So as I watch the news for the hundredth time in a state of amazement and shock at the Christchurch earthquake I get to thinking today about the business owners. I watched as real estate agents work a whiteboard of requests from businesses looking for office space and dealing with sudden increase in lease costs. I’m imagining the stress of trying to keep clients, keep staff, keep paying wages, keep focus and just plain keep going. When something so catastrophic happens, suddenly in the face of up to 240 people dead and the loss their families will be dealing with, business doesn’t seem so important. And yet for so many small business owners, this is their livelihood. And whilst being grateful for life itself, hundreds of business owners in Christchurch have seen their life flipped on its head. What happens how? How do you re-build?
I’m thinking about Christchurch now from a business perspective and wondering what it must feel like. I know how to build a business. But do I know how to pick someone up from the rubble and help re-build from dust and debris?
I wish all business owners in Christchurch strength, courage and all the best thoughts I can muster. I remain safe, humbled and grateful.