The coronavirus has affected businesses large and small. For many, survival has depended largely on their abilities to adapt to the ever-changing rules and recommendations put out by local, state, and federal authorities. As English author H.G. Wells once famously said, “Adapt or perish.”
Since the outbreak began and non-essential businesses were ordered to close their doors to the general public, all kinds of creative solutions were concocted by business owners. Sit-down restaurants began offering take-out and selling unused ingredients as groceries; retail stores offered curbside pick-up and upped their online game; and delivery services started doing “contactless delivery,” all in an effort to keep their businesses from going under while keeping their customers safe.
One San Diego house painting company, PaintGreen, was able to keep their business going and keep their employees working by making a few small changes to the way they operated and the way they marketed their services.
With people told to stay home and to only interact with their immediate families in their households, PaintGreen decided they needed to change their company’s focus a bit. Rather than advertising their interior home painting and kitchen cabinet painting services, PaintGreen decided to market the exterior house painting side of their business. In an article by PaintGreen owner Jon Ray, he called exterior house painting a “quarantine-safe activity,” since it can be done without ever entering a customer’s home. In addition, it’s a service during which the proper social distance can be maintained at all times. Even the initial consultation the painting company typically does with their customers was able to be conducted outside while keeping a safe distance.
PaintGreen also marketed their business to other businesses looking to have their offices and retail spaces painted. Since many offices and shops were sitting largely empty with employees working remotely, PaintGreen encouraged business owners to take advantage of the situation and freshen up their offices a bit with a new coat of paint.
Ray also encouraged people to support their local small business community during the shelter-in-place orders, saying, “If you are in a position to make a purchase from a locally owned and operated business, please do so!” He reasoned, “When you hire a local company, your money helps support hard-working San Diego families, who can then, in turn, make purchases from other San Diego businesses and keep the economy from suffering in this difficult time.”
It remains to be seen how the coronavirus outbreak will affect the economy long-term, but it’s likely that any small business that survives it will come out of it stronger as a result.
To learn more about San Diego painting company PaintGreen, visit their website at https://www.paintgreen.com/
