+Action
This is a strange time for us all and although we might not be in the same boat, we are all weathering the same storm.
It’s easy to feel out of control in this situation and maybe you’re not sure in what ways to take action, so we’ve put together a few things that may help give you that sense of positive control.
Apply for grants
Apply, apply, apply! Look into every option possible, check the qualifications and take full opportunity of the amazing companies out there funding grants for our industry. Donations are being added to these funds often, so keep checking in on them and apply if you can!
Take advantage of free education
The silver lining… we have no excuses to not grab those dollheads and jump on one of the many free education events and practice our skills. Not sure where to find all this free education?
Check out:
and make sure to keep your eye on our feed as we will continually keep trying to post the free education we find.
Send a letter
Yes, you can do this, and yes it can make a much needed difference. Sending a letter to your congressman can make a positive impact and allow the “little guy’s” voice to be heard.
We looked to our friend Kelly Gorsuch, whom wrote a very articulate letter to his local gonvernents in both states he run his businesses in. He shared his letter on Instagram and encouraged others to use his letter as a template and make the changes they needed for their business. If this is a way for you to feel positive about actions on behalf of your business, we urge you to do so.
Lobby Letter:
It’s my understanding that some of my friends in the restaurant industry have reached out to you already. As a salon owner, I’m in the same boat. As of two days ago, I employed almost 90 people. Yesterday, I had to let go of over 30 of them. I’m committed to keeping open our barbershops and salons as long as I can, but service industry cash flow is such that, in another week or so with no incoming revenue, we’ll go under after almost two decades. My wife and I have donated $10,000 of our family savings to an emergency fund for our employees who need it. Effective immediately, I’ve stopped taking a salary — and will do so for as long as I need to, to keep open the business. I am getting back to cutting hair come Thursday, and will donate all of my earnings, including tips, to our self-funded emergency relief fund. I’m doing everything I possibly can to keep my people’s jobs — the ones that are left.
Frankly put, we don’t need access to loans and we don’t need Congress to create benefits that we have to fund ourselves via tax credits/offsets/rebates/advances. There IS no revenue: it dropped 100% overnight. There’s nothing to tax. Our industry is such that we pay out over sixty percent of revenue directly to employees as they earn it. It is that simple: zero revenue equals closure. In addition, rents are due in ten days.
My business will not be around to take a loan. It won’t be around to claim a tax credit. I’ve created good jobs, provided health insurance and retirement savings to all my employees in an industry that never provides these benefits, and generated a boatload of revenue for my federal and local governments. And now, as much as it pains me to ask this, we need the federal government to come through for us. We need cash help, now.
Aid to business needs to be in the form of cash influx and should not be tied to the number of employees, but rather to HOW a business generates revenue. Needless to say, when your revenue depends on a group of people gathering in one space, that is not the best business model for a pandemic. I’d much rather be a grocery store (with any number of employees) right now than what I am: salons and barbershops employing a total of 60 people. Or a restaurant group employing 500. We’ve been decimated.
My shops are not in your states: we’re here, in D.C. and Virginia. But I guarantee you I speak for the service industry providers in your states and districts when I say: we’re hanging by a thread, if we’re even still hanging at all. I opened my business with no help from family, no grants from government, and no bank loans. For the first time ever, I need help — and desperately so. I’m more than willing to get on the phone with any of you, and I know my friends in the restaurant business would be, too. Let me know if or how we can help.
I know some of you are Democrats and some of you are Republicans and I am sorry if it’s not customary to put all of you on one email. I have never contacted Congress before. I know you guys often disagree but I know for sure you all want what’s best for our country. This is bigger than politics. We need you.
Best,
Kelly Gorsuch
Owner of Immortal Beloved Salon and Barber of Hell’s Bottom (Washington, D.C. and Richmond, VA)
Save a Fox
In an early effort to get ahead of the issue before it started, Kristin Rankin of Fox & Jane Toronto created a t-shirt campaign called “Save a Fox”.
“We wanted to make sure that those foxes on our team (whom were most vulnerable) were being helped by us in someway. So all of the funds from the go-fund-me and the tees are being allocated to them” she states. Followed up by “We didn’t want to just not do anything at all”
Taking action of any kind will absolutely help gain a sense of control in these trying times, but positive action and creative thinking will get us much farther than negative actions or inaction will.
Interested in setting up your own creative campaign? Click the link here and let The Hair Nerds help!