Supporting business after Covid

We all thought that as the sun set on 31 December 2020 that it was the year to forget and to look forward to a New Year and a better business world in 2021. Since then, we have seen several lock downs, border closures, and the emergence of the Delta strain.

With the Delta breakout in Sydney proving to be hard to contain and the spread into several regional locations it seems that we are all in for a couple more months at least of, if not lockdown, at least restricted activities and travel.

How is this impacting on business? Online businesses seem to be doing well. Big business seems to be coping. Some sectors of the economy appear to be doing well – think real estate, home renovations, car retailers (provided that they can get stock) to name a few. 

But who is hurting the most? It seems that the burden is falling on small business, especially ‘bricks & mortar’ retail and tourism / hospitality. It is from here that we also see employees suffering – no income to the business means no work, no work means no pay. There is some state and federal government support, but is it going far enough? Can we / should we afford more?

It is these small businesses and the people that rely upon them that are facing the hardest of times. So what can we do to help them when the smoke of Covid starts to clear?

Support your local small businesses, shop locally. Holiday ‘local’; there is a lot to see across NSW. If you can afford it stop and buy a coffee from the local coffee shop – these are all small actions that mean a lot. Talk to your neighbour, they may be doing it tougher than they look. Ask people if they are OK; sometimes it’s just stopping to have a chat that makes their day that bit brighter.