Inside the Mind of a Small Business Owner during the Coronavirus Crisis

Let's be honest. The next few days, weeks, months will be tough. But in times of crisis, people have a resiliency, a nimbleness to adapt and make the changes needed to make things work. I believe we as a community will be okay, but it will not be without significant challenges and long term impacts. 

So how can we as a community come together (with the appropriate amount of social distancing) to be there for one another? 

We can: 

• Check on those most vulnerable in our communities. Maybe not going up and giving big contaminated hugs, but by offering to help with errands or connecting them to resources like the libraries e-book lending service or introducing them to delivery technologies. 
• Support small businesses. Seriously. Most small business function on small margins and predictability. Taking a huge hit in revenue will almost ensure that when everything starts to smooth over, our favorite small businesses will not be there. So if you need to get ice cream or ASIAN FOOD (seriously our friends in the Asian food community are struggling), please support local.
• Stay safe and stay healthy. It's simple really, our health effects the communities health. a situation like this lumps us all together and confirms that how we take care of ourselves has an impact on our community. So let's wash our hands and be mindful about our interactions.

Now to pivot and talk about a personal burden I carry as an employer, the biggest thing on my mind right now is my team. If something catastrophic happens to Brewpoint there are probably much bigger issues in the world. I'm confident Brewpoint will survive. But as a small business with limited resources, our ability to sustain our team when business slows down is extremely limited. Unfortunately there also aren't many support structures in place to help vulnerable people to the level that they deserve. 

Brewpoint isn't a multibillion dollar company and we don't have investors, so how do I take care of my team when I have limited resources and minimal revenue coming through?

Most food workers:

• Don't have health insurance, or have minimal health insurance that STILL costs them $400-500/month 
• Live paycheck to paycheck
• Don't have paid leave because of the small margins in food service combined with the lack of wider infrastructure in our society

This is becoming very real for my company and my team as we recently had to shut down our library location. Balancing the need to keep my company sustainable while also being mindful that we have fewer hours to go around means that some team members won't be able to make ends meet. 

This is a painful reality. 

That's why we believe relief packages like this: https://www.vox.com/2020/3/13/21178124/democrats-coronavirus-package-deal-white-house-pelosi are absolutely necessary to bridge the gap and do the right thing for our communities. It can ensure that when things improve businesses like Brewpoint have a team that's ready and raring to hustle and help bring the economy back up to healthy level. If you are reading this, continue to stay informed and help us push for paid leave assistance, so that we can not only build a better world, but ultimately rebuild a world better than before.