Covid, Cookies, and Carrying on......
2020! Am I right?! I started this year off with a bang, taking all of my profits from the holidays and dumping them into new branding and a new website. Things were going great, I had a wonderfully talented young lady helping me with my projects, and my site went live one day before Mr. Sugar Kettle and I were heading out on one of our bucket list trips, Washington DC. This was the end of the first week of March when we were all just hearing the rumblings about the Coronavirus. We decided to brave it and go anyway (sorry Dad) and ended up rushing through one museum after another because THE DAY we got there, places began shutting things down. The next day we enjoyed a relaxing day in Georgetown, but later that night decided to fly home a day early. Never in a million years did I think that I would be sitting here 8 weeks later, boxing up some of the first cookie orders that I have had in months.
With that being said, let me tell you my take on things. When we first arrived home, I went through my calendar, planned all of my future orders, reached out to customers to confirm, and making a list of supplies to order. Now, for those of you that are not from Louisiana, you should know one thing… Louisiana folks LOVE TO PARTY! Any reason for a gathering, we gather! And any gathering is a reason for cookies! This keeps me BUSY! No one was canceling anything at first. “Still having that 250 guest wedding?” Yep! “Still having that 100 guests bridal shower?” Well, of course, dahlin’! “Still need cookies because your Aunt’s cousin’s niece is coming to town?” Absolutely! You get it. We Do Not Cancel! This had me feeling pretty good about the weeks to come, and then BOOM, the stay at home order was put in place, and my heart began to sink. Now don’t get me wrong, not EVERYONE canceled, but most did. I ended up completing two more orders and then decided not to take any more orders and cancel those that were left. I did continue to get inquiries but turned the business down, which brings me to my point (sort of).
The IRS defines a small business as a business with 500 employees or less. So, I personally consider myself an itsy bitsy micro business. I have me, myself, and I. My Mom, Dad, kids, and of course, Mr. Sugar Kettle help when they can, but most of the time, it’s just me. So, where does that leave me with any assistance that was being provided? Out in the cold! The fear of losing SKCC was, at times, almost paralyzing. I know in the grand scheme of things it should have been last on my list of worries, however, it is something that means so much to me and something that is all mine that I worked so hard to build. I honestly didn’t know if my “small business” would survive. I gave my cookie studio a deep cleaning, reorganized all of my supplies, and then shut the door. Would business come back, or would I lose it all to someone else?
Social media is a killer sometimes. Each day I watched as one cookier after another made “do it yourself” cookie kits, toilet paper cookies, germ cookies, etc. It was hard. Was I making the right decision? Should I follow along with what everyone else was doing? Are any of my “regulars” ordering from other people? I guess what I am saying is that everyone has to do what they feel is best for them, their family, and business. I made a choice to not take a chance. With the virus having so many unknowns, and my business being food-related, I personally didn’t feel comfortable carrying on and possibly exposing people to so many unknowns. That doesn’t mean those that kept baking and selling were wrong, just that they did what they felt was the right thing to do. I am truly happy for those people, truly happy for the many makers that I have met, know, and adore. I am so glad that they found a way to get through this mess and seem stronger than ever. I am beyond proud to be part of a community that supports small business, and that lift each other up. And I am happy to say that SKCC is back in business and pumping out cookies again!
I hope this blog finds you happy, healthy, well-rested, and ready to take on the world!
Wishing you a lifetime of sweetness,
Michelle
(for fun I added a picture of my favorite place in DC, The Library of Congress)