The impact of Covid-19 on small businesses

By Yuli Atta

Many businesses have been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. Some small businesses have had to fully close down, others are struggling to make the sales while some are thriving.
 

Lip balm and perfume from Madame Alchemie| Credit to Madalyn 

The fast-spreading Coronavirus pandemic around the world has affected many businesses, big and small, and while the UK government has provided ways to help them, not everybody is eligible for them. Many small businesses have lost customers and some of them have completely closed down for the time being. Some of the affected small businesses are independent shops that sell bookish merchandise like book sleeves, bookmarks, various bookish themed candles and perfumes. 

Since all of these small businesses are online shops, the Covid-19 has affected them differently. For some of them, it has just slowed down the shipping of orders and getting supplies. “Business has been quite a bit slower and my materials have taken longer to arrive,” said a representative of Madame Alchemie, an apothecary and perfumery. “I’m at risk of running out of some of my usual containers because of how factory manufacturing slowed down and  changed in China and things are still getting caught up.” They have also experienced delays in supplies like Epsom salt getting delivered and are trying to figure out the best way to send out products for them and the Post office employees. 

Small businesses work with small suppliers by purchasing the materials they need off of them and if their suppliers have been affected, it hinders their business as well.   

“Companies are using the situation to vastly increase the prices of products which hurts small businesses and small retailers, who stock up my products, have been forced to shut down their shops,” said Vy the owner of Library Lip Balms. Due to the Coronavirus, all of Vy’s spring markets have been cancelled which would have roughly made up half of her income. 

 Abby, the owner of Paper and Word said: “My main issue is suppliers are doing limited dispatches and then the post taking longer. Some of my smaller business suppliers are then having the same problem, so there’s a big timing knock-on going down the chain.”  

Additionally, businesses like Bookish Burns, which sell bookish themed candles, have had some of their suppliers completely close down which means that they’ve been unable to make certain candles, resulting in loss of sales. 

Some shops have taken some precautions to ensure the safety of their family and customers. A Wild Tale Shop has completely been closed down for the time being. “I don’t want to risk it as parcels pass from loads of hands and bodies,” said a representative of the shop. They’ve decided to wait out the situation until it is safe again to be sending out parcels. Madame Alchemie has taken into their hands to ensure that all of their products are safely made and dispatched. “Everything is made in a hygienic space and I always wear gloves and a medical-grade mask when preparing orders as an extra precaution. I will be packing the boxes with gloves on as well,” they said. “I always wipe down glass bottles with disinfectant before I apply labels, and I’ve added an extra layer of disinfectant after in the last few weeks.” Additionally, they stated that if anybody in their household started to feel unwell, they would immediately close down the shop. 

Credit: Lost in Stacks

However, not all small businesses have been affected negatively. Some of them like Book Besties UK are thriving. “I did a restock the other day which resulted in a record number of orders,” Louise, the owner of Book Besties UK said. Taking fewer hours at her day job in order to have more time to make sleeves, her business hasn’t been affected at all, with over 300 sales after she restocked, she now has over 11, 000 sales on her Etsy shop. 

Phoebe Hammonds, the owner of Made Weave Love, is also one of the luckier smaller businesses. “All is running smoothly,” she said. “Materials take a little longer to come, but that's easy to factor in, just order more but less frequently.” 

The outbreak has affected many businesses, big and small, and while some of them are struggling, others are thriving. The biggest challenge for both sides is getting the supplies they need for the creation of their products. Due to the Post Office’s working hours and the need to social-distance themselves, the owners have limited themselves to posting their orders as rarely as possible. Nobody yet knows how much they would be affected in the long run.