Whether one has been laid off, furloughed, or their own business has been placed on hold indefinitely due to COVID 19, it’s an anxious time for many, with so many questions yet to be answered.
When can one get started again? Will a workplace reopen at all? And in either case, how does one make ends meet right now?
For Michele Zeller of Luling, her wedding business, Décor on a Dime, is still open and available for customers – but almost all of the calls she’s had to field since mid-March have come from brides forced to postpone or cancel their weddings due to pandemic fallout. The well has run dry on new clients, and compounding matters, work she counted on via existing customers disappeared and refunds issued.
“It hit me about four different ways,” Zeller said. “Money you were counting on has been pushed to who knows when. On top of that, you’re issuing refunds.
“Usually, I have between 10 and 12 inquiries a week and can convert that into eight or nine sales … now it’s none at all. It’s devastating.”
The timing was bad for Zeller’s family: a nest egg they’d built up savings wise was reduced greatly when she, her husband and their three children moved into a newly built Ashton Plantation home in September.
“With three kids, we needed more space … we were just building our savings back up,” she said. “Now we’re just hoping the SBA comes through. Applying for aid … even food stamps, things we’ve never had to do before, but now we’re in that boat. We don’t have a big fancy warehouse. It’s a little hole in the wall place where people can come see the lanterns, the table cloths. But you still have to pay rent on that. And I’m applying for everything under the sun and getting nowhere with that, so we’re just panicking.”
What also makes things difficult for her is the business was something she had truly grown on her own. Something that started as a secondary venture for her really took off via word of mouth.
“It’s geared towards brides on a budget, who want a really nice wedding but are having to go around an pay a big company $1,800 just to have some candles … this is geared toward people who have house payments, cars, kids, the rest of their lives to lead and who don’t want to spend $50,000 on a four hour event.
“Word of mouth really took off, and it went from this side hustle to me putting aside a well-paying fulltime job and making this my priority.”
She went full time with it in 2016, and felt she had it rolling as a well-oiled machine.
Four years later, nobody has answers.
“Going on Facebook groups for wedding coordinators, talking to other people in the business, they all say it’s gonna be really hard to get going again,” Zeller said. “You’re not sure when things will get going again. If it’s a slow rollout kind of thing, maybe it’s just 50 people to an event for now. Maybe you live stream for the rest of your guests … food service, no buffet style for awhile. It’ll all be very different, potentially.”
She said she has a great support system, but that it all comes as a blow nonetheless.
“To know I’ve lost that momentum, and it’s like, ‘now what?’” she said. “It’s rough, but I’m keeping the faith.”
Cheryl Ricca, who along with her husband own Craig’s Barber Shop in Luling, said she’s receiving a lot of calls from people wondering if the shop is open, or when it will be again.
“People are dying to get a haircut … it’s not unlike after Katrina, I think, when people just wanted to do something to feel normal again,” Ricca said.
She said until the stay at home order is lifted, or at least statewide restrictions on business operations, the shop can’t reopen. She’s turned down requests for work outside of the shop for safety reasons as well.
“In the beauty industry as a whole, whether its nails, massages, facials … there’s no social distancing. We’re right on top of people,” Ricca said. “It can’t go on forever, though. Hopefully they let us reopen wearing masks.”
While she and her husband, who have been in the hair business for more than 40 years, have been able to save enough money over the years to weather this storm, she said not everyone is so lucky.
“A lot of people in this industry … it’s not a big, money-making thing,” Ricca said. “Hopefully, over time, you’re able to put something away … for people just starting, who have children and have to make ends meet, it’s scary. It’s very stressful.
“There are times I can’t wait for business to open again, but we do understand it’s for the greater good of everyone.”
Be the first to comment