small business, big STRUGGLES

By Dyllan Tran

How are small businesses able to cope through the current COVID pandemic? Some small businesses who are struggling before the pandemic are facing even more obstacles today. However, a small business owner, David Orozco, is attempting to overcome these challenges in multiple ways.

Just like any other small business, the pandemic had a big economic impact on Orozco’s business: Bravo! House of Enchiladas.

Orozco says that one of the biggest challenges he had to face during the pandemic was the sales. “One of the biggest challenges has definitely been the sales, they have dropped thirty-five to forty percent, you know, quarterly and we have to find a way to keep the business afloat and keep people’s jobs so they can also support their families.”

To bring more attention to his business, he says that social media is what helps advertise his business during this pandemic. “We have DoorDash, we have Instagram, Facebook, we also do Yelp,” Orozco says, “Right now it's about social media which keeps people informed about who we are and where we are located.”

This way, he gets online orders from DoorDash or UberEats as well as catering orders, which he hopes keeps the business busy through the whole pandemic.

Orozco also had to change many other parts of this business, “We have to adjust the way we do business, we had to cut hours, we had to lay off some staff, maybe even limit the portions of food that we make and at times we even have to close early to save up on energy and costs.”

This doesn’t just help save his business’s money, but it also helps keep workers to be able to support their families: “We try to focus more right now on keeping the business going by sharing work hours with everyone.”

The PPP, or the Paycheck Protection Program, also played a big role in helping Orozco’s business through the pandemic. He says that the PPP, “allows us to help keep our staff and pay them.” He also adds that, “It's been helping a lot of businesses nationwide to keep the business afloat and stay alive.”

He says that getting a loan from the PPP isn’t hard, “It's the waiting around game, when it's your turn they will notify you and when it's time for you to get the loan, they reach out to you and they give you whatever you qualify.”

His advice is, “Right now just be patient, stay afloat, keep working.”

Orozco says, “You need to think outside the box in order to reach your goal because if you can make it through this pandemic, nothing can stop you.”