Andrew Stotz – Don’t Let Panic Drive You Into the Ground During the COVID-19 Crisis

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">With the novel coronavirus spreading like bushfire all over the world, it is a terrifying time for both individuals and businesses. The future is indeed uncertain, and the anxiety is setting in.</span></p> <p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewstotz/" target= "_blank" rel="noopener"><strong>Andrew Stotz</strong></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">has lived through many different personal and financial crises over the years. Today he shares his story of loss. It’s not his worst investment but his worst personal moment, and it came with lots of lessons that we can all borrow from to carry us through the current COVID-19 pandemic and the looming economic crisis.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><strong>“Stay calm, and look forward to a great future because things will turn around.”</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Andrew Stotz</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <h2><strong>Worst moment ever</strong></h2> <h3><strong>The calm before the storm</strong></h3> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was around 1995, and I was riding high as a stock market analyst in Thailand. I had been promoted to be the head of research of W.I. Carr, which was the number one foreign broker in Thailand at the time. All was going well.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My best friend Dale came to visit and suggested we set up a coffee business in Thailand. Initially, we were going to buy coffee from other roasting companies, package it, and then sell it. However, we couldn’t find companies that would be able to produce the coffee to our standard, so we decided to build a coffee factory.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Well, no problem. I was making good money and had already saved a lot. Dale moved to Thailand, and we set up</span> <a href= "https://www.coffeeworks.co.th/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">CoffeeWORKS</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">. We started our sales in 1996.</span></p> <h