How COVID-19 has affected us.

It was the week leading into March break. My two daughters, kindergarten students here in Barrie, were looking forward to spending the week at their cousins house with my wife, while I was going to take the opportunity of a quiet house to do some renovations. I wasn’t really worried about the virus having been around for the SARS and H1N1 outbreaks, but then came the announcement. They were closing all schools for two weeks after March break. When the closing of the schools was announced, it spoke to the gravity of the situation… and how much I had underestimated the impact of the novel coronavirus. This wasn’t like those other outbreaks, and I had a feeling that the kids would not be back in school before September.

business not as usual

At the time, I was still on the job site, but even in those early days of the pandemic, things felt different. It seemed that everyone was looking to see “who is that coming down my street”. There was a sense of constant vigilance, and people were perpetually assessing the risk of every stranger they saw. Then came the essential services list. It wasn’t long before the beginning of April rolled around and the hammer came down. Business came to a grinding halt. Uncertainty in the future grew into full-blown anxiety as the realization that any plans I had, business, financial, and personal… were all officially cancelled. How can you plan for the future when the future is so unclear?

“The world has been forever changed…”

Adjusting my plans and expectations was a challenging task, but I realized this is not the end of the world. The world has been forever changed, but there is a light at the end of all this darkness, and so, with a cautious optimism, I started to make new plans. Thinking about how I can continue to service my clients while not risking the health and wellness of them, their families, or their employees.

our objective? making things easier for you!

With that in mind, I came up with the online consultation process that allows our clients to quickly get accurate quotes from the comfort and safety of their homes. All you need to do, is send us your contact info, and upload some photos! While I remain open to offering consultations in the traditional way, clients are getting more and more accustomed to doing business, making purchases, and even having social events in an online environment. I wanted to make things easier for our clients, not more difficult. Some companies are requiring video walk throughs of your property. I think that walking around your house for an hour on a video call is a lot to ask of you, especially if you are doing your research and getting multiple painting estimates before making a decision. Just think about that, to get three quotes, you might have to walk around giving video tours of your house for up to three hours! Check out our online consultation page to see just how easy we have made it for you!

moving forward, staying safe

COVID-19 has also had a drastic impact on how we can go about completing the actual job of painting a space. Fortunately, the government has laid out some guidelines with regards to job-sites, and I am still able to perform essential work as long as I am the only trade on-site, and that I strictly follow social distancing guidelines. While this doesn’t allow me to come into your home at the moment, I encourage our clients to book their work now so that when the time comes to get back to work all I need to do is schedule a time. When that time comes, the changes to our business don’t end there. Check out my next post, on how I’m going to keep myself, employees, and my clients safe as we get back to work in the coming weeks!

How has COVID-19 affected you, your family, and your business? Leave a comment below!