How Covid-19 Has Affected A Small Business

By Jack Schwietz

JRN100 News Reporter  

Sitmatic was riding high with a million contract to deliver ergonomic chairs for a healthcare company when the pandemic hit last year. 

“We thought that we were doing great, and then suddenly, boom,” said Mary Houston national vice president of marketing and sales at Sitmatic, a small company based in Fullerton, California, that employs about 50 people.  

Sitmatic is one of 9 million small businesses in the United States that struggled to survive through the shutdowns during the past year.

A recent study found that COVID-19 forced many small businesses to shut down, resulting in job losses and companies going out of business.

“Massive layoffs and closures had already occurred—just a few weeks into the crisis. 43% of small businesses had temporarily closed, and nearly all of these closures were due to COVID-19. Smaller businesses reported having reduced their active employment by 39% since January,” according to Impacts of COVID-19 on small business outcomes and expectations, a study done by Alexander W. Bartik. 

Sitmatic was fortunate because of the recent contracts it had negotiated, but as shutdowns continued month after month the company, too, began to buckle under the economic pressure. 

“We had to lay off two people from the sales department, four people from the factory, two people in the office. We took a 20% pay cut, lost the 401k match, and also eliminated the free lunch program at the office. We also cut out all travel and training,” Houston said. 

Sitmatic managed to stay afloat because it is is a debt-free company and because it received a small business stimulus check from the government. 

Every corporation across the world was scrambling to navigate the pandemic. Companies had to get creative and find new ways to survive. 

“The fate of the 48% of American workers who work in small businesses is closely tied to the resilience of the small business ecosystem to the massive economic disruption caused by the pandemic,” researchers from this study found. 

Small-based companies like Sitmatic took a huge hit themselves and had to reevaluate what their plan of attack would be going forward considering they had no idea how long the pandemic was going to last. 

The sales team that consists of five people all spread out throughout the U.S had to come together as a team and get back to the basics of selling ergonomic office chairs.  

“When the pandemic first started, I did not realize how big of a hit that I would take personally. The first three months were extremely hard for me and the company as well. I had to learn to keep the funnel filled with chair orders when lockdown started. Also working for a small company I knew that we were not just going to get bailed out,” Michael Archa, a Sitmatic sales manager based out of Dallas, Texas. 

Sales can be a stressful job and when a considerable percentage of Sitmatic’s income is through selling office chairs, there is a lot of fear that layoffs would be happening quicker than they anticipated within the company. 

Connecting with people and building relationships in sales is a critical part of how sales work.  

With the pandemic still going on, Sitmatic had to navigate new ways to connect with people in order to keep selling.

“To get on a Zoom call at 9 am in the morning with people I have never met before. Trying to talk to someone that I have never met before and get engagement from them was hard. I always tried to get them to laugh and smile. It took me well over 30 times to get comfortable with people over zoom,” Archa said.

Sitmatic is all about getting their foot in the door to meet with potential new clients, as well as giving hands-on presentations. 

Now, they are doing presentations over zoom and it’s harder to connect with potential new clients since it is better to show much of their product in person. They had to keep being creative to find other ways to engage with the customer. 

After a couple of months into the pandemic, Sitmatic realized that just doing the bare minimum such as sending emails to clients, would not keep the company from closing; they had to do more. 

“Relationships are a huge part of any business, especially in sales. Building a relationship is a huge part of how sales work. I was constantly bothering people and after some time they started to realize I wasn't calling them just there to sell chairs. I also wanted to let them know that I was there for them even when they are not buying,” Archa said. 

The zoom calls and phone calls also helped create new opportunities and new ideas. 

Sitmatic learned that being essential for people during the pandemic was extremely important. They had people in the factory not only making chairs but face coverings as well. These masks were sent out to existing customers and potential new clients to show that it was not just about selling chairs. 

“The biggest focus that we had was to keep people working during COVID-19 especially in the warehouse. The people who work in the factory wanted to do a great job and knew how essential it was to continue working,” Archa said. 

It was not just a negative experience, there were also some positives that came out of the pandemic for Sitmatic.

“We as a sales team knew that the 30-minute conversation had to be really good. We also put a lot more time and effort into preparations before the meetings happened. Weekly zoom check-ins are something I started during the pandemic and will continue to use even after covid-19 is over. I also learned that we need to keep finding new ways to be essential to people’s lives,” Houston said.      

They just landed a significant deal with Hawaii Pacific Health that could be well over worth 50,000 dollars.  

As a small business, Sitmatic is not out of the clear yet being such a small company, but the company is feeling stronger with every new contract.