Recovering From The Pandemic: Surviving Lost Business And A Crisis of Confidence

It took me a while to fully grasp the extent of how this ‘Coronavirus or whatever it is’ would affect our lives. I was entering what looked to be the biggest year for my business, and I was excited until the last minute, despite knowing how delicate the events and hospitality industry can be.

I’ve been running my own social media business since 2016 and, up until 2020, travelled around the UK, Europe and the US, creating content and working on the social media marketing for Gelato Festival – a travelling showcase of the best gelato in the world. Although it was one client of a few, this contract was a dream role that had gradually built up to become a large chunk of my income. I also had contracts with other social media clients, mainly restaurants, and the revenue was good. I loved the freedom. 

“I had around £60k of work secured for the year, which became virtually nothing”

When events were postponed and restaurants closed, every client had paused or given notice for good by the end of March. I had around £60k of work secured for the year, which became virtually nothing. Reality only really sunk in when I finally looked at my spreadsheet for the year, probably not until the first week of April - the thousands had become zeros, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. 

My side hustles also became irrelevant – renting our basement bedroom on Airbnb and food tours of Soho and Greenwich – all gone. My income went up in smoke overnight, and just as quickly came the feelings of panic and uselessness. 

In the weeks after that, when my husband mentioned money, even to ask if I had an update on invoice payments, I lost the plot – tears, hysterics, you name it. Despite knowing logically that he needed the details to plan, every mention of money felt like an attack.

“The feeling of irrelevance was almost physical”

The feeling of irrelevance was almost physical. Applying for 50 ‘proper’ jobs after spending four years building your own business is horrible. Not hearing anything back? Worse still. I was cold pitching to businesses that I knew would be struggling and have no budget, and sectors I knew I had zero experience in. I was chasing invoices that I desperately needed to be paid, by companies who couldn’t – I was embarrassed most of the time. 

We were remortgaging at the same time as our introductory rate had expired in February, adding hundreds to the monthly payments; when it rains, it pours, so they say. 

I tried to stay on it every day and attempted to be proactive all the time, but there were a few days where I just didn’t get up, couldn’t even glance at my laptop, and was just horrible to be around. I missed the travel and the people I’d worked with, and it was heart-breaking to see their businesses crumbling too. 

I know I was lucky in many ways – we have a roof over our heads, and we didn’t have any family get seriously ill with the virus. I never had to homeschool, I’m not a key worker, and I didn’t have to choose between isolating and putting food on the table; all things I’m thankful for. 

Developing new skills 

I started filling the time by learning things I’d had on my to-do list for a while – I learned how to run Facebook ads properly, completed a Photoshop course and achieved certifications from Mailchimp and Google Digital Garage. 

“These things were something to focus on and, however insignificant, gave me a sense of achievement which helped to rebuild my confidence”

I set goals for each day and week – often relatively meaningless, like walking arbitrary numbers of steps, reading to random page numbers in various books and eating minimum quantities of fruit and vegetables. These things were something to focus on and, however insignificant, gave me a sense of achievement which helped to rebuild my confidence.

I found I loved learning new skills, and on the back of those initial courses, I’m about to start an intensive Google Ads course. Learning things that I’d previously deemed ‘not for me’ or that I didn’t have the ‘right kind of brain’ for, and doing them well, was a huge boost and probably the best thing I could’ve done with that time. 

Recovery 

I can’t tell you how good it felt to get my first new client. It was nothing to do with restaurants or events – it was my accountant looking for someone to help with social media.

I wondered if I was out of my depth, wondered if I should change the name of the business – Tasty Comms isn’t quite so relevant when you’re working on content that covers IR35 and the difference between a Sole Trader and a Ltd Company. I hung on, though. I kept telling myself: no distractions, no messing about with the name to procrastinate, just get on with getting it back on track. 

‘Keep going’ became the theme for the next six months. I scooped up one or two small projects and secured some clients based on the new skills I’d learned – another massive boost. A couple of people I’d worked with years ago got in touch. I received referrals to people who were pivoting their businesses from restaurants to meal delivery kits. I liked these as I felt in sync with them – we were all pivoting after all! 

“You have to show you’re available and that you know what you’re doing, arguably now more than ever”

I was also able to get my marketing organised. Despite being my core skill for the last ten years or so, I was terrible at marketing myself. I would get all squirmy when people said I was good at my work, and I found it hard to accept compliments. I would never have dreamt of putting a testimonial on social media – something I do all the time now. Who cares what random people from school or old bosses think? You have to show you’re available and that you know what you’re doing, arguably now more than ever.

Reflections

I’m doing well at the moment (touch wood), with a good amount of work across an exciting variety of sectors and projects. In fact, I feel the business is more resilient now than it would have been if I’d spent last year frazzled, catching up on client work in airports and not having time to work on my own marketing or strategy. 

I’ve realised how vital it is to be on top of my own marketing and have processes in place that will help ensure visibility. I didn’t have this in place before Covid. 

And I’m keeping the name Tasty Comms – even if it’s not strictly relevant to some of what I’m working on, it feels like me. 

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