What Some Small Businesses Are Doing to Thrive in a Pandemic Economy

Photo by Alex Knight on Unsplash

By Olivia Wieseler, Messy Details Contributor

COVID-19 has upended the economy, and those hit particularly hard have been small businesses throughout the country. According to a May survey by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one in five small businesses are only a couple months away from locking up shop permanently.

However, for some, this is just another challenge to be met head on.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs are some of the most tenacious and resilient people in our country because of their constant determination and willpower to not just make ends meet, but to provide a good or service to the public. In fact, some have even managed to turn barely surviving the economic crisis to thriving in it, according to an April Yelp report. Who are these resilient businesses and what are they doing to thrive in the midst of a pandemic economy?

Fitness Services

While many local gyms and fitness centers have been forced to close their physical spaces due to health concerns and safety, some fitness companies got innovative. Camp Gladiator, a Dallas-based fitness company founded in 2008 by Jeff and Ally Davidson (a winner of NBC’s American Gladiator), quickly pivoted to a virtual workout space, which was made easier through their trainer income model.

“Camp Gladiator is like 1,000 small businesses rolled up into one medium business, because each of our trainers are local owner operators that collect the profits of their own locations,” Davidson told Forbes. With this internal set up and their virtual presence, Camp Gladiator acquired around 20,000 more customers and $700,000 since it launched two months ago.

But it is not just the fitness services that are finding new ways to thrive during the pandemic. Fitness equipment companies are also seeing a surge in revenue as many people are looking into building their own at-home gyms. Tech startups like Mirror, FightCamp, and Ergatta have built on this demand by offering innovative fitness equipment perfect for quarantined workouts.

Local Grocery Markets

Deemed essential businesses from the beginning, it is no surprise that grocery stores’ business has been booming as people panic buy and stock up. However, it is not just the big corporate stores that are making bank. Local markets are seeing their profits ramp up as well.

In Oakland, Calif., local bakeries have customers lined up out the door, six feet apart of course. In D.C., small grocery stores like Each Peach and Mom’s are constantly stocking their shelves only to have them cleared soon after they’re full. Because of their smaller size, it seems many consumers feel safer in these markets, away from the large crowds and long lines trailing the big grocers. The small size has also allowed easy implementation of safer practices and guidelines such as curbside pickup and the number people allowed in the store at one time.

Wine and Alcohol

While the bars and pubs are closed until further notice, wine and liquor stores are working around the clock to keep up with demand, as alcohol sales for off-premise consumption have risen compared to this time last year, according to Nielsen data.

One wine business that is playing this trend to its advantage is Kingston Family Vineyards, a business based in Portola Valley, Calif., with a 350-acre vineyard in Casablanca Valley in Chile. As revenue went down after declarations of “state of emergency” were made in the U.S. and Chile, the family business shifted to virtual wine tastings and advanced shipping.

“Based on these virtual tastings, we’ve made up a lot of revenue with a totally new business,” Kingston told Forbes. “The bright light in the darkness is what we can do.”

It’s not a huge surprise, though, that alcohol sales are on the rise. Whether it is the stress over an economic crisis, the ambition to make homemade hand sanitizer, or feeling stir-crazy stuck at home, some people are looking to alcohol for help. “People are buying in mass hysteria,” owner of Michigan-based B&B Liquor Mike Thompson told MLive.com.

Telehealth Services

Of course, one of the industries that saw a boom from the beginning of the pandemic is the telehealth/telemedicine industry. “Telehealth is being rediscovered,” AmWell Chief Medical Officer Dr. Peter Antall said to The New York Times back in March. Companies like Ro, Teledoc and MDLive have been providing free online assessments to diagnose COVID-19, according to an article in The Guardian.

While testing for COVID-19 has increased since the outbreak at the beginning of the year, telehealth still remains a prominent service. Not only has it screened COVID-19 symptoms, it also provides a safer alternative for receiving healthcare while the coronavirus is at large. Antall told Fast Company that the goal is to keep patients out of waiting rooms when they have no need of hospitalization.

It’s All About Flexibility

The running theme that threads itself through all of these businesses is their ability to be flexible—with their consumer market, their business operations, their collaboration with other companies, etc. Home cleaning services began disinfecting building entrances. Distilleries have shifted to making hand sanitizer. Dine in restaurants are investing in services like curbside pickup. One grocery store even partnered with a hotel to employ recently laid off hotel workers.

Being flexible is the nature of local businesses and entrepreneurship, and it is why America’s small businesses can pull through this pandemic. It will take a lot of innovation and collaboration, but if they can imitate the work some of these companies are doing, small businesses might just come out this pandemic on the other side.