An Okotoks business owner didn’t expect to have to prepare for a pandemic when she developed her business plan last year.
“Nowhere did you ever think you’d need a pandemic contingency in your business plan,” said Regan Dickson-Nerbas, owner of An Honest Room. “You’re planning for anything, trying to keep any possibility open, and that was not one that I had ever considered.”
She held a soft opening of her home décor shop and interior design business, located on North Railway Street next to Homeground, on March 14. The next day, the Province announced in a press conference it would be closing all schools.
By Wednesday of her first week of being open, Dickson-Nerbas closed her doors. She said it had reached the point where being open was making her nervous.
“Everyone around me was closing as well, and it just got a little to the point where it didn’t feel good being open,” she said. “You just didn’t know what the risk was and what the risk to people coming in was.
“The people who were coming in were very good about social distancing, but it’s still nerve-racking. You have to input your information into the card machine if you can’t tap, people are coming in contact with all kinds of surfaces in the store.”
Though she closed her physical doors for the time being, Dickson-Nerbas hasn’t thrown in the towel. She launched her website last week, www.anhonestroom.com, and her merchandise can be purchased directly.
Dickson-Nerbas is doing the doorstep deliveries herself, throughout the Foothills area and even into south Calgary.
She said the government’s wage subsidies won’t help because she had no employees to pay – but also considers herself lucky for the same reason because there were no layoffs.
However, she said the fixed and operating costs are still there, and she hopes the online business can help cover those expenses. It’s harder to advertise and raise awareness of a web-based store as opposed to a brick-and-mortar shop, she said.
“I have a good location, I’m very lucky being next to Homeground because I get a lot of foot traffic that way,” said Dickson-Nerbas. “This transition is huge.”
She’s had some support locally. Her banker visited the store the day she decided to close, and she said after their conversation she felt reassured that her business would be okay.
In addition, her suppliers have stepped up and are holding orders she placed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak so she’s not overwhelmed with product while the doors are closed.
“That has been a life-saver,” said Dickson-Nerbas. “I’m hoping to be able to reopen once this has passed and kind of start from scratch.”
She said when that day comes, there will be a large grand opening celebration.
Though her exciting venture took an unexpected turn with the pandemic, Dickson-Nerbas said she’s dealing with it as best she can and is grateful for the support of the business community in Okotoks.
“Everyone’s been so kind and welcoming,” she said. “There definitely is a sense of everyone’s in it together, which as a new business owner that is so amazing to see, and so reassuring.”
It’s a little more difficult to navigate for Barb Jegou, who owns Okotoks-based travel agency Kodachrome Travel Connections.
Her work has ground to a halt since the beginning of March, when COVID-19 cases began to surface in North America and people began reconsidering their travel plans.
“Nobody is travelling and everybody is changing everything and cancelling, and there’s a lot of fear,” said Jegou. “It’s pretty bad.”
There are some people in wait-and-see mode, because their travel is scheduled for later in the year, she said. But many of the people who were supposed to depart in the spring are either deferring or – worse – requesting full refunds.
Refunding travel is hard on the business’ bottom line, she said.
“In my industry, when you want total refunds that means all the money that I’ve received I need to pay back,” said Jegou. “It’s pretty devastating.”
She said handling her customers’ requests has been whirlwind, but she’s now settled to a point where all her client files are either complete or on hold until travel restrictions are lifted.
To make matters worse, Jegou has an autoimmune disease, which means she can’t meet in-person with any clients. Her agency is home-based, and before March she was in the process of arranging an office space to meet with clients – but is now self-isolating.
“Because of my immune system I have to kind of stay away from people,” she said. “This is not going to be an easy time over the next little while.”
Her husband is semi-retired and Kodachrome is Jegou’s only source of income.
She said the government EI supports will help, and though she’s not sure exactly how it will pan out yet, Jegou said she is eligible for the new self-employment assistance for some short-term relief.
“I am going to be able to access some things, which will ease the burden,” she said.
Overall, she said she hopes people remember that this will pass and the travel industry will rebound. It will be safe to take vacations and explore the world again soon, but she also wants to remind all travellers of one important consideration: insurance.
“You won’t get 100 per cent back, you’ll get about 75 per cent back, but please save yourself grief because you never know what’s going to happen,” said Jegou. “I think that’s the biggest thing that’s come out of this.”
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
COVID-19 UPDATE: Follow our COVID-19 special section for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.
