The Hand That Feeds You

 

There was an article in a local newspaper last week stating that as restaurants in the area begin to re-open after the government’s shelter in place order begins to lift, the public should expect higher pricing. Some will even be placing an 18% mandatory gratuity on the bill as well, to cover the extra cost of the new normal of a 50% capacity dining room to allow for social distancing.

They’re not the only services upping their prices to accommodate the potential loss of revenue from the social distancing regulations put in place to protect themselves and their clients from Corvid-19 spreading and causing a second wave.

Businesses need to reopen. This is clear. But passing on extra costs or charging higher prices to recoup lost revenue is more than a slippery slope to the competitive bottom, it is also an old paradigm whose time has come and gone.

If a service feels they have to raise their prices to survive, they also need to change their business model. This is an antiquated way of making money. It is a fear based system and comes from an attitude of lack.

This outdated system is a commodity based economy. Supply and demand. Goods and services exchanged for cash. If you want what I got, then you have to pay me a good profit for it, and this worked well for many decades. The problem with this system is our classes are changing. For the last half of the 20th century,  western society had a burgeoning middle class. The vast majority of the population saw stability and prosperity. There was plenty of money left at the end of the month and so folks could acquire extra goods and services. The economy grew and the economic engine chugged along at a breakneck pace.

But in the last few decades we have seen a shift. While a select few hold the vast majority of wealth in the world, the middle class is shrinking and the lower class is growing. Today we are seeing more souls living on the streets than ever before and home ownership, achievable by the majority in pass decades, is becoming an unrealistic dream for young adults today .

That does not mean that businesses should just roll over and play dead. The economy is still chugging along and money is still being spent, but folks are becoming aware that this consumer economy is no longer sustainable and if we are not making a shift away from it on our own, then world events such as climate change, and world wide pandemics will force our hand and create a new normal for us.

So what do services like restaurants do to survive in these unprecedented times? They need to offer more, not less for their customers.

 

We are all in this together.

 

This has been the battle cry of the last few months as folks hunkered down in place and waited out an enemy that they can’t even see. Alone in our homes but united in a cause for all, the lesson here is we are all connected. What touches one, can touch us all. Viruses like Corvid-19 are great equalizers. It does not care if you are rich or poor, old or young, white or black; to it, your body is a host for it to replicate and that’s good enough.

In a very short time we saw people unite. We saw folks care, and we saw the earth start to heal. A new phrase emerged – the new normal – ripe with possibility and hope. Could we come out of this pandemic changed for the better?

And now life is starting up again. Businesses are cautiously re-opening to a fragile new normal but using the old normal model to carry on.

The fact is, most of us suffered financially from this pandemic. The fallout from this monetary loss will be felt for months, if not years. The harsh truth is some businesses won’t survive. If we want to shift to a new and better normal, we need to maintain a – we are in this together – attitude.

So back to the service providers who feel they need to charge extra in order to recoup loss and mitigate further financial drain, think on this for a moment. If you were a potential client and had two equal services vying for your business, which one would you choose? The one who is demanding a higher fee and maybe even a required gratuity, or the one who openly welcomes you back with the same great service or maybe even offers you a small discount or service perk as a thank you for keeping the faith and supporting their enterprise, because they understand that with out you, their customer, they have no business.

After months of quarantine, folks want connection, they want to feel valued and they want to be welcomed back with the security of familiarity and while they may have the money to afford the extra fees, it is bound to leave a bitter taste in their mouth that no amazing culinary fare could wash away.

This new normal is a shift in thinking, and in economy. Money may be what makes the world go round. It may be the necessary evil that pays the bills and keeps the debt collectors away, but it no longer fuels the desires of the masses like it use to. For our world to evolve out of the reigning chaos and into something better, businesses need to add a consequences column to their financial ledgers so they can see how the choices they make for short term gain, radiates out and effects the connective health of their client base in the long term.

We are all connected. Our individual choices effect the whole. I see the new normal as an awakening to this reality. Every decision, every action has a consequence and the public is growing weary of choices made that reflect the individual with little regard for everyone else.

I use the example of the decisions and possible repercussions in the restaurant industry because it is a cautionary tale that we all can understand. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, reward it instead with kindness because one day, you may just find that hand gave up and decided to feed someone else.

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 As a provider of intuitive readings, I am grateful for those individual souls who choose my services. So to honour my community, for the month of June, I am offering a 50% discount on my private intuitive reading service. Let me help you navigate these chaotic times and help you find personal clarity and insight as this worlds emerges from Corvid-19. 

Need more info? Contact me at dfrajman@shaw.ca