WHAT NOW?

This pandemic WILL end. The economy will return, though not in a rushing wave of activity but in a slow cautious rollout. Think 2nd Quarter 2020

AND NOTHING WILL BE THE SAME.

The businesses and individuals who are most successful will be those who will accurately predict what lies ahead and will take actions NOW to position themselves for the new economy.

Sadly, many people and businesses will not be in that category. Most will wait…and wait… to see and will just be left BEHIND.

SOME SUGGESTIONS:

• Develop a possibility, “What If” mindset! A mindset of possibility, asking questions, being curious, and exploring,
• Think Big. Think Abundance. Your impact and successful influence will be limited only by YOU.
• Predict – Look at hard trends and soft trends and seek opportunities in between.
• Reinvent – Be open and ready to change, look to reinvent as an opportunity.
• Problem Solve – Innovation solves problems…hone your creativity.
• Take Action Now – This is not the time to wait and see what happens. You must move remove RANDOM THOUGHTS.

• The Titans of the Retail Industry – Amazon, Walmart, Target and Costco are poised to come out of the Coronavirus crisis even stronger and more formidable than they were. Expect growth of E-commerce to accelerate by at least five years if not ten. Amazon just leased 300,000 SF in South Hall to match their concentrations in Braselton and Jackson County. Amazon’s grocery infrastructure was slow and has now become an essential home service.
• Job Loss – recovery in certain sectors could lag. 42 million American jobs out of 150 million+ are vulnerable to reductions in hours or pay. Temporary furloughs or permanent layoffs during the virus crisis: 13 million are in the restaurant industry, 11 million are customer service and sales (retail clerks and cashiers). Up to 3 million workers could find short-term employment in grocery stores, pharmacies, hospitals, E-commerce warehouses and delivery but it is small firms that are most vulnerable. 40% of jobs in firms with 100 employees or less and 86% of vulnerable jobs paid less than $40,000 per year. This could put a shock in affordable housing sectors, both rental and ownership. Look for more doubling up rental homes, downsizing and unfortunately a surge in homeless.
• Investors who had like-kind exchange or opportunity zone deadlines between April 1 and July 1, now have a little more time to close their deals. The IRS granted all taxpayers extension to July 15. National Association of realtors indicates that 1031 investors who must identify or close on a property between April 1 and July 15 now have until July 15.
• If employers see no dip in productivity, analysts expect they may more widely accept working from home or rethink the way their workplaces run. Instead of working all day in an office, employees and their bosses may find, they split their jobs between the tasks that must be done in the office and all the others at home. Teams may rotate or stagger when they come in, thinning the number of desks and potentially removing whole offices entirely.
• Janitors, child-care workers, grocery store clerks and servers may be able to demand higher pay and better working conditions in the post-Coronavirus world, some analysts predict. Many have called these workers “heroes” in the crisis. Last week, Congress passes legislation to provide two weeks of paid sick leave to most of the nation, even gig workers. It applies only to the Coronavirus, but it could be extended.
• The pandemic has been a relentless destroyer of brick-and-mortar businesses as public health officials warn against in-person interactions. But the Coronavirus is boosting almost anything that can be done online or with minimal human contact – grocery deliveries, online leaning, takeout food, streaming video, even real estate closing one with online notaries.
• The result, economists say, is likely to dramatic losses in local retail and dining options, with millions of jobs disappearing as the biggest and wealthiest companies – especially those that do much of their business online – extend their gains. Telework, online education and streaming video have grown sharply, while movie theaters, schools and traditional workplaces close their doors. Some will never reopen in a world where the shift from real to virtual suddenly has gone into overdrive.
• Business dependent on prime real estate and bringing people together could be especially vulnerable as people opt against public gatherings, including shopping at malls. That could have other impacts, too: One analyst said he suspected conspicuous consumption – high fashion, expensive sneakers, sparking jewelry – might suffer when people “don’t have anywhere to parade.”

SUMMARY:

The Coronavirus is creating a fundamental opportunity to remake the economy. People will sit down and reevaluate what life means to them, what they appreciate and what they can take away.

American businesses long have shown the scars of national trauma: Devastating fires, for example, spawned major factory regulations. World War II hastened the entrance of women into the workforce. Analysts say the novel Coronavirus pandemic could push broad societal shifts along the lines of the Great Recession in 2008, with industry-wide disruption and a new normal for economic change.

This will lead to long-term shifts in how Americans spend, work, and live. But mark these words “we will be stronger faster and more connected going forward".

For More Information email info@gonorton.com