Small Businesses Getting Creative In These Tough Times

Many local business were already way ahead of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis when he declared on April 1 that all nonessential businesses needed to close their doors.

Sensing the bad news was inevitable, some had already begun adapting in order to stay alive.

John Thrasher, the owner of Excel Music in New Tampa (see ad on pg. 18), and Larry Bigel of Tampa Fine Arts Academy (TFAA) in Wesley Chapel, both are able to provide all of their lessons online.

Thrasher said Excel began the transition the first week in March, with some students choosing to go online. Following spring break, everything went online, and students were able to keep their same teachers.

“We did it quickly and on the early side,” Thrasher says. “We beat the governor’s stay-at-home order by a couple of weeks. Anytime you transition, there are going to be some bumps, but for the most part, it’s actually gone pretty smoothly. We’re seeing a lot of smiling faces.”

Thrasher is still paying rent on a building he can’t use, and wonders if this is the new normal. However, he is trying to keep things as normal as possible.

I think it’s kind of the same with everyone,” he says. “We had a recital scheduled for June, and we’ve already made the decision we’re gonna do it. Maybe it will be a virtual recital, but we feel it’s important to still have goals (for our students) to work towards.”

For Bigel, whose academy was formerly located in New Tampa — he says TFAA transitioned 600 students to 100-percent online by March 23 — it was all about keeping the students and teachers safe and the business viable.

“Thankfully, you can never catch a disease over the internet,” he says.

While a host of the area’s non-essential businesses will have no choice but to close down for the next month, the ones that can incorporate video conferencing technology like Zoom, or even FaceTime, are finding ways to survive.

James Serrano, above, who owns Pinot’s Palette in the Shoppes at New Tampa, had already temporarily converted his Wesley Chapel studio — which specializes in large group gatherings with wine drinking and painting — into a stay-at-home, do-it-yourself painting “experience” by selling kits that included paint, brushes, a canvas and instructions.

“We basically had to do something,” says Serrano. “We were worried.”

On the first day of selling the take-home kits, he arrived to find a line of cars. Some ended up waiting for more than an hour because Serrano was overwhelmed by the turnout. Most of the cars were occupied by eager parents looking for ways to keep their children occupied.

Serrano also turned to virtual classes and hosted his first virtual private party for a church group — 13 women painting the same picture who were able to converse with each other online as they did so.

He also has delivered kits to people who have requested them, and even filled an order to be shipped to Puerto Rico.

Although some adults have asked if he could include Pinot’s usually-present wine with their order (he’s still looking into it), he says his No. 1 customers now are kids, as parents have to constantly be entertaining their homebound youngsters.

Because Serrano still has to pay rent on a studio he isn’t using, he isn’t making money right now. However, he is staying afloat and hopeful things can return to normal sometime soon.

 Steve Falabella, the owner of 900º Woodfired Pizza in the Shops at Wiregrass, has been helped by an idea to sell pizza kits — complete with a hearty ball of dough, sauce, cheese and cooking directions — that he says he saw in an article a friend sent him from a New Jersey newspaper. 

He tested the concept, put it on sale and says he sold 200-300 kits in the first 4-5 days.

 “It’s giving people something to do while they’re stuck at home, and they could still get good pizza,” Falabella says.

The post Small Businesses Getting Creative In These Tough Times appeared first on Neighborhood News.