Confessions of a Small Business Owner in a Pandemic

The pandemic caused an epic setback to my small business. And If I didn’t snap back to reality in time, I would’ve seen my life’s work go down the drain. Here’s how I got back on track.

The coronavirus pandemic has been hard on almost all ventures around the globe. But the impact was especially catastrophic to those with fewer resources and a smaller capital — the simple small business owners like me.

I won’t sugarcoat anything here — the crisis has caused an epic financial setback to the business. And If I didn’t snap back to reality in time, I would’ve watched it go down the drain, with me, deep in debt and lugging an ego beyond repair.

My Small Business Pre-Coronavirus

I own and manage a business that sells vegan leather gadget cases. We contract a few crafters who sew our products — protective sleeves for laptops, tablets, eBook readers, and smartphones.

We take pride in offering locally-made and cruelty-free accessories in classic designs and we struck a pretty solid niche. We weren’t raking in millions of dollars per month, but our sales rate was steady. And we were thriving.

By consigning our products in local craft shops, eco stores, and co-working offices, we were able to grow by eliminating the costs of renting and maintaining a store. Along with that, since we didn’t have a physical store, we didn’t have to hire anyone to consistently maintain both the website and social media -in hindsight, that’s one of the biggest missteps I took for the business.

Coronavirus Almost Killed My Business

Then came the pandemic. To be honest, the gravity of the situation didn’t sink in with me during the first few days. I saw it as an unexpected work break, nothing more. The crafters won’t be able to go to our leather workshop temporarily, and we’d have to postpone deliveries to our consignees in the meantime.

But then, days turned into weeks. And inevitably, it started to take its toll on our finances.

The co-working spaces and most of the stores we consigned with stayed closed. Some eco stores carried our products in their online shops. However, sales were hard to come by. After all, people were prioritizing essentials: food, meds, toiletries.

With lay-offs left and right, people tried to be extra frugal. And given a choice between a laptop sleeve and a few pantry staples, well, you know what would land in their digital shopping carts.

Adapt Your Business or Watch It Flatline

I had to wake up one day and accept a painful fact: the business was bleeding.

The pandemic was already a tough ordeal to handle on its own. However, trying to maintain a business when the world was in a state of the unknown was akin to watching a house caught on fire without knowing where to start to put it out.

Amid all the stress, I had to step back and regroup. I knew I had to do something to salvage what I had left. With the way that cash was flowing out, sitting idly by was as good as pulling out the plug.

So I picked myself up, wiped up my wet cheeks, and got to work. Here are some of the things I did:

Set Up an eCommerce Store

As I mentioned earlier, we had a website, but we didn’t pay much attention to it. It was mostly just a landing page where you can find basic info about our products. Thankfully, all it took was integrating a WooCommerce plug-in to our WordPress website. Now, consumers can buy products directly from our site.

I wish I could have hired someone to do it, but I had to allocate the few finances I had carefully. So, I had to learn how to do the rest of the eCommerce process from accepting online payments to scheduling courier pickups to ship orders.

Launched Marketing Campaigns

We next had to let people know that we’re back in business. Moreover, we had to tell them how to buy our products through our eCommerce website.

I had to brush up on what I already knew about Facebook and Google ads. I also did a lot of research to make sure that I’m targeting the right people and not wasting ad spend.

Outsourced to Affordable Service-Providers

Pre-COVID, all I had to do was strike up consignment deals, and the shops did the selling. Now with an online store and the need to actively promote on social media, I needed more help.

Thankfully, I found them all online. One of my favorite service providers is Penji, which is a graphic design on a subscription. Given that I needed help with the new eCommerce web design and other materials I needed for marketing, this was gold.

Called for Community Support

Your community can’t help you if they don’t know you need it. I used social media channels to ask people not simply to buy my products but also to support other small businesses.

Bouncing Back in the New Normal

As I promised from the start, I won’t sugarcoat facts in this piece. And the fact is, the business still isn’t earning millions. But that was never the goal during this pandemic. I feel blessed to be getting by. We’re making do with what we have, and we’re taking things one day at a time.

What differentiates a successful venture from a brutal failure?

Is it a hefty capital? A winning product? Or perhaps a team of industry leaders?

While those are all beneficial, what I’ve learned during the pandemic was that the key is something more simple. It’s the willingness of a business to adapt to changing times and be agile enough to respond to shifting customer demands. After all, we know now that even “normal,” as we know it, can change in a snap.

Coronavirus could’ve killed my small business. But I didn’t give up and I didn’t let it. If you’re a struggling small business owner, I hope this inspired you to do the same.