When we all started working from home and life as we know it forever changed, the business community found out despite paying insurance premiums that its losses would not be recovered. About this time, a close friend who is a part-owner of a business in the Philadelphia suburbs called me and I could tell immediately that this conversation would be different from our usual jovial banter. Neither one of us was in a joking mood as the fear of the virus made us worry about the health of our families, friends, co-workers and country.  He shared an additional worry. Prior to COVID-19, his business was thriving and growing but in one fell swoop, his business was interrupted. Its once promising future was now uncertain.

Sadly, businesses of all shapes and sizes—restaurants, bars, retail stores, dental and medical practices, hotel owners, service providers and more have lost revenue. Unless the business was lucky enough to be deemed an essential business, it closed up like a clam when governmental authorities shut down the economy.  Unlike the smiling pitchman in the commercial, your business was not in “good hands.”