My sons are ardent athletes. 15 years ago, they discovered endurance sports. Setting a goal, pushing yourself to the max in training, achieving your goal. Followed by setting an even higher goal and accomplishing that too. Rowing was their first foray into the world of endurance. And once they got the hang of that, why not start running marathons? It began with finishing a marathon. Next came finishing a marathon in less than 3 hours and 15 minutes. Ultra trail running followed, as did cycling. On their loop of the IJsselmeer, a 300 km ride, they averaged more than 35 km/h. However, it wasn’t quite challenging enough for them.
They quickly set their sights on a new goal: the ridiculous Cape Epic mountain bike tour in South Africa. While training for the tour, one of my sons got into a nasty fall. Several surgeries and a all sorts of metal implants later, their goals hadn’t changed a hair: they’d only been pushed back a few years. I’ll admit that I’m hardly an impartial judge here, but I can’t help but marvel at the resilience and agility of those two men and they fill me with pride. Cape Epic, I might add, has since been conquered.
I was reminded of my sons and their journey when I was talking to two great and proud horticulture business owners. “If I’m honest, I’m entirely obsessed by the energy crisis. I just can’t seem to see beyond the next 2 quarters. I’m also sleeping poorly, which doesn’t make me any easier to be around. I understand that things are infinitely more tragic elsewhere in Europe than here, but that’s just how deeply I feel about the company.”
This business owner is by no means the only person to feel this way. The other business owner, however, showed remarkable vision and a positive perspective. “I am confident that demand for our products will stay high a decade from now. We’ve taken a few precautionary measures, such as agreeing on a fixed price for gas starting from Q4 2023. The price may be high, but it should be feasible. The next few quarters will be painful, but the pain will be temporary. We are now working on investment plans. Precisely because of this crisis, we have a shot at making a real difference.”
We have had to endure shock after shock, and the end is not yet in sight. We’re not out of the woods yet, and moving from one shock to the next will be the new normal for the years to come. To cope with this, businesses will need new strategies. Hyper-specialisation in horticulture is coming to an end, calling for for new investment strategies with a major distinction between defensive and offensive investments. Mental toughness will matter more than ever, an issue that many people are hesitant to talk about. “Investing” in resilience will make the difference, and it’s important to remember that ‘shared sorrow is half sorrow’.
