Business struggles

By Mikayla S

Have you ever thought about owning a business? Now imagine doing that during COVID. Small businesses have been hit hard the most nowadays because of the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, people have been having the time of their lives. Going out and shopping without a single care in the world about masks, and social distancing.

Once COVID-19 started to raid cities and countries around the world, limitations were placed and we went into quarantine. Shops were closing and going out of business. There was a sudden raise in unemployment, It was not looking good for the economy or people who relied on closing businesses for income. Many store owners were also affected by the loss of employees.

Faisal Gowani, son of the owner of Southgate Liquors, still can not believe they have been evicted and lost their family's store after 36 years of being open.

“The ground got pulled out from under me, and I was really in shock...My whole life has some sort of memory connected to this place, and now my whole life is getting rolled over.” Gowani told Tran Nguyen for San José Spotlight.

Not everything is going bad though. For Be’anka Asahulu, and Jeranica Macey, two business owners at Nirvana Soul Coffee, have recently opened their cafe during quarantine, and they've grown pretty well.

They have grown their team quite a bit, and their support of the community, and their instagram have increased. In fact, they have already been approved for their second opening shop at cupertino.

Since they opened their shop in the middle of the pandemic, the most forceful thing for them was working for an sba loan.

Sources: Claudine B on yelp

“The hardest thing for us was financing. So we did get an SBA loan like I mentioned on the top of this call, which helped a lot, but even the journey to getting an SBA loan was very difficult, we kinda had to perfect our credit, and make sure our debt was paid off, and it was just a long journey.”

As for what they enjoy, “I love the feeling of controlling your own destiny. So something that belongs to you, you have true ownership of it, so it sort of survives or fails by the amount of work and effort, and passion you put into it.”

It wasn't until recently when Sam Shah and her fiance, business owners at Voyager craft coffee, have found their way back up to have their shops moving frequently.

“We’ve been lucky in the past 4-5 months where things really picked up. I would say that it's a different story from how things were back in the winter, and even earlier parts of the spring this year.”

For Sam, the hardest part about owning a business during the pandemic is just worrying about surviving, and speculating if they’re going to make it as a business.

“I think we had some inseses where we were really kinda down on our knees if you will. As a business we weren't quite sure if we were gonna make it, and of course that was, you know, a tough period mostly that was spring and winter of 2020 where we felt that. Summer and fall of 2020 we felt a little more hopeful.” Sam quotes.

Lots of salons have secretly snuck customers to the back door during lockdown for haircuts, and even overpricing them.

Dung Calvin To, owner of Mt Pleasant barber shop, has been fined 5,000 dollars for not obeying shelter in place orders, and preparing to reopen while being in lockdown, but has not attempted to sneak customers because he claims it's too risky.

“This shop is our only income,” figuring that his family relies on the work at the barber shop. “But I was so scared of violating the rules.” Calvin told Tran Ngyuen at San José Spotlight.

Many stores have experimented with new techniques to deliver. Like doordash, uber eats, but it didn't work out for the reason of the quality not being as presentable.

During this time, it's been much harder for these entrepreneurs, but what keeps them most motivated is their team and the customers.