The aftermath of Covid-19

Dear all,

First, I do hope you all and your loved ones stay safe and healthy and away from this Covid-19 little bastard.

Second, English is not my mother tongue hence I beg you to, please, be so kind as to excuse grammatical errors in this text as I'm writing it on the run.

Third, I have never ever written an article on Linkedin hence this is a first-time sort of thing for me over here.

Just some quick reflections.

I'm proud and honored and lucky enough to be an investor, board advisor and/or board member at a rather large number of companies in very different geographical locations around the world.

Even more proud and even luckier, I'm happily married and I'm a father to 4 wonderful young children and, in consequence, I feel this responsibility breathing on my neck all the time as well.

I'm seeing a ton of nice messages, the let's-come-together and solidarity type of ones. Health care services, law enforcement, public transportation, armed forces.... all good, no doubt and, for the sake of clarity, I applaud and encourage every single one of these messages and actions.

However, there's an aftermath to this huge mess. No matter we self-isolate ourselves and our families at home for 15 or 20 or 45 days, there's a what-happens-tomorrow situation.

And, no matter I have a brother and a daughter with this damn Covid-19, there will be a day after the situation. Sun will rise again.

And the day-after situation is, at least, as concerning as the impact of the virus itself since a lot of families are going to receive the direct hit on their family lives of the consequences of the pandemic. Whether these consequences are unemployment, stress, anxiety and all other sorts of, again, pandemic-like situations. Life is a short venture, way too busy for most of us and, unfortunately, way out of the main focus, most of the time as well.

So, what's gonna happen when this is "over"? I believe this is somehow a rhetorical question. Life is gonna be a complex thing to deal with again.

But this time, we all are gonna face a different reality. A harsh one. A reality that has put us in front of the mirror looking at our ugliest weakest face. It has just taken a few weeks of an already-known virus to tumble us down. Quite a statement these days when self-confidence and taking-our-lives-for-granted means everything for 99.5% of us.

So, the question is, what happens to all of us in difficult situations -virus-related and derived family dramas apart? Self-employed, hospitality industry employees, industrial companies, all sorts of SMEs? It is beyond question that the world is going to be a different place whenever we happen to overcome this virus, a very minor impact compared to what potentially lays ahead in the future?

I'm, still, an optimistic and constructive person, we keep on pushing on all our venture fronts, companies, and partners. But reality bites.

I, of course, care about my loved ones and I ask my 81 yo mother to stay at home and isolated. One of my children, my 14 yo son, has underdeveloped lungs since birth and he's gone through 7 pneumonia processes in the past. Of course, I do care about the elder and people with pre-existing conditions without question. We all have loved ones and people we do care about in at-risk situations. I, myself, am a smoker, quite an intensive one. None of us is going through this without personal implications.

But my question goes a bit further: What's next? What happens in 2 or 3 or 6 weeks' time, when the self-isolation, social-distancing is no longer a suitable option? What happens when factories have to switch-on again? What happens to self-employed people? Is the world, as we know it, stalling itself to the point of no return?

I seriously doubt so. Life will continue. There's light ahead on this tunnel. We've been through this before and we'll suffer again something similar to this in the future. Let's prepare for it.

But we all depend on governments. I'm, still, an EU citizen living in a, now, non-EU country. I do love my country of origin and I certainly love my new home country. That's out of the question. And, as far as this article goes, I have no intention of making any sort of political statements about the subject.

My concern is, what happens to all of us, people, in the aftermath of this crisis?

While I applaud the effort of health care services, law enforcement, army, delivery workers... what happens to the forgotten ones, the ones that get no applause and no recognition? SME founders and employees that will go bankrupt as the conditions for a potential rescue can't simply be matched, self-employed people, cab drivers, waiters and waitresses, flight attendants, hospitality workers....there's a gazillion people out there facing a present and clear danger and we should look up for them.

I don't see real-world policies being put in place by any government to fix the aftermath, just some politically correct declarations and speeches but, certainly, not real-life fixing situations.

SMEs generate around 80% of the jobs in the EU -and the UK. And these companies are left alone by the same govs that assure us they are going to fix the issue. Surely, if I were the chairman of a large bank or OEM I would not be very concerned about what the future is laying ahead of us, honestly, I would calmly wait at home beside the fireplace, a good brandy on one hand, and an even better cigar on the other, until this so-called public servants knock on my door with the solution that better suits me. This is not quantum physics.

I'm a small entrepreneur and investor. But several hundred jobs, families, trust in my capacity of good judgment and management. I'm not letting them down. I have been unable to pay my own children's school in the past to preserve jobs and keep the companies going. And I'm willing to do it again. And I will.

It's not gonna be a party. It will be tough as hell and, again, I will have to explain to my wife why we are struggling to pay the supermarket and why our credit cards are being rejected, again. But I will and she will understand, as she is a smart committed woman fully on board with our lifestyle, that means, no sparks, no limelights, all f**ing work, effort, sweat and tears to keep the companies alive and all the jobs we have created ahead.

Life's not an easy deal. For anyone. But I'm sure, none out there envies small entrepreneurs and investors.

My recognition to all our health care, armed forces, and law enforcement and all the workers putting their daily lives at the service of others. But my recognition, at least equal to those listed before, to the people, anonymous in most cases, beyond the glittering and sparkling lights, that create the jobs -1,2, 6, 10...- that keep our societies flourishing, pushing forward and developing. All my respect. From the inside.

To all of you, stay safe and away from this damn little bastard...

With very best wishes,

Javier dR