In Focus Collections


Wise words


A thought-experiment of a fast-forward look back at Brexit


Arthur Kaufman Independent writer and speaker arthur35art@hotmail.co.uk


Hi Craig, this is your granddad again. Thanks for your lovely birthday text on


my eightieth year. My, time does fly! It seems only yesterday when you born 18 years ago, and now you are on your way to study industrial financing at university. Must be something in my genes, since I


did so well in building up my own company, which enabled me to help your parents in their retail ventures and then set up trust funds for you and your older brothers. Apart from a touch of arthritis, I have


been fortunate all round, and am enjoying my later years in this rather exclusive retirement village, amongst still very much ‘with it’ former entrepreneurs like myself.


Business success Last time we met, you wanted to know why I was so successful in business? The answer is simple. When I started out 50 years ago, shortly


before that controversial referendum over Europe in June 2016 – which soon found its way into the National Curriculum – there was all that fuss over Brexit, and uncertainty (which I still think of as ‘B&U’) over the UK trying to leaving the EU on what was known as the ‘best deal’. Unfortunately, it resulted in long-standing


animosities between what was described as pro and anti-Brexiteers, not only amongst so-called fiscal experts, but also between politicians and economists of all shades. Even worse, its repercussions affected how


millions of ordinary citizens got on with one another, and, in many cases caused serious problems in family relationships. Arguments about it soon became so heated


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that it became a subject to be avoided in polite circles, which, believe it or not, is still somewhat of an unwritten rule! In looking back, the vote on Brexit and


its offshoot, uncertainty, were blamed for market difficulties in planning ahead, affecting not only investing, but also borrowing, ordering new stock, while trying to meet the demands of existing customers – with many firms worrying whether they had any future to speak of, especially since a worldwide banking crisis in 2008 had been firmly embedded in their corporate memories, all of which has provided opportunities for producing lots of thought provoking, money-earnings in television dramas and West End shows. Or, as the old saying goes: “tis an ill wind that does nobody any good!”


Warning lights But, after the close vote on the referendum, it did not take long for warning lights on the economy to start blinking bright amber before flashing on to redder than red, with a reluctant green ‘Go’ nowhere in sight. As for me, initially, as a single-handed


trader, I was too busy working day and night to make my mark in selling special gadgetry for what was known then as ‘smart phones’, albeit very primitive when compared to the one you use today. I was so involved in thinking up schemes


to make money that I had little time to notice or even listen to all the downcast prophets of doom and gloom advising that businesses, large and small, should be ultra-cautious in what they produced, or


www.CCRMagazine.com


No-one actually said it aloud, the underlying advice was: “sit on your hands until further notice”, which only made matters worse


bought, or sold, because of the impact of Brexit and its potential implications. Although no-one actually said it aloud,


the underlying advice was: “sit on your hands until further notice”, which only made matters worse.


True wisdom Perhaps I was reckless when, instead, I followed my father's – that is, your great- granddad’s – advice, who, alas, you never knew, but whose wise words I now pass on to you in whatever career you choose, especially if you have to face up to periodic bouts of new uncertainties, including those ‘talked’ into existence, with exaggeration thrown in for extra effect, by those with one or more political axes to grind. First, you should keep in mind that


uncertainty in business, however defined, is important in keeping the wheels of enterprise going round and round and not allowed to seize up, or even go into reverse. Although, in all walks of life, anxiety over what might lie ahead can be disabling, it can also be a ‘turn-on’ for trying harder and focusing


May 2019


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