not affected by it so much, my heart goes out to anyone in hospitality or international travel, or even shops. I do have a shop but 95% of my business is mail order and hardly any of the rest is people just walking up or browsing. We are specialist so even if potential customers were unhappy at my sign about masks I do not think it would make any significant difference to how much trade I did.

* I may even make it more emphatic : Please do not wear a mask in my shop. I mean it, I come to work to get away from this Covid madness, I don't want people coming into my shop with masks on, even if I lose the odd sale I don't care.

 

[Ozzy]

The possible end points of this are so massively different it is unlike anything since the war.

...and despite all the adversity of the great wars the world pulled together to recover and adapt, and here we are today. Just like we'll get through this, different but we will.

 

[Interestedobserver]

Has anybody ever suggested we will ever get back to normal since the start of this?

So many things will change

As well as feeling sorry for all the good businesses impacted I feel even more sorry for all those who have lost family members during this or find themselves suffering with long covid

Having to wear a mask or not is never going to be a big concern of mine in comparison

Being brutally honest

So many more important things to worry about than that

IMO

 

[Ozzy]

Having to wear a mask or not is never going to be a big concern of mine in comparison

Exactly. I know two people, personal friends, who have died and through association and acquaintances know others. One a father like me leaving his daughter (same age as my daughter) without a father and his wife a widow. A fit guy, liked running, no known health conditions contracted Covid and within days died in hospital. The other an elderly chap and a father of one of my friends, maybe his age was against him.
Wearing a mask or not, or having a covid passport to travel, if that is all we have to worry about then our priorities are screwed.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Hopefully any business owner with any nouse will have recognised that things will be different moving forward.

Their choices now appear to be:

Adapt and move forward

or

Spend their life whingeing on forums.

 

[Paul Norman]

When massive events happen, things change, and they change permanently, at least to some extent.

Businesses adjust. A few sit there, waiting for the past to happen again, but it won't. Ever.

Remember the banking crisis in 2008? Or whenever it was. Things have never gone back to how they were before. We still have interest rates that most of us never imagined we will see. One of the challenges is that we have not changed the world enough following that clear demonstration of the fragility of our financial structures.

So no. I do not expect to ever be entirely free from some kind of consequence to all this. I expect to have to take COVID tests on arrival to the UK for many years to come, for example. I have planned my business around some permanent changes.

As people, we don't get this. We did Brexit, and some people honestly thought it would make no difference. Others, on both sides of the opinion divide, understood that it would make big differences and are working through them. Likewise with COVID. It has changed the world for ever.

 

[Justin Smith]

Exactly. I know two people, personal friends, who have died and through association and acquaintances know others. One a father like me leaving his daughter (same age as my daughter) without a father and his wife a widow. A fit guy, liked running, no known health conditions contracted Covid and within days died in hospital. The other an elderly chap and a father of one of my friends, maybe his age was against him.
Wearing a mask or not, or having a covid passport to travel, if that is all we have to worry about then our priorities are screwed.

A fit bloke under 60 with no previous health conditions dying of Covid is very rare, I reckon my chances (mid 50s but slim and very fit) pre vaccine would have been about 1 in 500.
My Dad dying with Covid (he was on palliative care but it took him probably 6 to 12 months early) is far more common.
But public health policy is, and should be, all about the numbers. We should not be changing our whole society for a virus which even before vaccines 199 out of 200 survived an infection and the av age of those dying was mid 80s. And if that was arguable either way before vaccines it certainly is not now.

 

[Justin Smith]

Hopefully any business owner with any nouse will have recognised that things will be different moving forward.
Their choices now appear to be:
Adapt and move forward
or
Spend their life whingeing on forums.

They do not know how they will be different, so that is a simplistic thing to say.
As for whinging and complaining rather than just accepting it and getting on with it : too many people doing the latter is why we are descending into this whirlpool of madness. So, implying that is a good thing ? You are 180 degrees wrong there.

 

[Ozzy]

Likewise with COVID. It has changed the world for ever.

There's a brilliant business book, and a light read, called Who Moved My Cheese.
It's generally based around adapting your business to changing conditions, and is very relevant to the current environment and many more to come in the future too.

We should not be changing our whole society for a virus

I respectfully choose to adapt, and I acknowledge and feel for those who have suffered through this pandemic. You can choose to fight against the tide if you wish. I wish you good luck but my forums will not be a soapbox for your crusade.

 

[Justin Smith]

I respectfully choose to adapt, and I acknowledge and feel for those who have suffered through this pandemic. You can choose to fight against the tide if you wish. I wish you good luck but my forums will not be a soapbox for your crusade.

TBF Ozzy, I only answered a point you bought up, you started personalising it about knowing some one who died from Covid, not me. I was talking about the implications for where we could end up.

 

[Interestedobserver]

A fit bloke under 60 with no previous health conditions dying of Covid is very rare, I reckon my chances (mid 50s but slim and very fit) pre vaccine would have been about 1 in 500.
My Dad dying with Covid (he was on palliative care but it took him probably 6 to 12 months early) is far more common.
But public health policy is, and should be, all about the numbers. We should not be changing our whole society for a virus which even before vaccines 199 out of 200 survived an infection and the av age of those dying was mid 80s. And if that was arguable either way before vaccines it certainly is not now.

I would happily be prepared to wear a mask when asked and social distance a bit even if it were to save just one daughter from losing her dad as described above in UK each year

I think I would be in the majority as well - given that option

You think it's the world gone mad and not rational

In general the UK population care about others and get upset when they hear sad stories like the above rather than treating those stories as statistics like you are clearly able to do ongoing

 

[Ozzy]

TBF Ozzy, I only answered a point you bought up.

It would appear you completely missed my first two points, subtle as they were.
All future posts related to Covid-19 that do not offer sensible business advice or support for those looking for it will now be removed, as I am also closing this thread as a reminder.