In my opinion, all local businesses are essential businesses. It follows that small business is the backbone of our community, and the foundation upon which our country is built.
According to Yelp, and a few other business research sites, more than 60% of the businesses that shuttered during the “pandemic” have closed permanently.
But I remain open for business.
Not simply open, but steadily increasing bookings back to the high volume Princess Party business (40-45 parties a month) I was used to before this started last year.
If you are wondering how a niche business like Princess Parties manages in today’s environment, I’ll tell you.
A business model featuring low overhead, no employees, a service that people want, a niche catering to young children, and, relationships which delivered mutual support in difficult times, is capable of withstanding hardship.
This whole situation has served to make certain what I have always found to be true:
What makes the future bright is humanity. For all our faults, the key is imagination. If we cannot imagine what the future might be, then we cannot create anything.
Without imagination there is no dream to be fulfilled.
When you stand back from it all, you can see why a place so appealing to a child’s imagination is able to hold steady and thrive under circumstances which others cannot.
So while none of us, regardless of whether we’re holding a job, operating a business, or at home taking care of a family, has any experience in dealing with the types of conditions we’ve had thrown at us, still we overcome.
It would have been easy to drown in fear.
The past 18 months have been tough. It brought all sorts of uncertainty, hardship and adaptations to changing circumstances.
Many businesses were hurt. More than I can bear to know had to slow down, stop and start. And now we hear close to 67% that closed may be gone for good. Somehow, they became non-essential?
Well, I’m here to say that Lisa Rose is still quite an essential service in my town as far as my customers are concerned. We had to hunker down like everyone else, and we’ve made our adjustments to deal with local ordinance, which have been more strident than many other places.
But, I’ll tell you, my clientele has not lost their enthusiasm for the services we offer.One more thing. My Princess Party business caters to a certain niche. It can’t be replaced by a “big box” retailer of birthday parties.
No matter how they might try, it just isn’t the same.
The kids know it and so do their parents.So my point is, while my venue was not technically on the list of essential businesses when all this started, it has proven to be beyond essential, as a near necessity. What allows me to say that?
The relief in a parents’ voice when they book a party knowing their kid can get out of the house and have some fun, and the happiness on their child’s face when they arrive.
How is that non-essential?
We’ve held our own during peak uncertainty and expect to return to normal. My overhead has actually decreased because I have no staff, and because of cooperation amongst landlords, vendors and so on in order to weather a storm, not be devoured by it.
So, if it had to happen, a high profit margin business like this is best suited to navigate the waters. Birthday celebrations are an important human event in what an anthropologist would term “social equilibrium.” They keep things real, it’s how we mark time, and they’re not going anywhere.
