I have contemplated writing this blog for some time. I struggle writing it for a few reasons – because I don’t want to come across as ungrateful, or that I am looking for either pity or praise, I also want to be mindful to those who are experiencing this pandemic in different ways. This is my experience with Covid, my experience running/expanding a business through a global pandemic. I don’t write this to diminish anyone else’s experience. I write it to hopefully encourage and send a gentle reminder that small businesses have been hit so hard over the last year. We can, as consumers, make a choice of how we spend our money, we can keep it local. Remember the power of your money, and the power of your choice and what that can mean to a business.
This last year I have been honest and open – perhaps too honest and open about how my business has been riding the highs and lows of this wild experience. My year personally was impacted quite a bit too with doubt, worry, stress, loss and like all of you – I miss people, I miss work (I am desperate to have a “normal” work day!), and I’ve struggled financially. However, I’ve got through this last year by putting myself in other people’s shoes, to look to the things I have in my life to be grateful for, to focus on the simple things, which I know might sound terribly cliché, but without that, the world just spins and quickly becomes so out of control. I don’t do it perfectly of course, but I am trying really hard to just keep on keeping on and see the good in the world, see that this will end.
In that I realize how fortunate I am that I am able to do that, but I also need to say that I realize how lucky I am that my business is okay, that I not only still have my business but that I am expanding it through these wild times.
It’s so hard to believe it’s been a year – but then it’s also hard to believe it’s only been a year. A year ago, we had no idea what was ahead of us. In early 2020 I was on the biggest high of my entrepreneurial experience, I had just rebranded, and I was about to announce the location of where I was expanding and start the build when Covid hit and let me just say it’s been a wild ride.
This last year I have faced more doubt and fear as a business owner, more disappointment and more struggle than ever before, but let me tell you – in that there have been lessons, support, and so much good. I finally re-wrote my sourdough book that was on the “to do” list for a year prior to that, I wrote a business plan, I got a loan, I planned, I dreamt, I spent time in the garden and outside, I set goals, I took time to just be, I have been able to engage on social media in a different way, and with my students in a different way, I have found joy in the simple things.
My business lost an astonishing amount of money – money lost from classes cancelled, money lost from classes that couldn’t be put on. I had $40K worth of credits on the back end of my website as I cancelled classes in March – something I am so grateful for – a) that my classes sell out but b) that people were in a position to take credits rather than refunds. Here’s the thing though – those refunds, carry forward and are money lost on a future schedule – a reality that I am not alone in, and I am not complaining about, a reality none the less. The financial struggle has been so difficult to work through – but so has the constant pivoting. Just when I figure things out – a new restriction is put in place, or the restrictions extend… These things mean I can’t work in the way I need to in order to bring in money to keep my business afloat. Small business owners don’t have a team of people behind them in marketing and HR to deal with all of these new things, it’s one or two people trying to figure it out, doing the best they can – all while experiencing the highs and lows of just living through a pandemic. I know we are all affected, we are all struggling, we are all desperate for this to be over. I also know I am not alone in this – running a business and trying to stay on top of things during this wild time – that’s something else that has really helped me, talking to other business owners, watching other businesses pivot and the strength and resiliency that so many business owners hold.
We all know the expression – when you buy from a small business an actual person does a dance, it’s so true. I want to say a huge thank you – to everyone who has supported my business through taking a credit, booking into online classes, buying from my online shop, engaging on social media, sharing my business with friends and family, for sending emails and notes to check in, welcoming me to the community of Lansdowne… I appreciate every single one of you – and it’s this very thing – the sense of community, that has got me through and keeps me pushing through this frustrating build and this period of unknown. I can’t wait to see you all in the café and workshop in May.
I’ve been “bullied” more as a business owner this year than ever before. I know we are all surviving; we are all living this wild world… But I just wanted to say let’s be kind, and when you bully a small business or write nasty things – you’re not sending a note to some employee that doesn’t care, you’re affecting someone personally. Remember small business owners set forth policies to protect their business and you asking for them to “bend” to your circumstance devalues them. I’ve seen it with other friends who own businesses too – if you support small local businesses, be sure to remember the value in what they do, the passion in what they share. Our city, our province is more unique and resilient because of these small business owners that are kicking ass every day – but especially through this pandemic.
This week and moving forward now but also after the pandemic, I encourage you all to send a note to a favourite small business and tell them something you love about them or that you see them doing that they’re doing well, to buy your coffee from somewhere small, pop into a farmers market, buy local, support the small guys rather than the big guys. I promise by doing this you’ll put a smile one a business owner’s face. We are sick of hearing it – we’re all in this together, but we truly are all in this together – and we’ll come out of it better if we are kind, compassionate and supportive to one another no matter where we stand. I’ll tell you something – businesses were hit hard at the beginning and there was an incredible sense of support, but businesses still stand there – struggling.
A shout out to some of the local shops I’ve been supporting these days – local restaurants of course, Square 1 Coffee, Maven and Grace, the vendors at Old Strathcona Farmers Market, Color de Vino and lots of local breweries. I know we all have different levels of comfort with where we stand with this pandemic – but these businesses have pivoted to make it safe for us to continue to enjoy the experiences that they are able to offer – from curbside pickup to delivery, there are ways to keep supporting the small guys!
Thanks again to everyone who supports my small business, my dream and to everyone who is rooting for me. I have said it a million times, I am so lucky to do what I love – but it’s the people that make this worth it, it really is. So, thank you to my community of people who support me in the many ways!