Lessons from the restaurant industry

By Omar Shaikh - Partner of SURG Restaurant Group

Any column on the lessons learned from the COVID-19 crisis must come with a huge caveat: The crisis is not over. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “This is not the end. This is not even the beginning of the end.

But perhaps it is the end of the beginning.” That being so, let’s look at some things we’ve learned so far:

People are really good

As rough the epidemic and lockdown have been, I am constantly impressed by how much people want to help each other. The creativity, generosity, and empathy shown in so many ways – often to perfect strangers – was mind-blowing. From sewing masks to checking on elderly neighbors to bringing meals to busy workers and so many other small acts of kindness, people lived out community in a way that only hard times can seem to inspire. I hope we can keep this sort of community spirit alive even once this immediate crisis has passed.

Economics 101

The coronavirus crisis reminded us once again what a delicately interwoven tapestry an economy is, and how when you pull one thread the whole thing can start to unravel.

We were reminded that every job is essential, whether it’s the entrepreneur taking on the economic risk to create it or the worker depending on it to feed her family.

We were reminded that supply chains matter.

We were reminded that the price of beef impacts the ability of restaurant to serve it. That allowing a business to operate at 25 percent capacity is cold comfort if they still have to pay 100 percent of their overhead expenses. And that when people are out of work and businesses are shut down, income and sales tax revenues to governments are decimated as well.

There is room for improvement

Government’s wholesale shutdown of our economy was a blunt instrument response to the risk posed by coronavirus. While our leaders were trying to do the best they could with the limited information they had, as we think of how to respond to future viruses and pandemics, we must strive to do better.

No one has a stronger and more direct interest in creating safe environments for consumers and safe workspaces for employees than business owners themselves. In future health crises, we must unleash the energy and ingenuity of the private sector to be part of the solution, rather force them to the sidelines through arbitrary shutdowns.

We live in a world where risk – physical and economic – will always be present. Our biggest goal going forward should not be creating a hermetically sealed, risk-free bubble. Rather, it should be to engage and empower individuals, businesses and governments alike to develop rational and creative ways to respond and live responsibly in community with any new risks that may arise.