Features
open we stand: small business stories
The Ask: Interview business owners who pivoted to stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The articles appeared on one of GoDaddy's microsites, Open We Stand, to provide other entrepreneurs with ideas and tools on how to keep operating while many businesses closed.
The SnapBar shifted, but it’s still making smiles.
Imagine nurturing your idea to become a real business. It takes off and is soon named one of the fastest growing companies in the country by Inc. magazine. Then, after years of hard work and success, it comes to a screeching halt — overnight. That’s what The SnapBar’s co-founder Sam Eitzen experienced when COVID-19 moved into the country, resulting in a deluge of canceled events that devastated his photo booth rental business. To stay afloat, he and his team did the unexpected. They created another startup. It was the beginning of March when Sam and his team started to grasp how dire the situation was becoming. As human interactions were being limited, they knew it was only a matter of time before events — their company’s bread and butter — would start disappearing. “It was like the floodgates opened of event postponements and cancellations. And so, where there might have been some hope at the beginning of March, it honestly dissipated very quickly,” says Sam. As sales plummeted, Sam knew if he was going to keep his team employed, he needed a plan. He spent the night coming up with 50 ideas to pivot The SnapBar. He met with his brother, also a SnapBar co-founder, and their team to whittle the ideas down to one winner. “It was the cooling down of a lot of crazy ideas. Some of the ones where we liked the idea, we just realized if we were being honest with ourselves, we're not the right team for this.” Four days after his marathon brainstorm session, Sam and his team landed on a seemingly simple solution: care packages. Not just your average box of gifts, but rather a city-specific bundle with curated items — like chocolate, coffee, and candles — from local shops. It was a double win: The SnapBar could stay afloat while also helping local businesses get money for the unused inventory gathering dust in their closed shops. Businesses and customers alike were delighted by The SnapBar’s new venture, which they dubbed: Keep Your City Smiling, a nod to their flagship business. “The vendors, some of them have almost been in tears. When you're able to sell 300 of something that had been sitting on a shelf...” explains Sam. “We've had seriously emotional text messages and letters from people that have purchased boxes for their friends and family. It's pretty incredible.” Keep Your City Smiling sold 1,300 boxes their first month and has expanded to include San Francisco, Portland and Los Angeles, plus a special box dedicated to healthcare workers. Sam and his team have been working around the clock to keep The SnapBar open using virtual photo booths, which they’ve recently launched, while simultaneously running the new business. It’s been an adjustment not just for Sam, but his entire team. They’ve transformed from event specialists to customer support overnight, which is why he advises other small business owners to rely on their teams but also be realistic about capabilities and lean on the talent around you. “I think if you’re like, ‘Okay, I'm going to hunker down. It's me. I started this business. I'm going to restart this business.’ If you buy into that, and I know that that's the temptation, you discount incredible minds, work ethic and innovative spirits.” Sam also recommends leading by example for the benefit of the team and being transparent about business decisions. “We haven't cut anyone's pay but ours, my brother and I took a 50 percent pay cut. And then the leadership team started voluntarily cutting their own pay.” Perhaps the most difficult piece of advice Sam has for fellow entrepreneurs is to accept that your shift might not work as needed to retain the revenue, headcount, or even products that you’re accustomed to. "The hardest part is wrestling with the elation and joy that our pivot is working, and then the harsh realization that it's still not enough.” Sam is realistically optimistic about the future, but he knows the journey ahead is long. “Things suck right now. And it might even get worse before it gets better, but historically it’s always gotten better.”
DedCool doubles down on dedication to well-being.
Everything around us has changed, possibly for a while. But DedCool’s founder Carina Chaz isn’t letting that notion phase her — she’s never really been one to adhere to the norm. That’s why when COVID-19 hit her hometown of Los Angeles, she did what she always does: reflected on what really matters and allowed herself to have an authentic response. Carina grew up in a household where clean, organic products were the only ones allowed. Her parents were always cautious of what they put in their bodies, on their skin and into the world. This virtuous upbringing laid the foundation for her company, DedCool, a fragrance brand specializing in non-toxic ingredients, sustainable practices and edgy design. All her perfumes are unisex, vegan and never watered down. Now, Carina is reinforcing her dedication to her roots by focusing on what serves people's well-being in this moment. It was on March 13 that the effects of the virus really “hit the fan” as Carina puts it. It was her team’s last day in the office as, like many others, they were about to begin self quarantine. It was also the day she launched her environmentally conscious, biodegradable laundry soap, Dedtergent. She’d been working on it for nearly two years, and she couldn’t help but feel like her big reveal had been lost in the noise. “Initially, I was disheartened. I felt as though all my hard work was kind of wasted. But at the same time, it couldn't have launched on a more perfect day.” Carina realized people don’t really need perfume now, they need essentials — like detergent. “There's no real point for me to create another perfume, because I'm not wearing fragrance at this time. I use candles. I use Dedtergent. These are things that I need every day. So, I always think as the consumer because I am the consumer. I’m thinking how I can continue to promote wellness.” Carina decided to turn disappointment into opportunity. She took hundreds of t-shirts intended for the launch event, tie-dyed them and put them up for sale on her website, with 50 percent of the proceeds going to the CDC. Thanks to her refreshed outlook, she managed a quick pivot that could simultaneously help her business and community. After her initial epiphany, Carina knew there was more she could do. The answer was right in front of her: alcohol. Not to drink, but to disinfect. Many suppliers were unable to fulfill alcohol orders, but she was sitting on a surplus. “All of the raw materials in hand sanitizer are ingredients we already have. Alcohol is a main ingredient in fragrance,” she explained. With alcohol on hand, plus essential oils sitting in her lab, Carina created her own version of hand sanitizer, which she calls “rinse-free hand wash.” She stayed true to her brand by incorporating a touch of soothing aloe and other organic extracts to make a sanitizer that not only disinfects, but also nourishes. “DedCool is a wellness brand, and we're not going to compromise anything for this crazy virus.” Since then, Carina’s slowed her perfume manufacturing to a crawl, knowing that it’s not what people need most now. Instead she’s spending more time on hand sanitizer, which is in high demand. She’s working tirelessly to make sure she can provide as much as possible, even though scarce raw materials are making it harder to produce at full capacity. “I know there will be a want and a need for more. So, I'm going to continue creating them. It just has to be at a slower pace.” Carina is donating 50 percent of the sales from her sought-after sanitizer to Meals on Wheels to help keep older Americans safe and nourished. Carina’s motto has been to care for people first, shift her business second, and stay true to herself and her brand’s mission throughout. She advises other entrepreneurs to do the same. “We're going to stand by our values, continue to create really beautiful products and promote wellness,” she explains. You have to “figure out some way to help the community, then find a way you can shift business to give people what they need. Make things accessible. Make things price friendly. Figure out how to work with your network.” She says it could be something as simple as promoting a brand on your Instagram account, ordering from your favorite restaurant or getting your groceries from the local shop down the street. “I’m really hoping this has taught our society something and people hopefully will do whatever they can to make a difference in their life and create a better environment for our planet, our people.”
For Antonelli’s, the time to innovate is now.
It was on their honeymoon that John Antonelli turned to his wife Kendall and proclaimed his plan to go into the cheese business. The Antonellis have always loved food, particularly fine cheeses. In 2010, they transformed their passion into a business, and Antonelli’s Cheese Shop in Austin was born. Ten years on, Antonelli’s is known for bringing delicious, cut-to-order cheese from local farmers to the people, providing local restaurants with artisanal varieties and hosting tasting events. It touts a “Do good, eat good” motto, meaning all cheese and accoutrements come from producers who do right by their employees and livestock, while using ethical production methods to create exquisite products. Right now, the Antonellis, like so many other business owners, are being forced to adapt to the ever-changing situation around us. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s pushed them to act on new ideas. It was early March when John and Kendall first heard that South by Southwest, a mega-conference that usually draws massive crowds and business to the city, would be canceled this year due to COVID-19. The news sparked action — and anxiety. They hunkered down for an all-night strategy session to map out how Antonelli’s could keep moving as their city shut down. “All our clients — restaurants, hotels, caterers — canceled their orders almost immediately. And from there, our business dropped off by 95 percent in the span of three days,” explains John. Over the next 10 days, John and Kendall reinvented their business. They moved quickly to offer curbside pickup — even before the official lockdown order was announced — to protect their team and customers. They ramped up online and phone orders, and updated their website to explain how Antonelli’s would function during COVID-19. “I think it was 11 in the morning that me and my manager made that decision. And by one, we had curbside rolled out, phone orders rolled out and online orders rolled out — in two hours,” John recalls. Next, they transformed in-person events into virtual ones. With only a vague idea how to do it, they moved everything to Facebook Live and improvised. “We're just rolling with it. And it's real and it's who we are. And so far, I think owning that has been our best branding ever,” says Kendall. Some days are successful, others more challenging. But one thing John and Kendall never expected to find in the midst of a pandemic was the motivation to launch ideas they’ve shelved for months or even years. “Throughout this whole COVID-19 thing, we've just been going under the mantra of progress, not perfection. We'd always waited for things to be perfect to launch them, and now we don't have that luxury,” explains Kendall. Topping their list of newly implemented ideas is a new YouTube channel and a Cheesemonger Live feature, which gives customers a virtual peek into cheese cases and lets them video chat with experts while selecting produce. John and Kendall continue to work tirelessly to keep Antonelli’s afloat. On tougher days, they read customers’ reviews to recharge their motivation. “They all want us to be around at the end of this. It's been humbling. It's been amazing,” John says of Antonelli’s supporters. Their advice for businesses in similar situations is to listen and talk to your customers. John and Kendall have an entire page on their website dedicated to updating customers during this time. People asked for online orders, Antonelli’s delivered. People were stuck at home — sometimes completely isolated — so John and Kendall created a social distancing care package for people to send comfort to friends and family. They also want other entrepreneurs to know that self-doubt is normal. “You don't know if you're making the right decision. You just take in all the information you have, you make the best decision you can at that moment. It's not always right, but you have to change quickly and adapt,” says Kendall. “Some days you rock it and it's an awesome day, and some days you're like, ‘Dang’.”