This blog has to start the same way most communication starts today with...A Covid-19 Statement:
The writer of this blog encourages all readers to have washed hands, and that you have recently sanitized your screen and the keyboard/mouse you are using. It is also best if you are reading this from home since most of America is under "Stay at Home" orders. If you are reading this from work, please go back to doing the 'essential' things you need to do and come back and read this later! If you are sick; I wish you a speedy recovery and hope that you are following the recommendations of your health care professionals.
With that out of the way, I would like to talk about Covid-19. As a small business owner of a Transportation-Logistics company, my knowledge of the actual Virus is nothing... ( I should have become a doctor! Sorry mom) so this blog will focus on the impact it has had on small businesses like mine.
The U.S Government has recognized the importance of Small Businesses in America by passing the largest support Act for SMBs in history. The Cares Act has provided small business owners like me, with a means of securing funds/loans to keep business/commerce running during these difficult times.
The Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDA) programs were designed to help small business from a national level. States and local governments are also providing help and assistance to small businesses to help keep commerce running.
With all of this help, Small Business America is still having problems keeping people on payroll and their doors open and operating. There are still many things stacked against the Small Business in this battle.
I would like to share a small example in this battle, it highlights the logistics of small business operations, especially the timing issues we have encountered during this crisis.
I have read on social media outlets like Facebook, LinkedIn and in the general news people stating: "This is a crisis! its not the time to market your company", "This is not the time to make sales calls or network", "It's morally wrong to try and advance your 'Non-essential' products or services during this crisis".
Many larger companies are agreeing with this sentiment. Amazon has even stopped shipping "Non-essential products" into their distribution centers and limited some shipping out of these items.
Some stores have even moved to selling 'essential' items only.
I want to make it clear, I understand the need to ensure front line workers have access to the PPE, sanitize-rs, medical equipment they need to safely do their job. I am all for this. As a transportation warehouse company I have offered to move these products locally for free to assist in the supply chain of these "Essential" materials.
The real question though, in the interest of commerce is:
If someone has a company that has made baseball bats (I miss my baseball by the way) for 2 decades and employs many people, what are they to do? Are they to put their employees at further risk of closing the company for economic reasons because its not 'right' in these times to look for new customers?
Let me now share something that is happening to my company right now:
Work has slowed down, we have many customers that we provide fulfillment distribution for out of our warehouses, none of them make gloves or masks or wipes or disinfectants. They are clients that sell things people like/love but don't necessarily need. So the orders have fallen.
My personnel who package and ship out these items now have less to do. To keep them working and get them their normal paycheck. We have kept our employees and refuse to lay off or furlough anyone, or reduce their hours, although some have asked to work less. we have given our employees the option of assisting with marketing projects. They have been given computer time and marketing material to send out.
Here is an example of a quick email we sent out to our existing customer base:
The writer of this blog encourages all readers to have washed hands, and that you have recently sanitized your screen and the keyboard/mouse you are using. It is also best if you are reading this from home since most of America is under "Stay at Home" orders. If you are reading this from work, please go back to doing the 'essential' things you need to do and come back and read this later! If you are sick; I wish you a speedy recovery and hope that you are following the recommendations of your health care professionals.
With that out of the way, I would like to talk about Covid-19. As a small business owner of a Transportation-Logistics company, my knowledge of the actual Virus is nothing... ( I should have become a doctor! Sorry mom) so this blog will focus on the impact it has had on small businesses like mine.
The U.S Government has recognized the importance of Small Businesses in America by passing the largest support Act for SMBs in history. The Cares Act has provided small business owners like me, with a means of securing funds/loans to keep business/commerce running during these difficult times.
The Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDA) programs were designed to help small business from a national level. States and local governments are also providing help and assistance to small businesses to help keep commerce running.
With all of this help, Small Business America is still having problems keeping people on payroll and their doors open and operating. There are still many things stacked against the Small Business in this battle.
I would like to share a small example in this battle, it highlights the logistics of small business operations, especially the timing issues we have encountered during this crisis.
I have read on social media outlets like Facebook, LinkedIn and in the general news people stating: "This is a crisis! its not the time to market your company", "This is not the time to make sales calls or network", "It's morally wrong to try and advance your 'Non-essential' products or services during this crisis".
Many larger companies are agreeing with this sentiment. Amazon has even stopped shipping "Non-essential products" into their distribution centers and limited some shipping out of these items.
Some stores have even moved to selling 'essential' items only.
I want to make it clear, I understand the need to ensure front line workers have access to the PPE, sanitize-rs, medical equipment they need to safely do their job. I am all for this. As a transportation warehouse company I have offered to move these products locally for free to assist in the supply chain of these "Essential" materials.
The real question though, in the interest of commerce is:
If someone has a company that has made baseball bats (I miss my baseball by the way) for 2 decades and employs many people, what are they to do? Are they to put their employees at further risk of closing the company for economic reasons because its not 'right' in these times to look for new customers?
Let me now share something that is happening to my company right now:
Work has slowed down, we have many customers that we provide fulfillment distribution for out of our warehouses, none of them make gloves or masks or wipes or disinfectants. They are clients that sell things people like/love but don't necessarily need. So the orders have fallen.
My personnel who package and ship out these items now have less to do. To keep them working and get them their normal paycheck. We have kept our employees and refuse to lay off or furlough anyone, or reduce their hours, although some have asked to work less. we have given our employees the option of assisting with marketing projects. They have been given computer time and marketing material to send out.
Here is an example of a quick email we sent out to our existing customer base:
Laurie,
Jukebox Shipment
Thanks for your support and I hope that you and your family stay safe and healthy during this crisis.
With
so many working from home and a general slowdown to many in the supply
chain, I am reaching out to our customers, clients and vendors to see if
we can help each other out.
To
help out our small business I was wondering if you could take a few
minutes to say a few kind words about our services and working
relationship on one of our online review pages mainly our
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PAGE:
We would really appreciate any kind things you could say about us.
Thank You
With people working from home or staying home, we figured this would be a great time to get our customers attention when its not so busy for them. People who otherwise would send an email to me saying "Great job, thanks for your support" but would be too busy to go the extra step to help us with our online imaging, during this time would actually go online and help add to our Google reviews.
We had never requested anyone to do this for us before. It went over way better then we expected! I started getting text and emails telling me: 'Done', 'Happy to help, you guys Rock', 'My review submitted, you deserve it'
Here is the very first post. Our customer even sent me a snapshot of his post to my phone:
Thanks Cody for the nice words. Since this first review post its been amazing the response we have gotten, one after another. Here is the problem. Not one of these new reviews are showing up on our business google page. Not even this one from Cody. Why? Because of Covid-19!
Yes its true, even reviews on Google have been stopped because of Covid-19. Here is the Google posting of this notice:
After reading the 'Learn more' option Google explains that they are moving their resources to help the "Front Line and Essential businesses" during this time. Like I said earlier, that's great to redirect resources to help in this crisis, that's what I am doing as a SMB owner, when the work on the dock has slowed the dock workers move over to the office to help with marketing, or organization or even watching educational videos on warehousing, transportation and logistics so they can keep receiving a paycheck.
You would think by their policy that Google did the same thing. I don't know much about the inner workings at Google, but thanks to Google I learned that they reduced the hours of many workers due to Covid-19. They even setup a fund to help employees to:
" cover the company’s commitment to pay hourly service workers who are affected by reduced work schedules"
According to a Google press release.
So a small transportation logistics company like mine that continues to work, continues to pay employees, and offers to assist companies that do need help in the supply chain of essential materials, still cant get the support it needs from bigger organizations like Google.
I have counted on Google for years to help customers find our business, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on ad words etc with google because of how well they get my company front and center to those who need our services. This blog is not to bash Google in any way. Instead I am focusing on the struggles of timing for small businesses.
The timing is right for us to run this marketing campaign. People are at home, many in front of their computers. Our clients, vendors and partners are not deeply focused on their hectic day. Some are glad that they, right now, have enough time to show appreciation for those they work with. To submit a review publicly for someone they privately say "Thanks" to all the time.
During this time some people are online looking for new opportunities, partners, vendors that can help them. Could these reviews help us secure new business, new relationships? Could these reviews have helped a distribution manager of "essential" materials decide to reach out to us for services?
Even though Google may think advertising our business may not be 'essential' and those people out there who think writing this blog about such a small issue during a crisis borders on immoral, am I wrong to think its "essential" to keep paying my employees so they can keep feeding their families?
Right now if you go to our Google business page. You will find one review from someone we never asked to give us one but they took the time to do so anyway. 5 star rating!!! I want to add!
https://g.page/GatewayCrateAZ?gm
Where are all the new reviews? Why are they not showing up? Am I wrong to want to fine tune our web presence during these times? Is it wrong for us to keep our employees working by sending materials like this? Is there something wrong with me working and thinking this way during this crisis? Am I horrible and immoral to think and write about such a simple issue as this, during these trying times in an effort to keep my employees from filing for unemployment?
Let me know
Steven Tittle
Owner
www.gatewayot.com
www.gatewaycrateandfreight.com
www.delivexy.com
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