Dear Readers, Subscribers and Advertisers,
Shield Wall Media, our shows and magazines, are in a good position to weather the storm associated with COVID-19. We are in a small, isolated town. We have an office with about 10 employees. We have limited personal contact with vendors or customers. Our specific business is not tied to carrying inventory and raw materials.
We are “reasonably” well situated for this. The only change we anticipate is delaying the second issue of Garage, Carport & Shed Builder by two weeks. It will now mail with May Rural Builder and the June/July issue of Metal Roofing Magazine. Otherwise we are operating as usual.
We realize that many of our industry partners, advertisers and subscribers are not as fortunate.
I am reminded of an old Zig Ziglar quote. He was asked about the recession. His answer was: “I chose not to participate.”
Much of this is beyond our control. We still have many choices and those choices will have a longer and more drastic effect than the virus.
The stock market is an excellent example. Panic crashed the market, not the disease. Yes, I realize this is an oversimplification, but the largest single factor affecting the market was panic.
Be proactive. Be cautious. But, act in moderation.
The actions we take now will have unintended consequences.
If we act drastically and irrationally none of the results will be positive. Steps like withholding payments or laying off crews will have ripple effects you may not anticipate. Take the necessary steps, but please consider the consequences of overreacting.
Remember that analysts are predicting a “V” shaped recovery when the situation is resolved. Companies who kept their operations close to normal will be in the best position to take advantage of the recovery. Companies who overreact will have to ramp and consequently cede part of the recovery to their competitor.
We have reached out to our accountants and other sources to try and provide useful information on continuing operation and managing cash flow. We are also following information from tax attorneys and government agencies. We will continue to supply everything we find, free of charge, to anyone who can use it.
One of the challenges is information is changing so rapidly, much is obsolete as soon as it is sent out. To remedy this, we have added a section to our website that will be expanded and updated continually through this challenge. You can access this resource through our main landing page.
If you find any resources we have not listed, please forward them to me directly and we will add them.
Please be advised, the web page is not in its final version. The links are correct, but it will change graphically and organizationally. The information is important enough that we prioritized speed over cosmetics.
Thank you for understanding.