Being a businesswoman during covid-19
2019 was an exceptional year for the Marice brand. Nope, I did not make the millions I hoped for, but I was steadily growing my brand and reputation, worked on some very cool projects, won some awards, and hopefully inspired some people along the way. When 2020 arrived, I just built on the successes of the previous year and things were looking bright.
I spent a good bit of money on developing a new natural skincare range, and even gave my very popular handmade range a refreshing facelift. My sales agents across the province were slowly but surely gaining some momentum, making some decent sales and building the brand. I felt that I was on the brink of something big, as there was always the odd e-mail from big name companies, even from abroad, showing keen interest, looking at possible business opportunities with me. I could go on, but I think it’s safe to say that I had plenty of reason to feel assured and inspired, because my dream was taking shape and I felt that I was in control of things.
Little did I know that covid-19 would come along and completely turn things upside down. Suddenly, the sales completely dropped, my business inbox became quiet – it was clear that there were huge problems!! Initially, I made some decent sales, even jumped on the sanitizer bandwagon (why not, I am in the business of skincare after all), but this was never going to be a sustainable alternative.
In the meantime, the kids took up a lot of my time, as I had to play teacher to a grade 1 daughter and grade 2 son, and babysitter to 1-year old Miles. Raising 3 kids is already an achievement in itself, but being the cleaner, teacher, businesswoman and wife while hubby had to work almost every day during the lockdown was definitely no walk in the park.
Thinking back, I don’t think I was ever prepared for all of these changes in such a short space of time. To be honest, I still don’t have the answer on how I am going to turn this ship around and get my business back on track. Right now it is important for me to unpack this whole situation, break it down into smaller, digestible pieces. All I know is that, when I decided in 2018 that I wanted to turn my side hustle into my main business, I knew that I had ventured into unchartered territory, at least within my relatively uncomplicated world. Never did the word “lockdown” feature in any of my planning or risk analyses. But covid-19 is here, and it made its presence felt in a massive way, not only its health impact, but how it impacted the economy. I am determined to prove to myself that even covid-19 won’t stand in the way of my dreams.
I guess the reason that I have decided to write these notes is for me to better unpack and understand my current reality, and hopefully to ignite a spark inside of me to say, stop this nonsense.. think hard, research, come up with new ideas and do whatever it takes to keep going. Perhaps there are people out there who go through similar challenges, who may just feel slightly better knowing that they are not alone..
In the coming days I might start to share my ideas and plans, or at the very least just talk about how I progress on this journey. If you have any wisdom to share or just want to comment on these thoughts, please feel free to do so. I’m feeling a lot better already!!
Marice
