“May you live in interesting times”1 was something my dad’s generation would say. 

I am wondering if they had 2020 in mind.

Pandemic, sheltering at home, reimagining our business lives, the largest, most contentious national election in our lives, 400,000 Americans dead of a virus unknown twelve months previously, the storming of the US Capital…and that was only in our own trading territory.

Those of you who know me well know that I live in Los Angeles and so you can guess my political leanings.  This is not a blog to discuss those.  This is a reflection on the business lives we shared in 2020.

As the year began, I happened to be reading the The Great Influenza by John M. Barry.  This history of the 1918 pandemic, written in 2005, was apparently bedtime reading for George W. Bush when he was President, and it led him to ask, “are we prepared?”  In 1918, it turns out, Woodrow Wilson’s administration intentionally ignored their pandemic as it was interfering with his drive to build support for and recruit young men to fight The War to End All Wars (WWI – got that one wrong as well). Call me clairvoyant to have picked this book to read (my wife, Carol, would not), but it was an interesting primer for the year to come.  The book, which I would highly recommend (as would Carol), is a long read but it is the last chapter that sticks with me.  If I remember correctly, Barry had three major recommendations for the next great pandemic: 1) wear masks, 2) socially distance, and 3) have a federally driven response.

I do not think he envisioned that our nation would be able to shift to work-from-home so quickly or that there would be something called a ZOOM meeting.

Throughout the year I listened to my clients about how they were handling their businesses, the effect of the pandemic on their personal lives, and even if they believed this was a real crisis.  You can imagine the range of responses I received.

For me, things got real very real fast.  The first month of the pandemic, we lost a dear friend of the family.  Marcia was 93 with underlying medical issues, but we spoke regularly for years and she was an inspiration in the “do gooder” part of my life. In the second month, my 93-year-old mother-in-law was put on indefinite lockdown in her retirement home in New Jersey. And then it was our turn.

Now, my general reaction to our own lockdown was “welcome to my life”.  I joke that for the last eleven years, Carol and I have been “shelthering in place”…that is, we converted our business to a virtual, home-based operation in 2010 and have loved living this way ever since.  And although we missed a lot of our normal social and cultural activities, having to cut out all the driving in traffic-clogged Los Angeles was…well nice at first.

But my business life did not change very much.  Up at 7:00AM. Coffee and toast by 7:30AM. Get to the office by 7:30:05AM. Respond to emails, answer calls, and start on the Salesforce “tasks” by 7:31AM. 

January of 2020 was a strong month.  Interestingly, it generally is not for me.  As my dealer clients are rushing to finish installs not completed from the 4th quarter, they generally are not looking for more of the pre-owned equipment I peddle. 

And then I started getting strange calls for items I generally do not deal with.  That happened just as the word “Wuhan” first appeared.  Like the guy who had called me in November to ask me to do an eblast to sell medical beds.  He is a friend, so I did and, as I predicted, I did get one response.  Absolutely no interest from my customer base. And then in mid-January he called me again to ask me to find beds.  “What? You said you had 4,500 units last month.”  “I know”, he said, “I could use that many more now.  I’m out.”

Sales declined in February and March as people seemed to be trying to figure out how to deal with what was happening, being locked out of clients’ offices and hospitals, and quite simply learning to keep one’s  businesses going. 

Time Magazine’s cover said it all for many people.

But then I believe we all got smarter: If we listen to our clients, we can figure out what they need and help them solve their challenges.  And that is exactly what happened…. with a twist.  We discovered that we were not just medical imaging dealers but rather “tell me what you need” dealers.  The calls I got from you included the widest range of requests for services and items I have ever received.  And it turns out that I am the guy who knows a guy who….   During the strangest and, at times, most stressful period in my life, I was busier and more productive than in many years.  You stretched and I stretched, and we moved forward. 

I am grateful for two reasons: 1) I am aware that so many of our fellow Americans were not so lucky to have the work they needed, and 2) you kept me so busy that I did not have time to watch cable news 24/7.

Summer quarter showed the same pattern of being generally slow and there was the traditional, though late, pick-up in the 4th quarter.

So, as I look at 2021, I wonder what is going to make up for the large order of hand-held ultrasound units I managed or the large number of general medical items I helped source because of COVID-19. But I know, just as has happened almost every year in my business life, something will come up.  It is just a matter of listening and asking.  It is being creative. When I am asked to find a power supply for an Agfa Solo CR, maybe that dealer has some other Agfa CR’s he wants to sell to me.

And that is exactly what I was hearing most of you did in 2020.  Adapt.  Take lemons and make lemonade.  Never be defeated. 

By the end of the year, most of my clients had been significantly touched by the pandemic.  While there is a wide variation as to response there is little doubt that this virus is real.  Many of you have had losses and a great number of you have had the virus run through your businesses and families. But I know of only a few businesses that have not survived and I know of many that, quite frankly, had particularly good years.

I am lucky.  I sit here in Los Angeles, work from my home office overlooking a lovely garden, enjoy nice weather most of the year, can socially distance walk with my wife and two dogs in the now nearly deserted campus of UCLA and swim in my neighbor’s pool.  I do not need to go to medical facilities or to people-filled offices like so many of you.  Today, when I walk into a store or get my vaccination in my car, I remember to thank that person doing that service because just being there they are taking a risk.

So, here is a thank you to you, as well.  You may just be doing what you must so that your business survives, but thanks for getting out there because as there must be desk jockeys like me, there also must be people doing the physical work and making the in-person calls that you do.

May 2021 be a healthy and successful year for you. 

“May you live in happy and joyous interesting times” and let us be able to say next January, “What a year!,” with only a positive meaning.

1 The Phrase Finder website says: “’May you live in interesting times” is widely reported as being of ancient Chinese origin but is neither Chinese nor ancient, being recent and western.” According to the site, the phrase was originally said by the American politician Frederic R. Coudert in 1939.