By MIYAH SANBORN

In the midst of this global pandemic, many local, small businesses have managed to adjust and adapt to this new normal. 

 Business owners have had to make various changes to follow the restrictions and regulations of the pandemic. Social distancing, wearing masks, washing their hands, and sanitizing have been the main concerns for keeping everyone safe. 

 “I think the biggest change we’ve had to make is inside our own shop, social distancing.” Says Kamrun Parveen, owner of Cheesewalla. “So we’ve made little rules like wear masks while working and wash your hands even more than before. We’ve also kind of changed the way we plate our food now, before we were urging everyone to eat here, and now that indoor dining is banned, we do to go food.” 

 Eric Escudero, who owns the small landscaping business Harvester Landscape, has had his own difficulties working under the conditions of the global pandemic.

“Because my work is outside and we are an essential business, meaning we are in construction or the landscaping maintenance industry, we can still work” Escudero says. “But we have to be really cautious, wear masks, keep our hands clean, make sure our employees are safe. So yeah, it’s been more difficult.” 

 Not only do businesses have to keep their customers safe, but they also have to keep themselves and their employees protected from Covid-19. 

 Coronavirus has affected multiple types of small businesses world wide, whether it’s a restaurant, clothing store, landscaping business, or any other type of business, all have been affected in their own ways. 

Featured in the image above are the owners of Cheesewalla, Kamrun Parveen and Kadir Fakir where they are promoting their business Cheesewalla at Market Night. (Photo credit to Sherie Escudero)

 “Covid has affected my business by reducing business because so on the projects I had lined up to execute were stopped because the people who manage the facilities were staying home, they stopped production. Therefore it affected my business by cutting my income down because we were unable to do those projects.” Says Escudero. 

 There have been numerous chances, due to our generations technology, for using online features to boost business during social distancing. Businesses have used the internet to sell their products, deliver their food, and used apps such as zoom to conduct their meetings. 

 “So we did start a contract with GrubtoGo, and we’ve noticed it’s actually worked pretty good.” Says Parveen.  

 Although our world has changed enormously over the last few months, small businesses have learned to utilize the many online features available in our society, and adapt to what the world has become.