Small businesses in Canada are being hardest hit by the affects of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Angie Greene, President of the Yarmouth and Area Chamber of Commerce, says many of their members are trying to be as prepared as they possibly can, just in case.
“We’ve been hearing from small businesses in general as they’re face with the hard decision of trying to maintain the line between keeping their business operating and following the guidelines of the provincial government and they’re adapting really quickly.”
She says most are just trying to handle the situation day-to-day.
“We’re all waiting for more guidance from the provincial government. As we see, there has been cases in the province and we’re waiting to see if stricter guidelines do apply but we’re trying to walk the line between being very community minded and responsible and, at the same time, trying to keep the economy going as much as possible.”
Greene says we’re seeing the start of the effects of the virus on the economy.
“As a business adapts to less people coming in their doors, especially the front lines like the movie theatres, the restaurants, the hotels, the event planners, they’re already feeling it…and they can only cut back so much before they run in to their fixed expenses. I know there’s a lot of people out there right now wondering what’s going to happen and wondering day to day how it’s going to impact their year, so it’s already here but, as the next few weeks roll out, we’re going to feel it, I think, even more.”
Many businesses have had to cut back on hours of operation and, in some cases, they are planning for a worst case scenario while hoping for the best.
