Lockdown - The Juggling Act
After a recent conversation with Natalie Frost, owner of online gift store Pretty Little Personalised about the challenges of running a small business during these unprecedented times of COVID-19, I invited her to share some of her own experiences…
“I still remember back at the beginning of the year hearing about supply problems because of a virus in China and how everything was being shut down. I was quite naïve and didn’t really grasp what was happening. Little did I know it would soon be here in the UK.
When news started trickling in about Covid in the UK I still don’t think I knew the extent of what was ahead, did any of us?
When talk started about the closure of schools I remember thinking how lucky I was to have the ability to work from home and not have to worry about childcare. I really had no idea of the enormity of what was ahead.
At the beginning people were afraid to spend, work was quiet, and I had plenty of time to give my children. However, as they settled into their new routine of home working, knowing they would be paid either by employers or the generous furlough scheme, people started to spend again. Weddings may have been cancelled, but there were still birthdays, anniversaries and people needed gifts. Whether it be in the way of Ange B Designs stunning jewellery or a funny mug for Grandad from myself at Pretty Little Personalised, these occasions were still happening. Unable to go out and celebrate people were more determined than ever to make them special.
Sales picked up and the juggling act of running a business during lockdown began. Deciding when to work, when to spend with family, go out for a walk, check in on loved ones, organise food shopping in advance as top-up shops just weren’t possible and last minute fast food options were all shut.
Working from home isn’t easy for anyone, whether working for yourself or someone else, everyone has deadlines to meet, targets to achieve and a level of work that you would usually be expected to achieve without suddenly becoming a teacher overnight as well as a full time maid and cook all at the same time.
I found myself schooling my children, whilst posting to social media, sketching new designs and talking to customers. Is it ideal? No, but we have managed. We’re all still happy, healthy and taking each day as it comes.
Christmas is a busy time for small businesses in the gift sector such as myself and Ange B Designs and the pandemic has felt comparable that. With people unable to get to shops and to see loved ones, they turned to the internet to source gifts and well wishes. I have found myself working past midnight, only to get up again at 6.30 and start all over again just to get orders done in a timely manner. In the days of prime, people aren’t willing to wait for post anymore. The postal service has suffered severe delays due to staff shortages and more people relying on shopping online. So I have always got orders out as quickly as possible to avoid making people wait.
I found myself crippled with ‘mum guilt’ for allowing them more screen time than I dare admit, just so I could get work done but I have to remind myself, we’re all in the same boat and this won’t last forever.
As the world begins to open up again, as a small business owner, I have realised I have the ability to dig even deeper than I ever thought possible and to add several more balls to the juggling act. As a small business I feel extremely lucky to be versatile and adaptable even in the case of a global pandemic!”