As I’m writing this, Melbourne has entered Stage 4 lockdown and, for the first time in it’s almost 180 year history, is experiencing the imposition of a night time curfew. For weeks, the news out of Victoria hasn’t been great and the imposition of Stage 3 restrictions doesn’t appear to be bringing the COVID 19 menace under control.

From time to time, amongst the different family business clients I work with, patterns emerge. The locations may be different, the industries unrelated, yet the issues can be the same. At the moment, the pattern is around slipping standards.

As you would know from last week’s edition of Growth, my wife and I have recently returned from a week away on the beautiful far South Coast of New South Wales. It’s not normal for us to head to cooler climes mid year, but with border restrictions in place at the time of making our booking, we decided to stay closer to home.

Last week, my wife and I took the opportunity to spend a week away on the far South Coast of New South Wales. This is the part of Australia that through the Christmas/New Year period, was devastated by horrendous bushfires that destroyed vast amounts of bushland and cruelled local businesses at their busiest time of the year.

No financial statements that I have ever viewed in my 30 plus year career highlight the most significant item inside any family business.  It’s a huge number that impacts:

Some experiences in recent weeks, both of my own and those of my clients, have me questioning, again, whether the large corporates really care for their customers – or whether they’re considered a nuisance that gets in the way of said corporate’s day.

In my 30 years of working with family businesses, I’ve observed the greatest impact on the success or failure of any family business is down to the business owner themselves.

I’ve been saying since COVID 19 changed our lives way back in mid March that I’m incredibly optimistic about my clients, their businesses and the chances for all of us to emerge out of this period stronger, wiser, kinder, less wasteful and more resilient. Most people I spoke with during that period would often respond with “I hope so”, but without, necessarily a degree of conviction in their voice.

It’s been a long day. An early start, followed by a series of back-to-back meetings and Zoom calls and I’m done for the day. At 4pm, I fire up the 5.0 litre V8 and head out for a coffee and a short drive. It’s time to clear the head.

COVID 19 has wreaked havoc through our lives over the past 3 months like nothing else I can remember in my lifetime. It’s impact has been brutal and swift, yet it’s consequences for individuals, businesses and economies will have repercussions that last for years.