The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the economy into chaos. People are being laid off, businesses are struggling and entire industries have been thrown into uncertainty due to the global outbreak of the virus.
Small business owners and workers have been affected the most acutely. Many have had to shut down temporarily until the pandemic passes, whilst some have had to drastically change their operations to accommodate for the lockdown.
Paul Carter, owner of radio advertising production company Get Carter Productions, said, “Having been encouraged to develop a ‘Disaster Plan’ by a speaker from the Insurance industry a couple of years ago, I think we had a massive head start when the Corona Pandemic started to threaten the UK.
“We’d already developed a plan to kick in on the basis that our studios were completely wiped out, and we had to work from home until we were able to rebuild or move to new studios.
“But Corona has been far more serious than a meteor strike on our studios – because it’s removed the need for what we do, and from Day 1 our biggest customers shut up shop, and stopped spending with us. Working from home is only useful if you have work to do!”
Jack Barrow is a tattoo artist in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He said, “Most tattooers are just trying to make what they can through selling artwork and other merchandise, but it seems to have affected everyone differently, mostly due to the differing levels of eligibility for government support grants available.
“Quite a lot of people aren’t able to claim anything. I’ve personally just accepted it for what it is – it’s only money at the end of the day, as long as we are alive and well there’s not a lot to complain about really.
“I will just be spending most days working on commissions/new flash/merch in the hope it makes life a bit easier once we’re able to go back to work again.”
Simon Paine, CEO and Co-Founder of PopUp, an online business school and workshop, said: “The work of the PopUp Business School has never been more important. Our mission of teaching an alternative start-up method so that anyone can start a business debt-free has always been underpinned by us going out of our way to help people.
“We’ve taken a huge hit as we are primarily an events company but we have re-purposed our team and our content to help as many people as we can.
“We have launched a Business Survival Guide and are live-streaming twice a week covering topics that help and support new and existing small businesses. We’ve discovered our approach to starting a business is even more relevant now.”
Contact Details:
Paul Carter: paul@getcarterproductions.co.uk
Jack Barrow: Instagram @jvckbarrow
Simon Paine: info@popupbusinessschool.co.uk