Over the last couple of years being a business owner has been a wild ride of survival. Many businesses failed to make it this far as it has been rough and then some. Thankfully we will make it as that is what we do as we have measures in place for the unexpected.
I got onto this post tonight from something I was reading knowing about the increased electricity prices hitting Europe. My brother mentioned yesterday that prices had literally doubled and his gas fire place will be unused this winter and will just wear a jersey instead. Food and energy are basics we cannot do without of and just have to battle through this trying period. What if you are a small family business that uses electricity every day as you have no choices left open to you.
A small coffee shop in Ireland got their electricity bill for the months of June and July (73 days) of nearly €10K or €1K per week. That is a hell of a lot of coffee cakes and sandwiches to sell just to cover costs. The scary part is these prices will only rise which will force the smaller businesses to close down. There is no relief as there is only so much you can charge for coffee and cake.
A small coffee shop maybe family run can not swallow huge increases as you end up working for free and maybe even a loss. There is a big difference to making a living and just getting by knowing many businesses took a hit during lockdowns as when do you say it is not worth it?
Normally you can plan for the unexpected but this like a restaurant you need the appliances operating in order to trade. There is a limit for what you can charge as you cannot double your prices as your customers will only pay so much. Those customer shave less to spend so the first to be dropped from the family budget is the coffee shop visit.
The convenience store has fridges that chew electricity and they are under threat even though business has probably been steady for years. They at least have a fighting chance and would expect them to outlast the coffee shops and restaurants.
I just feel so sorry for this type of business as there are no answers to solve this. You have two choices either to battle on and go out of business or close up now and try and keep what you have to reopen again when this has blown over. Either way you are screwed and there is no winning solution.