Over 3 weeks have passed now and there isn’t any light at the end of tunnel yet. Nearly a month with no money coming in and bills going out. The online sale has slowed as well, it started good but over time has slowed down, so although sales are coming in, its less than what it was 2 weeks ago. But any sale I’m so grateful of right now.
Also, the weather has been really good. This would’ve been be be period where my investment earlier on in the year would’ve paid off. Instead, my shop and storage are just full of stock.
Most small businesses live hand to mouth. I Rely on the period of April to September for the majority of my income as this is the busiest time. My shop is seasonal. And although the season is just starting, I Can see it slowly running away.
Even if this does end within a few weeks or a month or two. Things won’t go back to how they were for a long while. Little things we didn’t even think of will play on people’s mind. Will you pay or accept cash? Will you shake someone’s hand, greet someone with a kiss on the cheek, sit in a busy cafe, queue up to purchase an item like before, go to a gig or a football match with thousands of people. It’s going to take a very long time until we consider this the norm. The bigger shops That have space to allow queuing systems and allow people to browse with a lot of space will find it easier to recover. The smaller shops/cafes, it’s going to be harder to keep to social distancing measures, which I expect to stay for a good while once we leave the lockdown.