It is undeniable that COVID-19, or to be more specific, the restrictions that have been imposed upon us due to COVID-19, have had a massive effect on small businesses.
Sadly, some have suffered catastrophically but some have flourished despite everything. Here we have some success stories where you can find out a little more about some of those who have bucked the trend and overcome the obstacles that have been thrown in front of them.
Success story: The Established Business
Kerry Scorah is one of Britain’s premier magicians, she is one of only a handful of female magicians in the Magic Circle and has won multiple awards. Kerry has been a full-time magician for many years and has performed all over the world in front of celebrities and politicians as well as at private events such as weddings and corporate events.
As a member of the extremely hard-hit entertainment industry, it would have been easy for Kerry to succumb to the effects of lockdown. She didn’t. Instead, she has worked tirelessly on several projects: she created a Zoom magic show so she can still perform for people all over the world without ever having to leave her home. Kerry took this idea to another level when she got together with some other magicians (as well as a compere and technical team) to create “An Evening In of Deception”. This is a simply astounding show which went on a virtual tour of the country to help support struggling theatres.
Kerry also utilised her extensive Instagram experience to work with a social media management company to help teach entrepreneurs how to use Instagram for their businesses, this collaboration also led to the creation of a reusable 365-day social media planner. Throughout lockdown, Kerry has undoubtedly been busy and she said: “I won’t lie, it’s been tough and at times I’ve wondered if it’s just easier to give up but I LOVE my job and I’ve had amazing support from friends, family and some really fabulous networking groups.”
Kerry can be reached at kerry@kerryscorah.co.uk
Success story: The New Business
Hips Social is a coffee shop in Lydney run by Tom and Lucy, they opened just five days before the lockdown was announced. This could have quite easily ended their business before it even started but they were not going to let it stop them. They quickly changed their plans and started to develop a takeaway burger menu using locally sourced ingredients, initially they had not intended on introducing this quite so soon.
Hips Social also saw that members of the local community were struggling to get essential supplies, so they started offering grocery boxes. This then developed into helping people to celebrate their lockdown birthdays by supplying celebration cakes.
This hard work and dedication clearly paid off as Hips have gone from strength to strength, “since lockdown has lifted we have been fortunate enough that the shop has been busy, the community have been supportive and we have been able to continue to hire and employ a small team.”
Hips can be reached at tom&lucy@hipssocial.co.uk
Success story: The Non-Existent Business
When lockdown first started Karen Lander was working as a primary teacher as she had been for the past 16 years. She had been doing a little private tutoring on the side, but teaching was her career. She used lockdown as a chance to reflect on her career path and re-establish her values.
Karen concluded that returning to teaching as she had formally done just was not right for her anymore. “I decided that it was time to put my health and wellbeing first and refocus on what I actually got the most joy from, so decided to set my tutoring up formally in July. I can work with the children at a slower pace, develop their confidence and enjoyment of learning, and do it in the ways that I believe are most beneficial without constant judgement and interference from outside bodies. I could rekindle my joy.”
Top Cat Tutoring was born in July. Karen had never run her own business before, so she quickly realised that there was a lot more to it than just doing the tutoring. Karen has worked hard to gain all the behind the scenes knowledge that a small business owner needs. She set herself a target of having 5 children to tutor by the end of the year and she achieved that in early November!
Karen can be reached at topcattutor@gmail.com
How did they all do it?
When lockdown hit the entire world moved online and these three entrepreneurs were no exception. Social media became a very noisy place, and businesses that had never had much of an online presence previously were all vying for our attention. Kerry, Karen, and the Hips team made sure that they were visible on social media, they built connections with their communities and kept their name on the tip of people’s lips.
Yes, they have all been affected by COVID-19, but they have worked hard to make sure that it has not buried them. They have been open to new ideas and have adapted quickly to meet the needs of their clients.
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