Tag: covid

The Changing Children’s Market

Babies born to mothers
who had COVID during gestation
have smaller lungs.

Babies are also
being born with COVID.
They are born sick.
They are born with organ issues
and low energy
and immune system challenges.

Why am I telling you
this terrible news?

Because if your business’s
target market
is babies and/or kids,
this will influence
the products you design
and sell.

A significant number of
babies and/or kids
will be ill.
They will have their physical activities
severely restricted.

Toddlers, for example, won’t be running around
as constantly
as they do now.
But they might
still WANT to do that.

Knowledgable parents,
the type of parents
who buy products
for their kids,
will also likely
shield them
from places and activities
that might cause them
to catch an illness.

When you’re developing your products,
keep that in mind.
The children’s market
is significantly changing.

Why You Need Online Sales

Having a bricks and mortar
retail store
is super sexy.

We can point to it
and tell loved ones,
“I own that.”
We can wander the aisles
and talk face-to-face
with customers.

I get it.
It is a dream
of many business builders.

But, if you sell products,
I strongly suggest
you have a venue
to sell them online
also.

Why?

Because online venues
are a hedge
against pandemics,
natural disasters,
construction,
and anything else
that stops customers
from visiting our physical stores.

Right now,
my corner of the world
is being severely hit
by RSV, the flu,
AND COVID
all at the same time.

Sick people
(and people trying to avoid
illness)
tend to switch
from shopping
at their favorite physical stores
to shopping online.

It would be great
for them
AND for you,
if they could continue
buying from you.

Offer an online shopping experience
and
keep those customers.

A Useless Response Is A No Response

A couple weeks ago,
a politician
‘strongly recommended’
everyone wear masks indoors.

Medical experts
said that step was useless.
The average person
wouldn’t wear a mask
unless it was mandated.

The politician
isn’t a dumb a$$.
He KNEW recommending
that people wear masks
wouldn’t change anything.

He didn’t WANT to change anything.

But if he shared THAT truth,
the media and his opponents
would jump all over it.
He’d receive
re-election-crippling bad press.

So he took an action
that would have no impact
on anything
yet made it look like
he WAS taking action.

I’ve seen this happen
in business all the time.

Employees are leaving, for example,
due to their wages being sh*t.
Management, instead of increasing wages,
installs a suggestion box
in the break room.
It does nothing
but it looks like action
is being taken.

When the ‘solution’ to a problem
is clearly useless,
that leader doesn’t want
the problem to be solved.
The answer is ‘no.’

Evaluate Your Experts

We all have experts
we tend to trust
to give us accurate information.
We base our decisions
in business
and other aspects of life
on the things
they tell us.

At least once a year,
I evaluate these experts.
I look at their predictions
and I compare those predictions
to what actually happened.

There are health experts,
for example,
who predict
every COVID wave
will be the last one.

They’ve been wrong
again and again.

I no longer
rely on them
for information.

Evaluate your experts.
If they have always
been wrong,
assume they will be wrong
again.

Find better experts.

System Breakdowns Aren’t Linear

I’ve witnessed
many system breakdowns
of various kinds.
I’ve studied
thousands more system breakdowns.

I’ve never encountered
one that was linear.

Linear system breakdowns
are only seen on models.

It is d@mn difficult
to model
cascading system breakdowns.
It is nearly impossible,
at this point of time,
to show how a failure
in one part
of the system
will cause multiple failures
in other parts
of the system
and how these failures
will compound
until the entire system
collapses.

Most models don’t have
the complexity
to reflect that reality.

So we model linear
which is easy to do
and easy for people
to understand.

But that’s not reality.
Collapse will be faster,
more complex,
impacting more of
the system.

Remember that
when we see modeling
for pandemics,
climate change,
economics.

Linear models
are best case scenarios
and they aren’t reality.

System breakdowns
cascade.

Take Action Today

I haven’t posted
one of these reminders
in a while
but it is needed more
today
than on any other day
in the past.

Take action NOW.
Stop reading this post
and
go.
Do something immediately
to make
your dreams,
your goals
more of a reality.

I’m serious.
Do it right now.

It doesn’t have
to be a big action.

It could be
writing down the first line
of the novel
you’ve been wanting to write
or
choosing the cap color
on the new beverage
you want to develop.

Take SOME sort of action.

The world is completely
f*cked up
and it will become
more and more
f*cked up
with each passing day.

We don’t have time
to f*ck around.

Live a life
with no regrets.

Take action today.

Push your dreams
closer to reality.

Reliable Data

There is SO much misinformation
floating around
that it is challenging
to find reliable data
with which
we can make business decisions.

I try my best
to look at data
that can’t be f*cked with
or manipulated.

For example,
if we’re looking at COVID numbers,
almost all of those stats
can be manipulated.
Infection numbers
are WAY f*ckin’ low
because many people are testing
in their homes.
ICU numbers
are also sh*t
because a lot of COVID cases
aren’t being counted
as COVID cases.
Even COVID death numbers
are sh*t
for the same reason.

The number that can’t be
f*cked with
(as much)
is…
Excess Deaths,
how many more deaths
per capita
we are enduring today
vs the average/a point in the past.

Our own data is also
semi-reliable
for decision making.

The government
(who wants to be re-elected)
can tell me
inflation is only X%
but if I look at
my expenses/cost of sales
and see
THAT increase is 2X%,
I will be using MY number
in my decision making.

Take the time
to ensure the data
you’re using
for decision making
is reliable.

Supply Masks And Testing For Employees

A loved one’s employer
has stopped supplying
masks and COVID test kits
to everyone
EXCEPT senior executives.

Their reasoning was
very few people
were using the masks
and the test kits.

Which is sh*t logic.
If not many people
were using them,
then it wouldn’t cost much
to continue the program.

And the company could continue
to say
they were supplying
the masks and test kits,
which would make
every employee
feel valued
and cared for.

If your employees
care about masks and test kits,
supplying them
makes them feel cared for
AND
it keeps everyone
a bit safer.

If your employees
don’t care about masks and test kits,
supplying them
costs very little
AND
it makes employees
feel like you care about them.

If you can afford it,
supply masks and test kits.
It will differentiate your business
to prospective employees.

COVID And Climate Change And Building A Business

I will be talking
quite a bit about the impacts
of COVID and climate change
on this blog
because
…well…
these events will eventually
impact every aspect
of the businesses
we’re building.

And not many people
are talking about
either of these events
because it upsets
the people
who don’t believe in them.

These events
don’t care
about our beliefs.
They will happen
whether we believe in them
or not.

If we want our businesses
to be successful,
if we want to survive
these events,
we should prepare
for them.

Like allowing for extra shipping times
during this upcoming holiday season.

Order products
before you desperately need them.

Send products
to customers as quickly as possible.

Urge in your marketing materials
for customers to order
your products
as soon as possible
(November instead of December).

Work on making the turnaround time
between orders and shipping
shorter.

Climate change and COVID
will impact our businesses.
Plan for that.

Still Not The Time For Door-To-Door

This weekend,
dozens of charities, businesses,
politicians, church folks
knocked on my door.

During a f*ckin’ pandemic.

When more people
than ever
are dying from COVID.
When more people
than ever
are infected with COVID.

If you infect people,
you likely won’t ‘sell’
to that person.
(The possible exception
is the church folks.)

If you kill people,
you DEFINITELY won’t be ‘selling’
to that person.

Leave marketing material
(with lots of images
and a phone number/website)
in mailboxes.
Call prospects.

It is not yet time
to return to
door-to-door
face-to-face
in-people’s-f*ckin’-homes
-the-one-place-they-should-be-safe
marketing.