Never before in our lifetime have we been globally immobilised.  While we stay at home we have little control over the physical restrictions but how is this impacting us in business and psychologically? Is our response to be in lockdown in those area too? 

‘Adapt or die’ is attributed to Charles Darwin, the full context of the quotation from his Origin of Species being ‘It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able to adapt to and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself’.

Certainly we can apply that to our current circumstances as the normal routes to market, ways of doing business, contact with our friends and family have either stopped or changed. It is those businesses and individuals who are able to adapt and adjust to this new way of being that will not only survive but thrive.

Even before lock-down there were signs of potential economic wobbles. Early in 2020 the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) reported small business confidence to be at an eight-year low, with profitability and export expectations tumbling to a five-year low. Small and medium sized businesses are the heartbeat of this country whilst the headlines have carried the news of loss of jobs in airlines and high street retailer chains such as Debenhams going to the wall it’s important to remember that SMEs in the UK in 2019, turned over £2.2 trillion and accounted for over 99% of the total business population.

So I would like to make the case that this time, with all its challenges, presents huge opportunity for innovation. It’s too early to tell what the extent of any mooted recession will be, but I would like to offer encouragement and hope that even in difficult economies some businesses thrive, but we must adapt.  It pays not to look over our shoulders too much, the old way of doing business is not likely to return as we knew it.  Again the signs were already there pre-Covid19 as studies were showing that consumers were increasingly looking at brands who demonstrated ethics, commitment to sustainability as the ones they would spend their cash with, these values becoming more prized than even than the product or service.  And the 2020 Edelman Trust barometer a renowned and respected annual study of trust and credibility across 28 countries showed that the UK was second from the bottom with only Russia lower.  If you want to read the report visit https://www.edelman.co.uk/research/united_kingdom_country_suffering_crisis_confidence

When things are broken it opens us up.  There is no rule book. 

The good news is that so many are responding to these challenges in ways we couldn’t have imagined. It is indeed a brave new world, we are feeling more united, more grateful, embracing new ways of working and living, and, we are helping one another more.  Manufacturers have re-purposed their production, Formula One teams have designed ventilators, restaurants are doing home delivery, those who resisted technology have upped their game to become online experts embracing social media, those who shied away from the camera are recording ‘how to videos’ for their customers to help them shampoo and groom their dogs, touch up greying hairlines and stay healthy with home work-outs and recipe tips. How we treat and communicate with our customers during this time will have a huge impact on their loyalty when we come through this and whether they return as physical businesses re-open. We’ve all had to raise our game.

Are you the same person you were five weeks ago?  I doubt it. We have become a nation of Zoomers, jig-saw puzzlers, arts and crafters, home bakers, diy beauty therapists, and home repairers, we are more connected and caring, we are checking in with our elderly neighbours and clapping our key workers. We are supporting fundraisers such as Captain Tom who has touched the hearts of the nation raising more than £28m with his 100 laps of his garden as he headed into his 100^th birthday. We thanked him by sending him 25,000 birthday cards.  We have found our hearts again.  Perhaps Covid19 has reconnected us with our humanity.