What’s Going to Happen Next?

Your guess is as good as mine

The initial Outbreak is over. The Government shutdown has been lifted. The grants and disaster loans have been dispersed. And now the stimulus packages are coming to an end. On paper, it sounds like we’re getting ready to go back to normal. Or whatever normal even means anymore.

But with schools at a crossroads, not only in regards to will they or won’t they open for in person teaching, but also what happens if they see an outbreak within their facilities and wondering how many people will or won’t have a job when the fat stimulus checks dry up, we’re still in for many arising circumstances beyond our control. And how this will affect our economy, jobs, investments, and well being is probably the biggest question on everyone’s mind since the initial shutdowns from back in March.

The coming months scare me more than what has happened thus far. Yes, Congress is working on additional stimulus packages but the results will be much less than what had been previously rolled out. Now is when we will see the true impact the last few months have had on the economy overall. I have a feeling it won’t be pretty.

Because we have no idea what will happen next. No one does. If they tell you they do, they’re lying. This will go down as one of the strangest times in our country’s history so thinking someone can predict what’s down the road for us would be grossly misguided. Will the virus continue to spread? Will jobs be further impacted? Will the stock market finally reflect the disaster that is our economy? Is there a recession waiting around the corner? Many questions are still left unanswered when looking down the road.

Now that we’ve rolled out the safety nets for those who needed it (which was essentially everybody) it’s time to create some winners and losers. I can say from my position as a small business owner, we’re quickly approaching the stage where hard decisions have to be made. The last 5 months have been a learning lesson. We’ve seen revenue steadily drop and when we were told we could go back to work it didn’t make things much better. We’re still sitting at numbers unseen since the inception of our company. I’m being asked to grind it out like I did 15 years ago when starting the business, and frankly, I’m not sure I want to.

That will be the question many small business owners begin to ask themselves. Is it worth holding on, continuing to pay the bills while their customer base dwindles? Or do you slash costs where you can just to survive? The easiest thing to cut will be jobs and I think it’s safe to assume that over the next few months unemployment numbers will increase after we saw a little bit of bounce back after the initial re-opening.

I think many of us were optimistic at first. We brought staff back, attempted to catch up on bills, and welcomed our customers back. As the optimism fades, just like the customer base, so will the average person’s confidence in essentially everything related to our economy. And consumer confidence in the economy was really the only thing many were holding on to.

But if you aren’t worried about what will happen after schools go back, stimulus funds dry up, and mortgage payments come out of forbearance then maybe there is one other massive event that will make you wonder what will happen next. Because in November, we will see one of the most divisive Presidential elections in our history. And if you think you know how those results are going to play into this whole mess you’re sorely mistaken.

Stay with StruggleState.com for more information as we navigate through the ever changing economic landscape.