Small business, big stress — real life in a pandemic

I believe the disconnect between small businesses and the rest of society needs to be bridged somehow. I will try and do that here.

This the reality of most small businesses.

On average, in Newfoundland and Labrador, our small businesses do not record a high level of profit. The main reason is that business owners pay themselves a salary from their business and then pay personal income tax on that money. The average small business owner in this province makes $55,000 a year.

Most businesses do not last five years and when they fail they often take the life savings of the business owner, and also savings from friends and family members who lent money to the business owner. The business owner is usually saddled with personal debt, like lines of credit and credit card debt, that can result in personal bankruptcy and also marriage stress that may lead to marriage breakdown. I have personally experienced all of the above.

This is under normal times.

Since 2012, the economy of Newfoundland and Labrador has been spiralling downwards due to the reduction in oil prices and the conclusion of megaprojects with no real prospects of new ones on the horizon. In my business, my best year of revenue was 2013.

Fast-forward to March 2020. I believed at the time that this was a multi-year event that would bring the world’s economies to their knees. I still do. I have no pension and most of my dream of retirement is in my business. I acknowledge I will work into my seventies if I am able to. By April 1st, 2020, without the CEBA (Canadian Emergency Business Account, a federal program that provides interest-free loans), my company would not have been able to pay its bills.

Most people do not realize how many businesses rely on the sales from the weekend/ week just to make payroll on Friday. Snowmageddon was a big hit to many of us, and most of us, like fishermen of olden days, are looking forward to the spring to pay off debts that we accumulate to survive the winter, which is slower for most businesses. I often forego some of my paycheques just to get through the winter. The cost of operating is higher with heating and snowclearing, and usually business is slower, especially for seasonal businesses.

As well, many of us rely on the summer months to accumulate savings to make it through the winter. For many of us that did not happen in 2020 to the same extent.

My reaction on March 11, 2020 (Before Newfoundland and Labrador was even closed down) was to stop all nonnecessary spending. I laid off all my staff after explaining to them why. I cancelled garbage collection, turned off the heat, worked every day and was on call. I canceled literally everything that was not necessary, personal and business, and renegotiated everything else. Pay-as-yougo cellphones, cancelled/ changed internet/phone providers, you name it. I did not register and I stopped driving and insuring my truck. I did not register my utility trailer. I renegotiated my rent to 50 per cent less All these actions reduced my spending by 40 per cent. I reduced my paycheque by 25 per cent. I also pivoted to add new services that were in demand. I also applied for every government program I could.

All this got me to April 2021. I will tell you that after Lockdown 2.0 I was back into the CEBA. My bank account would have been negative without the $40,000 from last April and, of that, $30,000 has to be paid back. Over the last year, I never stopped being vigilant. I have treated every $100 like $1,000. Without

this approach, I would not have survived. Government help only goes so far.

Overlaid on top of this reality is my belief that we are only at the beginning of the economic devastation that is coming.

So, when people make statements that taxing greedy, rich business people will be the solution — when I am literally just surviving every day with no parachute and a belief that there is no bright light at the end of the tunnel — unless we all pull together (which I really see no sign of), you might be able to understand why I believe that our public service and governments should be at the table right now trying to figure out how we are all going to survive, and not getting raises and vilifying the small business people who are, and always have been, the backbone of this country, and who have a very dark and uncertain path ahead.