Likely not as scary as the media would have you believe.

And still, the Coronavirus is sweeping around the world at an alarming rate. This disease has a higher death rate than the “normal” flu and is much more contagious. These are all facts as we know them.

Is this the end of the world? Nope.

But our lives will be impacted. And maybe impacted for a long time. Look, plagues have happened to the human race since the beginning of time. Recall the Bird Flu, SARS, and MERS? Those all had global impact.  COVID-19 is having a bigger impact. The post-World War 1 Spanish Flu pandemic affected young, old, and otherwise healthy people and in the end killed more than 50 million people after being thought to have infected a third of the world’s approximate 1.8 billion population.

Coronavirus: This too shall pass.

Yes, by all means take precautions. Yes, avoid groups of people and practice social distancing. Be smart about this. Your health and the health of those around you depends on it. In fact, here’s a global tracker from John Hopkins for COVID-19 that shows global cases, deaths, and most importantly recoveries. University of Oxford has a statistics and research page set up that discusses the virus and its spread. The data is based on information from the WHO so is as accurate as possible.

What can you do?

The CDC in the U.S recommends staying home when possible limiting exposure to people, wash your hands frequently, and avoid sick people. If you are sick, rest, drink lots of fluids, and by all means stay home so you don’t spread the Coronavirus (or whatever you do have) any further. If you do need medical care, make an appointment, wear a mask and keep away from others as much as possible.

Do your part: think and buy local.

Support your locally based, locally owned small businesses. These are the people who likely live nearby and depend on your purchases to stay in business and keep paying their employees. They typically don’t have a large bankroll to cover not having customers for a month. Specifically:

• Learn about the small businesses in your area (you have some time to surf, use it – Candy Crush will wait). Think bakeries, barbershops and salons, small eateries, hardware stores, boutiques, clothing shores,
• Check which local eateries have curbside pick up or will deliver to-go orders and support them.
• Share what you discover on your Facebook page and on apps like Nextdoor. Write reviews for the places you love and engage with the local businesses on social media.

In short…

The next few months will be different. We will adjust and adapt to the new normal and get on with our lives. Many people, especially business owners, will take a financial hit because of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and it may take months if not years to full recover. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that now is the time for you the locally based business owner to get innovative in how you can serve your customers and clients. This is a golden opportunity to look ahead and plan out how you, like the Phoenix, plan to emerge from this pandemic, rise from the rubble, and strengthen your business.

We are here to help you, just reach out and start the conversation