Calling small business

- please raise your hand if you’re scared

I’m returning to to subject I’ve discussed before today. Not because I have some morbid fascination with it but because it is so present in the world now that it is unavoidable.

Actually, it is completely avoidable, but to do so you have to be either completely tin-eared or willfully disconnected.

What I’m talking about is the existential fear felt by so many people. It’s all around us. It’s not visible to the naked eye, but with a modicum of sensitivity and interest in the health and welfare of our fellow man, it is palpable.

I’m not going to discuss directly in this piece the fear felt by the underprivileged whose constant companions are fear, anxiety, hunger, cold and insecurity because this is a business blog. But keep them in mind while we look at our fellow middle class business owners and operators.

You may be aware that I am doing quite a bit of business with distressed businesses currently. It is exhausting and sobering but it’s also deeply enriching from a mental and spiritual perspective. You see people at their most fragile and that often means with all the bullshit and bluster that go with being “successful” stripped away.

COVID has largely become an unpleasant memory for most New Zealanders as we have beaten it back. I hope that remains the case, but it leaves a lingering sense of the wolf constantly prowling outside the door.

The sobering reality for so many small business operators is that COVID was just the trigger for a cascading waterfall of unwanted consequences. It has reshaped us as a society and especially for many in the hospitality industry in particular, it’s one little thing after another that add up to annihilation.

Old institutions in the hospitality sector are on the brink. I’m looking at you, Auckland. Shut down 1 was a novelty and we all just got on with being good citizens as the team of 5m. Second lockdown, although not as restrictive was exponentially harder because of the fact that everyone’s reserves of rainy day money were gone and the affect on confidence and nerves were amplified and so much more raw and real.

However, the government, for better or worse were there to help. Now there is a whole new reality. For many, the effects of the endless transport improvements have been like slow torture and strangulation. For those of us not affected by them, they look like long overdue progress that will lead to a better city infrastructure. For the businesses behind the barricades it looks very different.

Foot traffic is throttled and business is in what feels like endless decline. Many have loyal customers who just give up because it is too hard. Others are now in a position where landlords are returning to more traditional landlord behaviour which means that businesses that once thrived have become non-viable.

If you were to subscribe to a hard line neo-liberal economic view, you would say that businesses come and businesses go, A business is only as good as it’s ability to deliver what the market wants and if it can’t, then it should shut and make way for something better.

If one were to take a more Galbraithian view of economics, you might see the destruction of good businesses by way of things outside their control to be something that is not in the best interests of the community.

Business people, head in hands, tears streaming and considering the value of even being alive is not a price we should be willing to pay. Don’t forget who they resemble here. The poor and the underprivileged. That’s who.

What is an economy but a way to provide for the needs of it’s participants? Who should benefit from it? Everyone. If it takes a village to raise a child, it also takes a village to play their small roles in keeping the wheels turning.

I’m flying the flag here for the countless small businesses who help make our communities a better place and are hurting badly right now. Show some compassion. Seek out a small business and support it however you can. I don’t mean buying worthless crap you don’t need. I mean be conscious of where you spend your money. If it costs slightly more to buy from a small, local retailer than a box retailer, do it if you can. Form a relationship with them. Make community with them. If you’re hungry, resist the urge to drive through. Find a local cafe or restaurant and spend the extra 10 minutes it will take to get something far more delicious and prepared by someone who cares about it to have a conversation. Get to know them. Ask how they’re doing and spread some kindness. If it’s any good, tell your friends.

I’d like to propose a new economic theory for us to explore. Actually it isn’t new, it’s just been so long down-trodden and dismissed I can’t even remember who said it. Let’s call this economic theory Give A Fuck Economics. The rules are simple. Look after the people around you who are struggling to survive. Check in on your local shopkeepers and restaurateurs and cafe owners and hairdressers and ask how they’re doing. Support them both by buying and letting your humanity have a bit of rope to play.

If you’re sick of Jacinda’s “be kind”, sit yourself down and have a good look at yourself. It doesn’t mean being weak and hand wringing. It means being strong and resolute and proud to support a way of life worth preserving. Controversially for some, it isn’t all about you and when you make it not all about you, your own life becomes richer and fuller.

Finally and deadly seriously, if you have any concerns about a small business person you deal with or know, please get them to contact me or you contact me on their behalf. I specialise in providing sensitive and thoughtful support to business people in distress. Sometimes the only answer is closing the doors and sometimes there are novel and innovative ways of turning things around, but those are things that need to be worked through with the owner at a pace and level of intensity they can handle and participate fruitfully in.

Without any bullshit and in full knowledge it will never make classic economic sense or a ton of money, I am here to help if you or anyone you know needs it.

I am John Luxton from RegenerationHQ and my number is 0275 665 682 and my email is john.luxton@regenerationhq.co.nz and I invite you to join my private party of refugees from the cold winds of business struggle.