Social Distancing, Business Edition.

It's interesting when a new term, just beginning to gain traction in the zeitgeist, morphs into something new before the original sense has even crystallized. I think you can make a case for that with respect to "social distancing." I would propose that the sociological strategy designed to flatten the curve of viral scale by urging (or mandating) people stay away from one another for a period of time, has taken on a new facet; the seemingly knee-jerk reaction of cutting ties with businesses in times of uncertainty. This term takes on an added dimension of damage when the entity being "distanced" is a small independent business.  

Small business is often regarded by politicians, economists and academics as the 'literal back-bone' of the American economy. But allow me to differ with these learned folks; that's not a very accurate metaphor. Small business is not something so static and infrastructural as a back-bone. The energy sector, perhaps. Water and power, maybe. Highways and byways, sure.  But small businesses are more like the white blood cells of the economy. Millions (trillions in the case of the actual cells) of individual actors who ward of disease and when deformed, injured or diminished, lose their ability to buoy and sustain the organism they inhabit. Without white blood cells the entire organism, unable to keep healthy and disease-free its various structures and complex processes, slowly, inevitably, dies.

So it is with the small businesses of America. They're not the thing per se that 'drives' the economy; they don't make Squawk Box or Kramer, or the editorial of the WSJ. You'll never see them on a SXSW panel, run into them at an elevator at the Aria during CES, or find them drinking rosé at the Palais in Cannes. They're not the 10 (or 11) figure IPO, or the venture-backed innovative technology start-up, or the novel DTC product revolutionizing a sleepy category. Not the disruptive new force roiling a lethargic industry, or the dynamic entrant ushering in a fresh 'currency' into the status quo of this or that sector.  

And nevertheless, they. We. Are essential.

We are the millions. The leukocytes of entrepreneurship. Trade workers, independent contractors, shop owners, service providers and small business owners. We're the caretakers, landscapers, bakers, tellers and servers. The past, present and future of the American business ideal.  

That small business is this essential didn't happen by accident, and it won't continue by chance.

We need to be intentional in our support and care for the immune system of the economy. 

And that brings us to the new Social Distancing: a reality were large businesses cut ties with small businesses and begin to create a catastrophic domino effect with broad reaching implications for this country and by extension the world. 

The small business I run hasn't been immune to this reality. We've had clients cancel since the 'meteor hit' as my friend described it. (That moment in the Covid timeline when something happened that made this thing real to the biz community. Maybe it was President Trump suspending travel from China at the end of Jan, or Italy shutting down in Feb, or March 10, when Google sent 100K employees home to work. Either way the 'meteor hit'. The business dominos began to fall).  And as a business owner, when you hear the explanation, part of you understands it - it seems so reasonable:

"With everything going on we just don't know, so we're going to pause." Everyone of course in the exchange knows that 'pause' is a euphemism - yet nevertheless neither party suspends the business disbelief. We're so polite.

Or, "We need to unwind our arrangement until we have a better sense of what's going on."

Or, "We're not making any new investments until further notice."

Or, "We appreciate what you've done, but.. you know - it's a strange moment and we need to be cautious." 

Each of these at first glance or hearing is perfectly reasonable. Each makes sense. But they're errors, strategic and otherwise. They force the small business to cut or contract their own relationships. Retrenching, the small business sets off a chain reaction of tiny effects magnified a million times deeper into the economic ecosystem - the barber, the landscaper, the tutor, the mechanic, the handy man, the plumber, the teacher, all impacted.  

Instead I'd like to propose 3 things that the parties on either side of this dynamic might consider. 

First it's important to state an axiomatic business premise; all business arrangements or transactions are successful when: Value is equal to, or exceeds, cost.  

That's it. It's that simple. Whether you're negotiating buildings or baked goods; selling rocketships, or razors; buying a sports team or a sports drink.  Doesn't matter.  It all comes down to perceiving a value equal to, or greater than, your investment.  In light of this universal truth, I believe we're leaving a lot of promise on the business table when we make hasty decisions.

Here's my advice:

1. To the large company. Rather than cancel, take the time to re-scope or reformulate your agreements in partnership with your small business partners. You'll find them willing and flexible. Trust them. This will enable you to continue to derive value from your relationship while not contributing to the economic fallout that accompanies termination.  
2. To the small business. Continue to offer value to your clients even if your standard workflow and process has been interrupted or changed. Even if it means reshaping your offering into something entirely new. Reconsider your product or service for the time that we're in. Innovate. Do things for free, take it out of the theoretical into the practical. Make sacrifices. Invest in the relationship. Have faith.
3. To both.  Support small businesses. Apple and Google will be fine. Amazon and Walmart will survive (in the last 48 hours they've announced they're hiring a combined quarter million employees due to demand). They're doing gangbusters. Instead focus on the small. Lean into subsidiarity - the social principle that teaches that the entity which is closest to the issue is best suited to serve it. Order takeout from a different independent restaurant each week. Keep paying your membership to the local gym. Get your toilet paper at Northgate Market (a small chain of Latino grocers in LA... they have plenty btw... true story.)

Remember the white blood cells. 

We're out here. All of us. 

Keeping us healthy in the end.