Letter From the President
Letter From the President
Dear Members,
It’s been 6 months since the corona virus struck New Jersey with a vengeance. No one had ever seen or experienced a virus of this magnitude. There was no play book, past history or guidelines set up to deal with this overnight emergency. To stop the spread of the virus and to protect the people, we were told to stay home, isolate the sick by quarantines and close all businesses and entertainment venues.
We have experienced stay at home orders, state of emergencies during extreme weather conditions in the past, but we have never experienced anything like we are presently living through. I wish we could say it’s just about over, but I’m afraid this is just the beginning of a very long, new normal without anyone knowing what the future will bring and/or how to best deal with this virus and economic fallout.
Small and large businesses cannot survive without customer’s money coming into their businesses. Most of the overhead for bills and the taxes come due every month and we are all finding that we are falling further and further behind each month that goes by. In the long run the government P.P.P. and stimulus checks can help but they will not save the future of small business. Who would have expected essential businesses that related to automotive transportation such as towing, body shops and repair garages come to a standstill and have little to no business? Who knows what the future will bring or how long this new normal will last.
Try not to dwell on what you should have done or what you should not have done in the past. I have found myself second guessing everything I have done in life and in business. Should I have done it differently or would I have been better off not going in this direction. Spending money, expanding the business, not expanding, buying trucks, cars and/or going on too many vacations. Maybe I should have saved more money than I did and lowered my overhead. I am sure we all did the best we could and made good decisions at the time. Who knew anything like this could or would happen. I do not remember hearing any teachers, or reading any book telling us how to prosper in business and prepare for the unknown in case a disaster were to appear and close your business, lose your jobs for a long period of time.
We never anticipated the country and the world closing down for a long period of time. Fellow towers try to stay strong, stay positive and stay healthy through these uncharted and unprecedented times. We are all in this together, GSTA and your towing community are all here to help you the best we can.
Please stay safe and well.
John Glass, President GSTA