Our top brass have put in place financial safetynets for businesses and staff. Hasn't yours done that?
Yes. A big one. Will it be enough? doubt it. Depends on how long this goes on. We can weather the storm for a while, but I've been at this 30 years and it's unnerving how quickly everything dried up. It usually takes much longer. It concerns me how quickly it will start up again.
Could be worse...I could own a restaurant...or a nail salon...or a barber shop....or a retail store that is forced to be closed. I'm small enough, I can technically remain working and maintain safe social distances, even with my crew. Problem is I have nothing for them to do.
One part of the relief package is a business loan that pays my payroll of my full time staff for the next 8 weeks, and if I manage to keep them all on full time and provide payroll documentation, I don't have to pay back this "loan" It's intent is to keep employees employed and not laid off. Which is good. Problem is I'm paying my full time guys full time pay to do basically nothing. We aren't generating anything because we really don't have any work to do, so it's kind of silly. I imagine another week and my trucks will all be the cleanest and most organized they've been in years and the shop will be clean.
Who am I kidding. My guys have no incentive to clean anything. They are already grumbling about the busy work I give them. (ahem....work = job = pay) but heaven forbid they stoop to something as lowly as taking out the trash they generate, or having the initiative to do something helpful.
The other problem is... I don't think 8 weeks in near enough. At the end of that 8 weeks then what? I will be tapped out and I don't see any grand economic recovery being turned on like a switch. Then I will still have no work for them to do and then I really won't have anything left to pay them. I'm still paying my truck payments, rent, utilities, vendors, etc, etc., all the while NOT collecting any revenue over the next 8 weeks (if that's all it is).
Meh, not to worry, this too, shall pass. I've owned my own business a long time, and I've been broke before