Small businesses are still trying to navigate through the unprecedented times brought on by the coronavirus, and even those with long histories and solid foundations are left with tough decisions.
Making things even more complicated is the amount of unknowns from every angle of the situation. When will the money from the federal stimulus package be available? Will it be enough? When will businesses be able to return to full operations? How long after that will it take for consumers to be comfortable getting back out?
Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn and Don Moore Automotive are two family-owned businesses with deep roots in Owensboro, but they fall into the range of those most affected by COVID-19.
Restaurants were among the first businesses ordered to close their doors to in-person dining, and owner Patrick Bosley said those that offer casual dining were hit the hardest.
“Doing business through take-out only is only a sliver of business,” he said. “It’s like treading water. You can tread water for a certain amount of time and then you’ll drown. The longer this goes on, the harder it’ll be for mom-and-pop businesses that depend on cash flow.”
Within a week of the order, Moonlite had to lay off 40 of their 120 employees — mostly waitresses and hostesses. He’s now down to just under half the normal staff.
“Our decision was if your position was eliminated we laid you off,” he said. “If it wasn’t eliminated we kept going. I hate the word let go. I did furlough a group of people because I didn’t have anything for them to do.”
The decision to lay off employees was also a tough one for John Moore, who co-owns the family car dealership with his brothers.
Moore originally planned to keep everyone on staff even though they too had to close their doors to in-person traffic. However, a combination of complicated factors led to about one-third of employees being laid off.
For starters, those drawing unemployment are also automatically eligible for an extra $600 per on top of normal benefits. That means some employees can actually make more money on unemployment.
Making matters worse, the company still has not received any money from the loan program that was designed specifically for small businesses to use to pay employees during the pandemic.
The recent federal stimulus package set aside $349 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program — a loan that essentially would turn into a grant if it was primarily used to pay employees.
“It was not fair to the employees to not be able to take advantage of those programs,” Moore said. “What made it worse is the forgiveness loan has taken so long to get worked out and they still haven’t done that. The funds have been secured but they aren’t really available. If the loan comes through, we hope to make up some ground with some hazard pay for the people who are still here.”
Moore said with all the variables and unknowns, letting a handful of employees go in the short-term was really the only decision that could be made.
“It’s the safest thing for the employees if the government is putting this funding there,” he said. “I think the biggest thing from an employer standpoint is people were scared to put them on employment because they were scared they would not get them back. People will want to ultimately work, we are betting on that. People want to work for their money — they do. We are hoping they will want to come back and work with us.”
Bosley said Moonlite had also not received anything through the PPP loan as of last week. He’s trying to make the best of the situation — doing some intense cleaning inside that otherwise wouldn’t have been possible — but the reality doesn’t escape him.
“A business like mine, I lose money every day I’m open,” he said. “I’m having some to-go sales, but we still lose money. We would lose money if we were closed, so you’re trying to find that balance where you lose the least amount of money. There are going to be some businesses that do not come out of this, and those employees will have no place to go back to.”
Both Moore and Bosley are still adapting each day since their entire business model basically got flipped upside down. Customers’ needs remain a top priority, though it’s easy for concerns and frustrations to mount until a more clear path beyond the coronavirus emerges.
Even if their money from the PPP does come through, that’s only the first answer to a long list of questions.
“You have to look at the worst-case scenario,” Bosley said. “We have to figure out how to protect businesses now.”
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