The Covid Series Part 1 – Business Owners
Covid Series - Part 1

The Covid-19 pandemic and government responses have upended society and have wreaked havoc on small businesses in particular. According to data from Homebase, as we now enter the holiday season and year end, metrics in term so hours worked, the number of businesses open and the number of employees working have sunk to pre-summer levels. The number of small business owners who don’t know if their business will survive has risen to 34% from 22% in July while 6% believe it won’t (from 3% in July).

We talked to a diverse group of business owners based in the UK and the US about the effect that the Covid disruptions had on their businesses. What we learned sometimes surprised us, sometimes it was sadly predictable. The shocks and setbacks of forced closures, and the suddenness with which they descended forced these owners to pivot, to adapt. The rally of a community and the support of a business community sometimes made all of the difference.

We feature the stories of: London-based Karen Morris of Reg & Co (https://www.regandco.com/), a sponsorship and partnership specialist that works across the sport, arts and entertainment, charity and public sector. Mary Rachford of Fyzical, a physical therapy and balance center in Naperville, IL (https://www.fyzical.com/naperville/) Amanda Daly, founder of The Daly Bagel in Oak Park IL (https://thedalybagel.com/) who launched her business during the pandemic, in April 2020 Keena Bonds, based near Oak Park IL founder of Spread the Love Body Butter and Scrubs with Essential Oils (find her on Facebook).