Stand 2 meters apart, but we need you all closer then ever to support your local businesses
So, what a crazy long few weeks this has been. Do we know what day it is? Has anyone actually truly home-schooled the kids whilst trying to bribe them while you’re on a zoom call? Do we know our furlough from our footlong? Is it too early for Gin? Do we know how long this will last? What is the plan?
Truth is, we have no plan. We have no end dates. We wont return to normal. No one knows. In terms of life itself, this is a mental hurdle. In terms of the businesses we’ve nurtured and grown, this is an added stake to the heart in such uncertain times. We may as well just pack it all in. Should we?
NO! We need to sit and think. What can we do to adapt? Have we got pot holes in our previous life as we knew it? Did our business plan and procedures work? Did we ever have a back up plan for this type of situation? We have our head in our hands, watching the news everyday and thinking ‘what on earth do I do now?’.
That’s a lot of questions for a few paragraphs. So let’s put things in to perspective here and what we have seen. We have seen small businesses shut overnight and we couldn’t prepare for this really. It has been devastating to certain industries and we have also seen some businesses thrive in the current climate.
The biggest thing we have seen, as the weeks have gone on, is a massive sense of community spirit. For both businesses and personally. There is a massive lack of contact right now, but the solidarity being shown by businesses within communities has been immense. You are getting to know each other and make new connections and actively promoting businesses other than your own.
Across social media, you have competitors supporting each other; encouraging each other and that sense of ‘together’. Businesses have joined forces in order to be stronger because together we are united. You may have never spoke to the local businesses or neighbours before, yet here we all are, as one, encouraging each other through hope and support.
Things were going too fast before and we didn’t have enough time to stop and say ‘hello’. With what we are all facing right now within our businesses, and the effect this has on household incomes, we have physically closed our doors for a while. But in turn, we opened our ’emotional’ doors widely to those that needed time, help, support or even to just see a friendly face.
In turn, with these new connections and opening up ourselves with that sense of vulnerability, when some form of normality resumes and our businesses can re-open, we will remember each other. We will support our local businesses more because we now have the face behind the company name and you can see the families behind them relying on your custom.
This is the exact ethos behind the All You Need Essed Business Directory. Set up recently to encourage, support and connect small businesses to their local communities. Running a small business on your own, or with a small team, is a huge task. It’s hard to put yourself out there because you are so busy running your business or pyhsically being within your business. It’s hard to connect and reach a wider audience.
We encourage our local residents and communities in Essex to buy local and ensure you keep your independents thriving on the High Street and in their offices. AYNE helps connect the dots of keeping us all close. So, when you do require a Hair Stylist or an Accountant or a Dog Groomer for example, head to www.allyouneedessex.com as they are all in the one place. We personally speak directly to every one listed and we have faces to business names and we are here to support you.
It is incredibly important to make personal connections, because ask yourself one question: How would your business survive if the internet was turned off indefinitely? Connect with individuals in the old fashioned way – talk in person or pick up the phone. Know the faces and families and stories and you make connections for life. With or without the internet. So all pull close and support each other with gusto.
We should all be incredibly proud of how we have dealt with this life changing situation; resilience, strength, pride, worry, angst, sleepless nights and tears and all the rest of it! We have very uncertain times but with grit and determination, and remaining focused, we must now put plans in place to ressurect our businesses the best we can, when we can. We must not give up.
Maybe by changing the wind in our sails, we are now on a different path, on both personal and professional levels, and for some, their businesses will come back stronger then ever. We will all get though this, and always remember that an Eagle will always rise. Your business will thrive again, and we’ll be happy to be a part of that.
So from one small business to another small business, all of us at AYNE just want to say…..we’ve got this. We’ll meet again.
Stay strong. Stay safe. Stay focused. You are all incredible.
(No rights to images – rights to Jon Tyson via Unsplash)
