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Small Business Survival: Hospitality Company Develops Way To Stay Alive Amid Crisis
In Best Of, Featured, Guest, Interview, Latest, News Stories, Technology, The World, Top News, videosBy Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – A New York City-based events company forced to shutter its operations temporarily after eight years in business due to the coronavirus pandemic has developed new revenue streams from adjacent services.
“Everything was great, 2020’s a huge year for us, could not wait,” William Petz, founder of Quiet Events, Inc. told WCBS 880 of the upward trajectory for his business heading into this year. He has 120,000 people on his e-mail list and hundreds attend each event nationwide.
That was the sentiment across the business community before the COVID-19 crisis forced the closure of businesses throughout the country. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Optimism Index sunk 8.1 points in March to 96.4 – the largest monthly decline in the survey’s history – ending historic business confidence. The NFIB survey indicates business owners are bracing for further loss of revenue amid the rapid recession the global economy was thrust into with the fatal and highly contagious novel virus.
“You’ll have workplaces that will be filled with different types of reminders and postings designed to change behavior and to ingrain certain type(s) of safe approaches towards how you even navigate the office,” David Lewis, founder of human resources consulting firm OperationsInc, told WCBS 880 Business Reporter Joe Connolly.
Business owners are adapting and creating new services, some of which may be long-term offerings, as they struggle to stay afloat. That’s the topic on this week’s WCBS Small Business Spotlight focusing on small business survival, sponsored by BNB Bank.
Quiet Events hosts concert-like experiences with disc jockeys for people to enjoy their favorite genres of music in headphones designed by the company.
“You don’t have to fight about what club you’re going to tonight because all the clubs are in one,” Petz said.
If you enjoy pop music, but your friend likes country, for example, you can both enjoy each other’s company while listening to your music of choice from the DJ you prefer.
“You can enjoy having a meal or drinking with some friends or talking with them without hearing the loudness of the music behind you,” Petz said, adding, “But, then when you put the headphones on, you guys are just jamming out and you have your own personality.”
Petz said his company is called “Quiet Events” because it is a “fun night out” when you will only hear partiers singing along to the music in their ears, if you aren’t wearing headphones.
Hospitality businesses such as Quiet Events have been crushed by the coronavirus outbreak.
“We started to see the impacts already by getting the headphones manufactured in China,” Petz said.
He laid off 11 of his 13 employees and he stopped taking a paycheck three weeks ago.
Then, he developed proprietary software to host his Quiet Events virtually as people self-isolate.
“YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, it’s just one dimension. It’s basically, you’re watching content,” said Petz. “People’s attention needs to be engaged and you need to feel like you’re being social, so that’s what we created – a platform which is patent pending.”
The platform features a virtual “DJ battle” in which three DJs vie for attention and likes. Attendees can switch between the DJs and can see the percentage of people watching each performer. Petz said that creates the “FOMO” or “fear of missing out” that his company thrives on with its in-person events.
Quiet Events’ first promoted online shows were last weekend, but as Petz tweaked the virtual experience over the last three weeks, 500-1,000 people participated in each trial event. In the interim, the online events are free, but attendees are encouraged to tip the DJs.
“They don’t just play; they really do interact,” Petz said of the DJs. “They look at the chatroom. They do shout-outs.”
He hopes to re-hire his employees in the near future as he works on several adjacent services to bring in revenue while in-person events are banned to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“We did this for ourselves, initially for the DJs,” said Petz. “Dell, before we even broadcast it out, somehow, they found out [and they said>, ‘Look, we love what you’re doing and we’d love to create an experience for our employees.’”
He then saw there was a market for leasing his software to other businesses and organizations to create corporate events on both the Quiet Events website and other companies’ sites.
“We have a partnership with Crunch Fitness to do fitness events,” Petz said. “Quiet Events also used to do something called Quiet Comedy. It’s three comedians battling it out against each other. So, it’s really three of anything battling and we’re working on making that so it’s not just three but it’s more or less.”
A traveling nurse company reached out to Quiet Events looking to hire it for a morale-booster as its staff fights its own battle on the frontlines of the COVID-19 health crisis.
He has also received interest from a charitable organization looking to compensate the DJs for performing for their audience while providing a way for participants to donate to the non-profit’s cause.
“It’s what entrepreneurs do,” Petz said.
Hear how entrepreneurs like William Petz are developing solutions and adjacent services to stay afloat and re-hire workers on this week’s WCBS Small Business Spotlight Podcast available on the RADIO.COM app.
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Brooklyn Gym Owner And Real Estate Pro Paying Workers Over Rent
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – The franchisee owner of children’s gyms in Brooklyn, who is also a real estate attorney, is choosing to pay his employees over his rent.
“I can’t pay both my employees and my rent at the same time,” said James Wacht who owns two locations of the global franchise My Gym Children’s Fitness Center in Park Slope and Cobble Hill. “My decision was to pay my employees and not pay my rent.”
This was a difficult decision for Wacht, who runs the activity spaces for infants to 10 year old kids with his son Evan, while also serving as president of Lee & Associates NYC, thus being on both sides of the tenant-landlord predicament during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He hired highly skilled trainers over a two year period and concluded it would be more effective and smarter to retain his employees and hope for leniency from his two landlords during a global crisis.
“Given what’s happened in retail the last two years, the likelihood that landlords will be able to replace a retail tenant quickly at the same rent they’re currently getting, is really unlikely, so I think landlords are going to be really hard-pressed to work something out with their tenants, Wacht said, adding, “Some of them are just not going to be able to survive.”
He highlighted restaurants and other small businesses with low margins that may not be able to bounce back from a months-long closure, even with government relief programs, as it will take capital to jump-start business operations.
He told WCBS 880 he applied for the Payment Protection Payment (PPP) Loan and the New York City small businesses loan for both gyms and a few of his other businesses. The PPP loan is forgivable if a company maintains its workforce. It can be partially used for rent payments. If accepted through his Small Business Administration-approved bank, he would be able to pay part of his monthly payment.
“What I’m hoping to be able to do with my landlords is make a deal with them saying, ‘Listen, my business got hurt, what I’m willing to do is: I will pay you some of the rent, but I want some rent forgiveness for the period of time that I couldn’t operate,’” Wacht said.
He is developing online classes for children as non-essential businesses remain shuttered through at least April 29 and he has been upfront with his landlords that he and his son are working on new revenue streams to stay afloat.
“I look at this as sort of a collaboration between me and my landlord. It isn’t me against them,” Wacht said, adding his mantra through this challenge is, “How do we solve a problem together?”
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Small Business Survival: Brooklyn Navy Yard Business Ramps Up War-Like Effort to Make Face Shields for Hospital Workers
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Businesses in the Brooklyn Navy Yard are invigorated with the same spirit and patriotism that defined the East River industrial complex during World War II when factories produced ships used to fight Nazi Germany.
Michael Bednark reinvented his design and fabrication company named Bednark Studio to make face shields as protective gear for medical professionals in New York who are treating COVID-19 patients. He told Joe Connolly on this week’s WCBS Small Business Spotlight Podcast focusing on small business survival, sponsored by BNB Bank, that he is surrounded by small businesses who are stepping up in the battle against the deadly virus.
“I’m looking right across the street right now to a very large manufacturer called Cyre Precision. They are manufacturing hospital gowns and other safety equipment for our frontline workers,” Bednark said, adding, “The building to my right, they’re working on a ventilator prototype.”
At the impetus of the coronavirus outbreak in New York City, which is now the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, he was forced to layoff workers. When he started hearing reports about the lack of Personal Protective Equipment or PPE for hospital workers, he worked with his design team through a weekend in mid-March to develop a face shield prototype to protect nurses and doctors against the contagious novel virus.
Bednark was in touch with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He sent pictures to the Department late Saturday evening and scheduled a meeting at its Long Island City headquarters for first thing the next morning.
“We drove over there Sunday morning, we met with them at 9:45, and at 10 AM, they said ‘let’s go with it.’”
Bednark hired 160 workers and moved into a 5,000 square foot event space in the Duggal Greenhouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to maximize social distancing as advised by health experts to slow the spread of coronavirus. Bednark Studio takes employees’ temperatures when they report to work and it sanitizes the workspace every night.
He orders lunch to be delivered for his workers from local restaurants hit hard by the shutdown of non-essential businesses.
“Like most New Yorkers, we have a real sense of urgency,” Bednark said.
It’s a war-like effort to fight #coronavirus. Michael Bednark tells @JoeConnollybiz how he shifted gears and ramped up production of face shields at the @BklynNavyYard for frontline hospital workers. @wcbs880 #SmallBusinessSpotlight #DifferenceMakers https://t.co/F8Hd9HBsZj pic.twitter.com/8mj0QZ8SYP
— Neil A. Carousso (@NeilACarousso) April 8, 2020
He told Connolly his team is averaging 200,000 face shields a day. By comparison, hockey equipment manufacturer Bauer said its Liverpool, New York factory makes 4,000 face shields a day.
“We welcome anyone to come and start making anything they can, look at what they have around them, what they’re abilities are and figure out a product that they can make,” Bednark said.
Listen to the WCBS Small Business Podcast above to hear how small businesses are producing vital PPE equipment for hospital workers on the frontlines of the fight against coronavirus.
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Difference Makers: Tri-State Non-Profits Mobilize To Support Those In Need Amid COVID-19 Crisis
By Neil A. Carousso
During this unprecedented time, we continue to share stories of “Difference Makers” in our community. Do you know someone who has gone above and beyond during the coronavirus crisis? Click here to let us know about your local heroes.
HARTFORD, Conn. (WCBS 880) — The coronavirus pandemic has halted life as we know it, and for the most vulnerable population, non-profit organizations in the Tri-State Area are stepping up to serve.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced the formation of a new charity on Wednesday named Connecticut COVID-19 Charity Connection or 4-CT, founded by two Fairfield County residents, Don Kendall and Ted Yang, who run Social Venture Partners – Connecticut, which is a collective of donors and other philanthropic groups.
There are 12-14 non-profits in the state that are now working together as part of 4-CT to provide resources such as housing, food delivery for the elderly, and child care for those in need.
“One of the things we’re also trying to do with 4-CT is not only provide the resources and the strategic investment, but also perhaps provide a funnel for the young people who are at home,” said Lamont, adding that it can offer a minimum wage job for students home from school because of the pandemic.
https://omny.fm/shows/wcbs-880-difference-makers/tri-state-non-profits-support-the-most-vulnerable
Lamont pointed to food banks that are overwhelmed by demand. Volunteers and minimum wage workers are needed to deliver nutritious food to people’s homes while adhering to social distancing guidelines. Most people unable to get food are most vulnerable to contracting coronavirus, especially elderly residents.
There are people who would like to volunteer, but are concerned about their own safety.
“Volunteers who used to serve food at the soup kitchen are now driving,” said David Munshine, of the Munshine Group, based in New Jersey, which specializes in marketing for non-profit organizations.
“Arm In Arm, an organization in Princeton and Trenton, they are delivering to doorsteps,” Munshine told WCBS producer Neil A. Carousso. “They’ve seen a surge in volunteers, who when they go out to get their own groceries, they can drop off a few bags of groceries for people who can’t get out.”
Building Homes for Heroes was established after 9/11 to provide mortgage-free homes to veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is now sending money to vets who are losing wages because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Those who have been traumatized in the past, those who suffer from PTSD, any sort of trauma is a trigger for many of them, unfortunately, and [the coronavirus pandemic] certainly meets that definition,” Munshine said, noting many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
Seventy-eight percent of Americans say they’re living paycheck to paycheck, according to a 2017 report by employment website CareerBuilder.
https://omny.fm/shows/wcbs-880-difference-makers/stamford-mayor-david-martin-is-mobilizing-voluntee
Stamford Mayor David Martin launched “Stamford Together” – a citywide volunteer program to provide support for the emergency response efforts related to the COVID-19 health crisis.
“Senior outreach program: Some of them are alone and they may need help getting their prescription, or getting food from the grocery store, or getting meals delivered or whatever it is that they may have as a special need,” Mayor Martin told WCBS 880 reporter Sean Adams.
One can also distribute meals to school children and those with medical experience are needed to test patients for coronavirus.
“I really am moved by the fact that people are coming forward who want to volunteer, who want to help during this crisis,” Mayor Martin said, emphasizing every precaution will be taken to protect volunteers.
Tri-State Non-Profit Organizations in Need of Volunteers and Resources:
Monmouth Conservation Foundation
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Small Business Survival: SBA Loans Available for Companies Impacted by Coronavirus
By Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — $349 billion in loans are available through the Small Business Administration as part of the newly enacted stimulus package to support businesses and their employees during the coronavirus pandemic.
On this week’s WCBS Small Business Spotlight Podcast focusing on small business survival, sponsored by BNB Bank, Joe Connolly speaks with Steve Bulger, SBA Atlantic Region II administrator, including New York and New Jersey, about the two small business loans available this week.
The Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program application is currently available on the SBA website. Eligible businesses can apply for up to $2 million to pay overhead costs, including salaries and rent with 30 years to pay back. EIDL payments are waived for the first year.
“I’m telling small businesses 2-3 weeks before you really end up with the money in your bank account,” Bulger told Connolly of the EIDL.
Any small business owners with 500 employees or less, including sole-proprietors, can apply for the Paycheck Protection Program on the SBA website starting this Friday, April 3.
“That program is going to start this Friday and is going to be able to provide loans, forgivable loans in most cases, to small businesses to try and get them through the next three months, keeping their people on payroll, paying some of your rent, utilities, mortgage bills and basically allowing you to get through this period,” Bulger said, adding, “We believe that money will go out quick.”
He said owners will receive Paycheck Protection Program loans in a “week or less or a little more” in some cases after applying.
Businesses are also eligible for tax credits if they retain employees on their payroll. Up to $10,000 of payroll and health benefits per employee can be redeemed for a 50 percent tax credit to businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, including from the shutdown of non-essential businesses.
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