Vaccinations are on the rise, new infections are falling and maybe there’s a thaw, a possible end to this crazy time. Some folks did well. And for some of those it was plain good luck. If you were Zoom or Peloton, your biggest problem was keeping up with demand. And for some, like the local waterpark, it was just plain bad luck. In neither case did innovation, agility or business acumen come into play.
Then there are a whole bunch of those in between. A few managed to pivot and a few managed a kind of hibernation, waiting for the climate to change so they might emerge again.
But will the world be the same?
Similar, maybe, but not the same. Many of the changes we’ve seen will stick. We’re not going to forget Zoom, nor working from home. Supply chains will rethink “lean” and “just in time,” but we probably won’t miss Lord & Taylor and maybe the 60% of the other businesses that closed that won’t reopen.
So now we’re looking at another transition, another change. This one won’t be quite as sudden as the last, but it will probably be just as dramatic.
Every spring, we get a thaw and just as we’re all headed for shorts and T-shirts, we get another freeze. This is part of the natural cycle. It cuts down on the bugs, ensures that the healthiest plants survive.
In this issue, we take a look at those who have fared well and those who have fared poorly, and we take a stab at how to devise a strategy that will survive. Let us know what you think and give us your best advice.
