{"id":8636,"date":"2021-01-17T08:19:28","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T12:19:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=8636"},"modified":"2021-01-17T08:25:36","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T12:25:36","slug":"when-its-not-a-terrible-time-for-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=8636","title":{"rendered":"When It’s Not a Terrible Time For Small Business"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n

\"\"<\/a>A counterintuitive silver lining to the <\/span>pandemic<\/a>\u00a0is developing: While droves of\u00a0<\/span>small businesses<\/a>\u00a0across the United States have been crushed by\u00a0<\/span>Covid-19<\/a>\u00a0and its restrictions, others have been pushed to lift off.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n

There has been a surge in new business start-ups this year, according to the\u00a0U.S. Census Bureau<\/a>. By the week ending Dec. 5, the bureau reported, business applications were up 43.3 percent over the same period in 2019. \u201cBut it remains unclear how much of the increase is attributable to entrepreneurs finding opportunity in the crisis to form businesses likely to hire employees as opposed to newly unemployed individuals starting their own businesses,\u201d according to the\u00a0Economic Innovation Group,<\/a>\u00a0a bipartisan public policy organization.<\/p>\n

This uptick, however, is offset by the fact that about 28.8 percent of small businesses were closed for good as of mid-November, compared with the start of the year, based on data tracked by\u00a0Opportunity Insights<\/a>, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research organization based at Harvard University.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0New York City<\/a>, an\u00a0estimated<\/a>\u00a0one-third of small businesses might never reopen, according to a study by the nonprofit Partnership for New York City.<\/p>\n

Read on The New York Times<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Nathalie Molina Ni\u00f1o; Photo courtesy of Ms. Molina Ni\u00f1o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe truth is, no one knows what\u2019s next because no one has seen anything like the current intersection of crises,\u201d said Nathalie Molina Ni\u00f1o, author of \u201cLeapfrog: The New Revolution for Women Entrepreneurs\u201d and chief executive of\u00a0<\/strong>O\u00b3<\/a>, a privately held start-up investment firm.<\/p>\n

\u201cEntrepreneurs are delusionally optimistic, by design,\u201d she said. \u201cWhich is why even amidst what some days looks like a mass burial ground for small businesses across the country, with storefronts shuttered from coast to coast, entrepreneurs are still starting and, in some cases, growing their businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what Eric Levitan plans to do. In April, after 25 years of working in technology and running software companies, Mr. Levitan, 49, started the Atlanta-based\u00a0Vivo,<\/a>\u00a0a virtual small-group strength-training fitness program for adults 55 and older and conducted live with a certified instructor. The classes, led over Zoom, were inspired by watching his own parents, who are in their 70s, struggle with aging and mobility issues.<\/p>\n

It was a business that he had been developing for over a year, but the pandemic threw his original concept \u2014 in-person strength training classes in senior living communities \u2014 out the door. \u201cBecause of Covid, we shifted the model to move the classes online,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Eric Levitan, photo courtesy of website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For Mr. Levitan, the pivot to an online fitness service considerably increased his potential client base. \u201cNow there\u2019s no geographical boundary around it \u2014 we can train someone in Brazil, California, Japan and have trainers anywhere in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

For now, Vivo, which he\u2019s building with his own funds \u2014 nearly $100,000 to date \u2014 is still in the early stages, with 50 members, ranging in age from 52 to 85. Customers participate in 45-minute classes twice a week. But the capacity, with nine trainers on board, is closer to 1,000 customers, according to Mr. Levitan.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Alisa Cohn, photo courtesy of website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt<\/span>\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0tough to build the relationships over video in the same way you could in person,\u201d said\u00a0<\/span>Alisa Cohn<\/a>, a global executive coach based in New York City, who focuses on start-ups. \u201cBut whenever you have the right idea that the market needs, it\u2019s always a good time to start a business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Another pandemic-related surge in interest: indoor plants. In August, Alexi and Brendan Coffey, started\u00a0Steward<\/a>, a virtual business based in New York City, to help people become successful plant growers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had been working for the past two years or so, developing the technology for the app, building a team, testing, and the launch was scheduled for early spring,\u201d said Mr. Coffey, 31. Before the pandemic, the couple had raised $500,000 from early-stage angel investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were blindsided, postponed the launch and rethought our plan,\u201d said Ms. Coffey, 29. The Coffeys had devised a consumer digital subscription, combined with a business service to lend horticulture advice to brick-and-mortar offices and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Alexi and Brendan Coffey, photo courtesy of website<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWith our app, clients use their phone\u2019s camera to scan rooms in their homes, and the app creates a map that shows variations in light distribution and suggests the best plants for the space and how to care for them,\u201d Ms. Coffey said. Some customers have even asked for help building video-worthy plant wall backgrounds for their home offices.<\/p>\n

The company now has roughly 5,000 customers worldwide. \u201cWe have benefited from the fact that people are at home and interested in growing more than ever,\u201d Ms. Coffey said. \u201cMoments of planting and watering the plants break up the digital weird reality we are living in. We get to be a little bit of joy in people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Pickles have the power to produce happiness, too. In September, Mark Mammone, 39, a sous chef, and Joe Bardakos, 30, a chef, founded\u00a0Bridge City Brinery<\/a>\u00a0in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
photo courtesy of web site<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five years ago, Mr. Mammone began making pickles as a hobby. His inspiration was the sauerkraut made by his grandmother, an immigrant from Croatia. The secret: The cucumbers are fermented in a homemade brine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\u201cI started having my friends try them, and they were saying: \u2018You need to do something with these. You need to sell them,\u2019\u201d Mr. Mammone said. \u201cOnce that idea set in, I thought, all right, I\u2019m going to start a pickle company.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

But it was a back-burner idea. \u201cThe pandemic is actually what sparked the business back up,\u201d he said. Mr. Bardakos offered to help and a partnership was born. \u201cThis is something we can do right now, and we can be in control of,\u201d Mr. Mammone said, \u201cand it is not going to cost us a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sanyin Siang, Photo courtesy of Ms. Siang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNavigating uncertainty during this pandemic and the associated political and economic landscape is the biggest challenge for any entrepreneur,\u201d said Sanyin Siang, executive director of the Fuqua\/Coach K Leadership and Ethics Center at Duke University and author of \u201cThe Launch Book: Motivational Stories to Launch Your Idea, Business or Next Career.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cThe motivator is a deep belief in the idea,\u201d Ms. Siang said. \u201cIt\u2019s that belief that will also create the compelling factor for customers, employees and investors.\u201d And that\u2019s precisely what the pickle purveyors have done. They self-funded their business with under $3,000, and asked for help from their family, friends, and their boss, who has allowed the two to work out of the restaurant\u2019s kitchen.<\/p>\n

The real challenge was finding supplies, which pushed the launch back a few weeks. \u201cGlass jars were in short supply \u2014 it seems everybody during the pandemic was busy jarring food,\u201d Mr. Mammone said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Suhail Karimi, photo courtesy of Eleven College Ave.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Taking advantage of sectors that have seen a downturn can be a counterintuitive but successful approach. While other restaurants were closing, Suhail Karimi, 35, in Los Gatos, Calif., knew it was his time to chase his dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a bit of a fire sale,\u201d he said. As a result, he purchased the liquor license and other components of a restaurant business from a tenant who had been operating in the location at roughly half the original pre-pandemic asking price. He was also able to negotiate a less costly lease with the landlord. And so, three months ago, he opened his first restaurant,\u00a0Eleven College Ave<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cIt has been a little bit of a struggle, but we\u2019re surviving,\u201d he said. \u201cI knew what I was getting into, and that there were going to be several challenges ahead to adhere to the ever-changing safety guidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge: \u201cWe\u2019re at such a small capacity \u2014 40 diners at a time,\u201d he said. \u201cThe dining room has a full capacity of 140.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n