A Day in the Life of an "Essential" Small Business During COVID-19

I am grateful. So incredibly grateful. In the midst of a crisis, the powers that be decided that restaurants are essential to help feed communities during lockdown. Being essential means that I have the opportunity to keep my staff employed, to keep my neighborhood fed, and to create a sense of normalcy for those in my care. I am painfully aware that many of my friends and fellow small business owners would do anything to be able to keep their doors open. For them, I wake up every morning and fight. But, boy, this is hard. Really, really hard.  When the news broke that the virus had made it stateside, we were fortunate to pivot early. At Bagel Uprising, with its extraordinarily small footprint, the answer came in an abbreviated menu and reduced staff while maintaining safety protocols. At Stomping Ground, I immediately thought about adding dinner so that we would be able to service an additional need and provide hours for staff. On paper, these seem like logical and obvious changes. In reality, these changes took tremendous effort, demanding flexibility, and grit on all parties involved, including confused customers. Restaurants are all about systems, and when one system is changed, inevitably another one breaks. Our operation is now entirely different.   In the midst of these changes and in the daily “new normal” I am training staff on enhanced sanitization and safety guidelines, negotiating new food delivery schedules, pivoting among food supply shortages, fielding customer emails, calling all creditors, contacting landlords, helping staff navigate very confusing funding opportunities, trying to maintain marketing, updating the website and point of sale each and every time we learned that something wasn’t working, or that we needed to add an additional feature. I am adding menus, changing menus, overloading my fryer for Fried Chicken Friday, trying to write meaningful Stylebook articles, trying to read loan information, applying for loans, getting rejected for loans - all while trying to maintain a level of quality and customer service.   Further, staff looks to me for leadership. On the inside I am sick, nervous, and totally unsure if I am doing the right thing. I do not get the benefit of processing what is happening in the world around me or what is happening to my dream that I spent the last five years, countless personal sacrifices, and more elbow grease than you can imagine to build. I do not dare show them how scared I am. I work every day to create as much normalcy as I can in the workplace in hopes to maintain the mental health of my team so that they can do the best work possible. A team that is often putting their safety at risk, trying to do the work of ten people with two or three. I ask them to keep a positive outlook as they are forced to express to customers that the new restrictions are not just for their safety, but for the safety of their families that they have to go home to at night.   I’ve been so touched by the support of this community and our staff. Diners have gone above and beyond to do their part to help restaurants as we fight to survive the economic strife of this pandemic. Every act of commerce feels like a gift of support. All of the restaurants are doing their very best, some are doing to-go food for the first time because it's their only option. I do write all this not for you to feel sorry for me, it’s what I signed up for. Instead I write to ask you the following:

1. If you encounter a restaurant with a long line, or pausing orders because they are overwhelmed, do not assume they are “crushing it.” They are trying to service prime time hours with reduced staff and in a new system. If you can order and pick up early, or late, do so! It helps.
2. Try not to make special requests unless absolutely necessary. We are working with skeleton crews and it is harder than you think to “just put the sauce on the side.”
3. Try not to rely on third party delivery systems and apps like UberEats, Grubhub, and Postmates. These companies have a commission that typically hovers around 30 percent of a sale - beyond the margin of revenue for most items. Using these apps helps the companies that own them, not the business you think you are supporting.
4. Above all else, this is a time that calls for patience, compassion, and empathy for everyone involved. Yes, our website is probably confusing. Yes, we are probably going to forget one of your bagels. Yes, we really did run out of espresso. Yes, we are really doing our best.