#togetherfortassie: Businesses working out new battle plans amid coronavirus restrictions
The coronavirus pandemic has forced thousands of small businesses to reinvent themselves as they fight for survival in a whole new operating environment.
Business
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LIFE as a small business operator can be tough at the best of times.
But local business owners in the retail, hospitality, food, fitness and arts industries are now being threatened by a global health crisis.
Hobart fitness instructor Hannah McDonald is among the savvy business owners adapting and evolving to meet the challenges of COVID-19.
Ms McDonald – who runs Burn Theory, a boxing and barre studio in Mathers Lane in the Hobart CBD – has devised what she’s calling the “corona battle plan”.
Concerned that members were struggling to make it to classes due to working from home and self-isolation, she came up with a plan to bring her studio to Tassie living rooms.
Ms McDonald is live-streaming two classes a day so people at home can take part live.
She is also offering weekly webinars on a range of relevant topics – such as how to create a daily self-care routine at home, how to manage work stress and ways to make healthy meals when you have only a handful of ingredients in the fridge.
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Initially Ms McDonald planned to keep her bricks-and-mortar studio open while running online classes as a free “virtual hug” for members during a stressful time.
But the Federal Government’s move to shut down gyms – along with cinemas, pubs, clubs, churches and dine-in services at restaurants and cafes – means her business now operates solely online.
Ms McDonald said she wanted to nurture the sense of community among Burn Theory members and instructors.
“We know that the whole world is changing and there will be more and more of us that will be working from home and stuck at home,” she said.
“We know that connecting and engaging and staying strong as a community is going to be particularly important as we’re all going to be quite isolated.
“I know that a lot of us are feeling that creeping, rising panic. Everyone is feeling pretty stressed and anxious right now, but we’re all here to support each other.”
Ms McDonald said there had never been a more important time to take care of ourselves – and each other.
“At this time, your health is the most important thing,” Ms McDonald said.
“Not many of us are used to working from home. Or staying home all the time. It’s a huge shift.
“And it can take its toll on your family and your relationships and your mental health.”
People are doing workouts with kids or partners. Those without hand weights are improvising with wine bottles or cans of baked beans. A mattress propped up against a wall is a great substitute for a boxing bag.
The online classes have been so popular that Ms McDonald hopes to continue them after the coronavirus threat has passed.
Meantime, Lily & Dot owner Katinka Dineen has stepped up her online activity to address a downturn of physical customers. Ms Dineen, a giftware retailer and an advocate for Elizabeth St’s Midtown shopping precinct, said business had been slow since the national bushfires, and coronavirus was another blow.
Many businesses in Midtown market themselves strongly within local Airbnbs, but the sharp reduction in tourists has hit hard.
Despite this, Ms Dineen said the support from locals has been heartening.
She has been offering free Australia-wide shipping and has also been dropping pre-paid items on doorsteps on her way home.
“We’ve had to innovate. We market ourselves to visitors. And now when they’re not coming … it’s a pretty scary time,” she said.
And the market is responding, despite current uncertainty.
“I put it down to perhaps that island mentality,” Ms Dineen said.
“Tasmanians are very big on supporting local.
“People will come in and perhaps they’ll just buy a greeting card, but they’ll say ‘I just wanted to come in and support you’.”
A popular part of Ms Dineen’s business is small group craft classes, which she is considering moving online.
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