THREAD: Last night my wife was on TV talking about the threat Brexit poses to our family business. And here's what happens when business people – especially women – talk about Brexit. Some random dude pops up to Brexsplain the problems away. 1/13

This random dude is wrong, as random dudes generally are. But since he touches on most of the more common random dude cliches, it's worth taking a closer look at WHY he's wrong. Here goes... 2/13

'Should be planning ahead'. For what? No one knows where Brexit is going. We don't know our future trading relationship with the EU or anywhere else. Other than bracing for disaster, what do we plan for? Everything? Where does the cash for this huge operation come from? 3/13

'Supply chain - look for alternatives'. We sell cosmetic and soapmaking supplies, many of which are proprietary, patented products. There aren't alternatives, and many of the producers are based in Europe – you know, that place Brexiters want to cut ties with? 4/13

'Research bew (sic) markets'. Which markets? Who will we be trading with, post-Brexit? At what cost? Also, the nature of our business means that regulatory harmonisation is key. We have it with the EU. We don't have it with most other countries, so 'new markets' are limited. 5/13

'Research bew (sic) markets' cont. Distance is a barrier to trade. We have thousands of customers on our doorstep, thanks to the EU. Do we ditch those established relationships for unspecified markets with customs and regulatory regimes which may not even allow our products? 6/13

'Research bew (sic) markets' cont. And how do we compete against established competitors already operating in those far-off markets, who don't have the handicap of cross-continental deliveries, tariffs and customs complications? 7/13

'Diversify'. Into what? Since we don't know what's coming, who we'll be trading with or what the terms will be, how do we know what's viable? How much time do we have to become experts in a new field before Brexit wipes us out? Where does the money come from? 8/13

'Seek out a new marketing strategy'. We sell very specific products to a very specific market - to soap and cosmetics makers. We're already leaders in our field. These are not products aimed at the general public, but at specialists. 9/13

Our business is unique. All businesses are unique. But that doesn't stop Brexit-happy random dudes. They assume that if they know one thing about one business, they know everything about every business. They don't. One size does not fit all, random dudes. 10/13

We built up our business slowly, created jobs and helped other businesses to grow. We're proud of what we've done, and sick of the very people who want to bring it all crashing down telling us it's our fault. 11/13

Every time those of us facing business calamity due to Brexit raise our concerns, there's a queue of random dudes telling us we're wrong/we're lying/we must be bad at business/it's nothing to do with Brexit. They are always wrong. 12/13

If you're reading this, random dudes, save yourselves some time. Don't offer some generic solution you haven't properly thought through for a business you know nothing about. Just admit this: Brexit is causing harm to others, and it will cause more. This is on you. 13/13

(I'm not the boss of Twitter, obviously, but it'd be great if we could leave the Random Dude out of this. He's just some misguided guy, and I've blocked him anyway. This thread is about bashing the lies and the dangers, not the individual)

The account which sparked this thread doesn't appear to exist any more. There may, of course, be perfectly innocent explanations for this disappearance, but I doubt it.

I hope this thread has made some kind of sense - it was declared 'clearly incoherent' by a former Brexit Party MEP to whom I showed it after he advised us to 'seek opportunities!'