Rich Lister lessons from lockdown

Billionaires don’t usually sit still for too long. The hustle and bustle of capitalism demands a gruelling schedule of meetings and engagements across multiple time zones.

But the coronavirus crisis has forced everyone, including the nation’s wealthiest, to bunker down at home for nearly three months. Criss-crossing the globe, cutting deals, checking on business operations and attending functions has all come to a stand still.

For the man behind the Hungry Jack’s franchise in Australia, Jack Cowin, the lockdown has taught him some important lessons. He’s been given “more think time”.

“I’ve discovered that we are prisoners to our diaries and appointment schedule,” Cowin says.

“We spend our time rushing from meeting to meeting, from place to place, to the airport, to the taxi. Now in captivity in our office or home, without this agenda, there is more time for thinking and contemplation as to what is important.”

For the 77-year-old Cowin, it means he’s feeling a lot less guilty.

“I found that if I was supposed to be somewhere I would feel guilty if I didn’t or couldn’t go. Now there is no conflict as no trips; no meetings; no guilt.”

Anthony Pratt, 60, had never heard of Zoom before the crisis. Now he reckons it's better than phone calls.

“It’s made me realise that Zoom calls are a really great way to stay in touch with customers and employees in a time effective way that is better than the phone,” he tells AFR Weekend.

Cowin's business moved quickly to preserve cash, including deferring rents, while finding ways to deliver takeaway food without customer contact. His new way of working includes video calls and he's also a fan of Zoom. Face-to-face meetings are still superior, he says, but he expects video calls to remain a fixture post the pandemic.

“When you think of the cost, time and wear and tear, the Zoom meeting has a lot of merits. I think it will impact on the way we do things from a productivity point of view in the future when normality returns.”

After 60 years in the property development business, there's not much that even this crisis can teach Meriton founder Harry Triguboff.

The 87-year-old's assessment of the threat of COVID-19 is evident in the hearty handshake he offers to AFR Weekend when we meet in his Sydney office, where most staff have been back at their desks since mid-May.

Triguboff predicts the pandemic downturn will be more a case of history repeating. As with the global financial crisis, a short-to-medium shock presents a long-term opportunity for well-capitalised, largely self-funded businesses like his.

"Land sites are coming on to the market because other developers can't get funding. Five years ago, I couldn't find a development site. Today there's a choice of 20 or more in Sydney and Melbourne," he says.

"I will buy but only when the market stops dropping. The market is still weak and in the meantime, I already have lots of land to build on."

Pratt too is eyeing opportunities. He is working to capture sales from rising online grocery shopping, which he believes is a permanent structural change. The priority is protecting the health of his employees while investing more heavily in machinery to create innovative packaging and managing Visy for cash.

Cowin says the crisis teaches everyone to never underestimate the unexpected.

“The black swan syndrome. It was only a few months ago we were all contemplating our next holiday trip. Who would have ever thought you wouldn’t be able to travel; go to work or the beach?”