A few weeks back I was pulling my horse trailer and one of the tires blew out.

Ok, to be more precise I clipped the curb while rounding a corner and put a tear in the rubber the length of a dollar bill. Oops. Fortunately I was not hauling any horses at the time. Taking a “glass-is-half-full” view of this unfortunate incident, it did give me an opportunity to check in on one of my favorite businesses - Discount Tire – the red branded tire place that has 1073 stores in 36 states …

Some years ago one of our clients, a prominent facial plastic surgeon, told me a story about one of his patients. She had a precancerous mole on her face that needed removal. After an initial consult, the patient scheduled the outpatient procedure that took less than 10 minutes to perform. The surgeon’s bill? Around $10,000. The patient complained to the surgeon that her bill was excessive – he was charging $1,000 a minute! Our client’s response was golden: “Madam, while it is true that the procedure to remove your mole only took 10 minutes, the …

So here we are. So much for post-COVID. With numbers soaring, the media screaming recession and many schools and universities not opening in the fall, it seems the end to this madness is not in sight afterall.

Onward. 

We’re too busy to pay attention to the media hysteria. We have businesses to run, clients to serve, new projects to launch, supply chain issues to solve, staffing challenges to sort and consumer demand to reignite.

The way I see it every business has three options . . .

COVID. I know you’re sick and tired of reading about it. I certainly am. The media have had a field day spreading doom and fear like a suffocating blanket over the world. Nevertheless I strongly believe that COVID is an incredible opportunity for all of us - if we choose it.

You see I think of COVID like the "Sorting Hat” in Harry Potter - the magical Wizard’s hat that quickly sorts new students into different houses. Every business, and every employee will be “sorted” thanks to COVID - into success or failure. The very good will rise …