The perfect storm of business conditions has arrived!
INFLATION - No more waiting till the last minute to see about getting a price break, now it's get your order in fast, pay top dollar and hope you get your whole order filled. Welcome to 2021!
SUPPLY DISRUPTION - Merchants who secured supplies in Feb - May 2021 are now at a distinct advantage to their competition. Not only are their margins better since they paid early-2021 prices but now it's hard to get supplies at ANY PRICE in most industries.
MANDATE - Not a date with two guys, but a vaccine mandate which is about to cause huge disruption to the economy in just about every sector you can imagine from travel to manufacturing to healthcare and well beyond.
Someone in the current administration must have gotten the memo that Christmas was about to be obliterated because they "adjusted" the date of compliance to the new "rules" from early November-December until January 4th 2022. Nice try, I have a feeling that a lot of those dissenting workers aren't going to wait and watch their leverage dissipate in order to save Christmas for their bosses who, once 1/4/22 rolls around will discard them like shoe gum if they don't comply. There is also a good chance the courts will have a say as they have already issued a temporary injunction.
"Alfredo Ortiz, president and CEO of the Job Creators Network (JCN), one of the country’s largest small business advocacy groups, says Joe Biden urging businesses to ignore a federal court order and comply with his vaccine mandate is proof he’s ‘worried about losing’ and his mandate’s ‘ultimate demise.”
Nothing like predictability huh?
Running a business is already hard enough when things go smoothly so the rule of "P's" is in effect: Proper preparation blah. blah... Gaining an advantage now can mean the difference between doing well or not. Surviving isn't guaranteed either, many businesses will prosper but many operating without cushion will fail. The difference in most cases will come down to capital or the lack thereof.
Right now is no different than before really, no one knows what's coming and the possibility of good outcomes are just as possible as bad ones. Merchants heading into the Christmas season should position themselves for success with ample working capital on hand to capitalize on opportunities when they occur. Imagine the merchants who are willing to consider candidates who have recently been fired or quit due to the vaccine requirement. I've heard that these are the creme of the crop, overqualified with years of experience many of whom will accept a pay cut!! Right there is a huge competitive advantage for a small business to acquire key personnel at a time when it's never been harder to find quality hires.
Bottom line is this: your business will need to have ample capital reserves on hand to deal with what's already here and also what's coming. Call me for a solid quote for business working capital.