What will Life look like? The new 'normal'. The plight of small business in Northern Ontario.
Hello! Here we are almost at the August long weekend, and things are far from normal. ( I had started this blog post back in August, unfortunately nothing much has changed since then). We are all wearing masks in public places, Covid -19 is still here with us, and we are left to wonder when our world will go back to normal. When will it be safe to travel again? When can we have Wedding celebrations?
When will the Canada - U.S. border be open again?
When? For those of us who live in Thunder Bay, the town of Duluth in Minnesota is the closest place to go for a weekend getaway, it's about a 3.5 hour drive. Now the closest place is Winnipeg...9 hours away ( which is also on lockdown). However, it is Summer ( now Winter) in Northwestern Ontario, and there are plenty of Camping spots, Lakes and hiking trails.
Click on the article below for a read on the new 'Normal'
Businesses, large and small are having trouble staying afloat, and many are closing up. Even though we are in Stage 3 of opening in Ontario, many are scared to be out in public. What about you? Do you feel that we are past the hump or is there more to come?
Businesses are trying to stay open with very little revenue coming in the door. Many of us fall through the cracks as we are not big enough to get the CEBA loans which the Government of Canada put in place to help 'small' business. It's supposed to be the same loan and the same loan requirements administered by the Banks. A business applies at their bank, and receives the CEBA loan in 3 days. Another similar business applies to their bank ( a different bank) and is told weeks later that their loan application is declined as they failed to upload supporting documents. The other business we first talked about never uploaded any supporting documents. It is certainly a case of the Government spouting about all the help they are giving small business, the reality is very different.
Businesses are getting help from Google, and Microsoft, & Shopify and the EDC to get their businesses online. This is a daunting task for a storeowner, especially in Northern Ontario where our internet speed is not up to par. In the past 2 days, the power in Oliver Paipoonge has gone on and off 5 times.
Every time you lose power , the computer shuts off and you may lose what you
were working on. Clearly in Thunder Bay, we are not ready to conduct our life on our very slow and unreliable internet.
Business owners are forced to take on new roles....such as...
what is the current lockdown status? can we be open?
- extra cleaning and sanitizing,
- asking questions like a triage Nurse, telling customers they must wear their mask
- virtual Trade shows
- keeping up with answering messages from Fb, IG, email and yellow pages and phone calls
- setting up websites and constantly updating
- applying for Government help
- caring for older family members 1000 miles away
- deliveries
- caring for adult family members who have lost their jobs
- fighting to get shipments in
- the list goes on...!
No wonder we feel drained and unable to get things done. Multitasking results in a measurable loss in productivity. Now that Vaccines are out, we are told that everyone will get a vaccine by September. Why will it take this long?
For now, small Business owners in Northern Ontario just have to do what...?
We don't know what to do. Except look forward to Spring!
The Camellia, 30/32 Hacquoil Rd. Thunder Bay.
p 807-475-3551
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