Having a business is not easy. Never was. There is so much to consider, so much to worry about. People, salaries, payments from clients and customers, taxes. It is not what people think, you are not the master of puppets who enjoys hot chocolate when your workers, well, work hard. It is you, usually, who has to get up earlier than anyone else and goes to bed later than others. At least when you build your business. For many it is everyday reality. It was never easy and now it’s becoming even harder.
Two years of pandemic proved devastating for many businesses. Not only in hospitality industry. Sure, they suffered a lot but so did others. Businesses small and big had to learn to live in this new reality. Everyone was looking forward to great reset, end of pandemic with millions flowing from governments to restart the economy. And then another blow came. Ukraine. The war the world wasn’t ready for and yet it came. And the world reacted with surprising strength and unanimity. Wave after wave of sanctions imposed and followed by self-imposed self-sanctions of global businesses. It’s for the good cause, obviously. The world cannot leave Ukraine alone. There are still those who remember appeasement policies of pre-WWII era. The world seems to be learning from previous mistakes.
What does it mean for businesses though? It’s really good to support nation in need but we can see how it starts affecting us all. Great resignation that decimated businesses during the pandemic is being replaced with inflation that western economies haven’t seen for a long, long time. At least not in real life. It was always there, but the word “there” is a key. It was always affecting others, not us. It was on the news, rarely paid attention to as economy is boring, isn’t it? And our country is strong. How can these small and weak economies compare to the UK? They cannot! UK can survive anything. Even Brexit.
Who needs Europe?
And yet, the price increases are going to make us all forget how strong we are. The cost of running business will be going up and there is simply not enough solutions to make it work. We can let people go, but who will do the job? We can increase prices, but in shrinking economy how is it going to help? The big ones will survive, probably grow even bigger, but what about small and medium sized businesses. Say you run a small digital marketing agency or a family business manufacturing goods, you won’t have the same kind of cash reserves as large corporations. They have enough to survive and probably accumulate more. They have access to bank loans if they are in need. Or if they simply want to buy out a competitor that is smaller and not lucky enough. You, as a small business owner have to face hardships only. When economy shrinks you are left to your own devices. You have to find solutions. The bank won’t help you. The government won’t help you. You have to help yourself. If you compare BT with a small competitor offering similar broadband services, guess who will survive and who won’t. Even if the big one hits the wall, the government will help. And people will pay for it. If a small satellite broadband provider gets into trouble because of economy, will the government help? Will the bank help? Guess what, no. The answer is no. The small one has to find a solution, good or bad, but without any help from those who are there to help. Entrepreneurial spirit tested and re-tested by big players, economies and political ambitions of old people who want to be remembered for their greatness. And the businesses are there to suffer. People are to pay for it. Not that we should leave others alone, we are in this together and we shouldn’t leave those in need without a helping hand. But we should also think how change the game, how to make the big ones and the small ones… equals. At least when it comes to help from the government and financial institutions. After all, if they don’t help, the businesses will go down. And who will pay the price? The tax payer. The big ones, especially big banks, will be saved, their debts will be forgotten. The small ones will be sucked dry to pay for this and then left alone to die.
