Growth Newsletter

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.

For almost 3 months, most family businesses have been running a management by fire strategy. COVID 19 hit hard and when Australia went into lockdown, businesses needed to adapt quickly to a fast changing situation. It was what most businesses needed to do to get through a period of complete uncertainty.

If your business is trades based, you’ll know what a Toolbox Talk is. If it’s not trades based, you’re about to find out.

Over the past 9 weeks, the world has changed like it has never changed before in my lifetime. Who would have thought that a virus could create more havoc in the lives of people and businesses across the globe than any war or natural disaster?

There’s no denying the past 8 weeks have been a whirlwind of life and business disruption like most of us have never experienced in our lifetimes. For me, it has been the closest feeling that I have had of being at war when I consider the conversations I was fortunate to have with my mother-in-law and father-in-law when they were both alive. 

Very early last Wednesday morning, in the pitch black of the pre-dawn, I had a premonition about my father. I somehow found myself at his front door, him holding it open. Whether it was a dream or that sort of in-limbo state, it was short and somewhat odd as we have not spoken for a very long time.