COVID 19 Seasonal Business Impact
The consequences for business due to the COVID-19 outbreak have been widespread. Every industry sector has felt the impact of the virus but, what about seasonal businesses? What are they doing to navigate the pandemic? We spoke with small businesses to get their feedback on how this has affected their specific business and their plans going forward:
Party Pros is a family-owned, full-service event management company located in Florence, Alabama. With events of more than one-hundred people being the main revenue source for this seasonal business, COVID-19 has had a tremendous effect on their business. The majority of Party Pros business is conducted during the 2nd and 4th quarters of the year. The impact of COVID-19 began in March just prior to the start of the 2nd quarter; Party Pros stopped operations and laid off their employees. The company immediately experienced a revenue loss of 40%.
Jackie Hendrix, the owner of Party Pros, took a proactive stance and saw this as an opportunity. “After 15 years in business, you focus on changing things you wish you had done differently in the beginning. “ Hendrix forecasted a cash flow statement to get him through until September, with confidence that business will begin to return to some normalcy at that point. Then, he focused on making the business a leaner, more profitable organization. Jackie plans to begin offering an attractive benefit package for his employees beginning with the 4th quarter of this year. He is confident that Party Pros will return and grow to an even more successful company.
Another business affected by the pandemic is, Short Stop, a family-owned, full-service printing company that specializes in promotional items. Eighty percent of their business is seasonal sports, end-of-school and vacation bible school events, etc. The first day of the stay-at-home order, the company experienced more than 40 order cancellations with more to come.
Renee Shaw, who started Short Stop 25-years ago with her husband, said “We created a 5-step plan and have totally adjusted our business model. Every day is a new day; you cannot look at how you operated in the past.” Short Stop has concentrated on maintaining strong communications with its customers and feels that now is the time to build deeper connections and create stronger community ties. They are also changing their products and services in order to better meet the needs of their customers. The company has already received positive feedback from these changes. Their goal is to grow from this unprecedented event and become a stronger and even more profitable business.
Extreme Jump, a party rental company specializing in inflatables has seen a complete halt to business due to COVID-19. The company started with backyard parties and has grown to corporate functions, church, and community events with end-of-the year school events and vacation bible schools as a main source of revenue. “This year, we were excited to add a trackless train to our inventory. But now we are going back to our roots – backyard birthday parties” says owner Daniel Haynes. The focus now is ensuring a quality, clean product both at the warehouse and on-site for the event. Haynes is starting to see the upswing; the phone has started to ring to book events for June.