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I am seeing a lot of businesspeople in distress at the moment. I feel for them because I am one of them. What this little parasite of a virus stole from us is unimaginable. Not only is this threatening our financial futures, but it has managed to take our freedom albeit temporarily.

I follow the Italian news very closely. Our neighbours are going through an ordeal at the moment. While we can’t do much to help them, by following the situation in Italy,  I hope I might be in a position to contribute to the avoidance of a similar faith in my country.

Also, by following them, I learn what is going on, I see them lose loved ones and what horrifies me the most is the understanding of what this little virus managed to do to us. Beyond the economic disaster, this virus took away from us a fundamental right, freedom. It got us running scared, people hoarding food and supplies, others locked and isolated in their homes. People that had to let their parents die alone because they were not allowed to stay with them during their final moments. This lack of freedom is like invisible shackles that have locked us inside. The world will not be the same again; it will always remember, it will always be afraid. That sense of security we had that voice in our heads that told us “this couldn’t happen to us; it’s far away. Governments will take care of this and hold it at bay”.  Well, governments are in a panic, they don’t have all of the answers, and so we are left locked inside until a cure is found or until we build immunity.

Now, although I am not very forthcoming to getting sick, it’s not getting sick that scares me the most, but it’s this feeling of lack of control that is driving me nuts. You might tell me, “you can’t control everything”, and you are right, but I decided to build my own business because I craved freedom and control over my life. Every businessperson I know lists freedom amongst the reasons why he/she went solo and left employment. Suddenly we are controlled again by this invisible thing that not only controls us but is also a threat to us and our loved ones.

Is there a silver lining in this situation, yes there is and more than one. Many businesses for one will learn a lot from this situation, and I think more markets will open related to scenarios that are a result of the Covid crisis. Those that survive this will become more resilient. Suddenly a new reality exists that we never encountered in the last 100 years. The world will change, and with this change, more business will transpire. If there is anything that makes us human beings shine is resilience and adaptation to change. We learn quickly we adapt quickly, and we are as stubborn as hell.

If you are feeling beaten down, I feel your pain, If you don’t see the end of this yet and you feel you are not in a position of control, and you are scared, well understand we are all scared, but you can decide how to look at this situation. Will you run and hide? Will you despair? In the grand scheme of things, this is just a drop of water in the ocean that is your life, six months that will go away. Your life will not be the same after 2020 for sure, not because things will not return to normality but because you will be stronger when you get out of this situation you will change. You will look back at this and tell yourself I managed, in the face of all adversity I did it. I got out of it, and I am still here to tell the tale. Business is important, but businesses open and close, and if it is not in your destiny to retain this business, you won’t. It doesn’t mean you can’t find something new.

While you might think that what this virus took from us was freedom, what it took from us was that false sense of security. To be honest, I am glad it did, and I don’t want it back. That sense of security made us cocky, pretentious, and it made us take so much for granted that we lost touch with reality. That cold reality that makes us aware of things and that pulls us out of that dream state. That cold reality that gives us that sense of alertness to what is going on around us. I think we will be all better off in the end without it until we start getting comfortable again. For everyone’s sake, I hope we don’t, we lost too much to forget, and we can’t afford ever letting our guard down again from now onwards.