Across the United States, thousands of family-owned businesses, landmark restaurants, local kiosks, and more establishments have been forced to shut down due to COVID-19. While in quarantine, a lot of people have started small businesses. It is so important to support the owners of these businesses, especially during these trying times.
There are countless amazing benefits to shopping at local stores and restaurants.
You are helping the environment because small businesses aren't involved with big factories that pollute the planet.
You are supporting businesses that need the extra money because they most likely don't have many different locations, with a lot of income.
If it is a smaller clothing store, most people won’t have the items you buy, so you can be original and unique.
According to Fivestars, over four million people have lost their jobs due to large companies. Small businesses create community and independence, unlike mass corporations. If everyone starts buying from their local stores and restaurants, the business industry will become more diverse, and everyone will have so many more options.
The small business work ethic is also a great thing for young kids to witness and learn from. If children see independent people following their dreams and creating something of their own, it could inspire them to maybe start a business one day too.
COVID-19 is making these shops struggle more; 800 small businesses are being shut down every day due to the virus. 44% of the U.S economic activity are from firms with only 500 employees or less, according to a U.S. Small Business Administration report. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/small-businesses-are-dying-by-the-thousands--and-no-one-is-tracking-the-carnage/2020/08/11/660f9f52-dbda-11ea-b4f1-25b762cdbbf4_story.html
It is so crucial that we support our local businesses, especially throughout COVID-19. You can find some of your neighborhood shops and restaurants just by taking the extra time to do a little research. Shop local!
Interview with Claudine Watt, Los Angeles- A small business owner:
What kind of business did you have pre covid?
“I ran my own cooking school from my home with my partner, Dana. We were running classes maybe two or three times a week for groups of up to eight people. We taught them how to cook different types of food for different types of entertainment. Then we would all cook together and everyone would sit together in my garden, and we would serve them the food that they cooked during the three-hour class.”
Were you able to continue your business during covid?
“No. In the first week of March when we just found out school was about to close, my partner and I suddenly realized that we were probably gonna go into some kind of lockdown. That was when we started thinking if it was a good idea to have people all cooking together and figuring out what was Covid safe. Even though it was really new and we don't know much about Covid; we suddenly felt that the atmosphere was changing.”
How long did you anticipate you would be closed for?
“We thought we were going to be closed for maybe a month or two. We had classes booked for the next four months, so we waited a couple of weeks and then we refunded everyone who booked a class for the next few months. But in the very beginning, we didn't refund all the classes we had booked for June and July because we thought that we would be out of lockdown by then.”
Are you open now?
“No. We have not been open the whole time. So, after a few months of us realizing there was no way we were gonna be able to do our in-person classes anymore, we did start to consider the idea of transferring our business online, on Zoom. I know a lot of different cooking schools did that and probably ended up being very profitable. But my partner and I decided that that was the antithesis of what we wanted our classes to be. Our classes have always been focused on people coming together and being very communal. Zoom just seemed the opposite of us. We were lucky in a sense because this wasn't our major income, so we weren't under such pressure to be earning.”
Do you think you are going to open again soon now that people are getting vaccinated?
“My partner and I are meeting tomorrow to try to figure out if we think it's safe, if it's viable, and if people feel confident to come. We are also gonna look at the legal ramifications of opening. If we open up our school in my home, and someone catches COVID-19, will we then be vulnerable to any litigation because they caught the virus in my home. I personally only want people who are fully vaccinated to come to the class. Because that makes me and others feel safe”
Interview with: Claudine Watt, Los Angeles
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