What happened to business in the weeks since Sept. 11 is revealing — and instructive. Last fall, T.B. Boane, an experienced salesman from Texas, reported that small and mid-sized businesses were “hunkering down.” He was not alone, of course. For a while, it seemed that companies were actually catatonic, unable to make a move or a decision. No one wanted to do anything because no one knew what might happen next.
While no businessperson wants to admit it, most of us were just plain scared. Many had good reason to be frightened, particularly the airline and hospitality industries, along with the ancillary services supporting these vast enterprises.