Coronavirus Small Business Update – Hi my name is Ramiro and I’m currently the owner of Prestige Auto Tech located in Miami, FL.
During this pandemic phase with COVID-19, I’ve had time to give thought of how the world is currently processing. A good population of small businesses were required by law to shut down if it’s services and products were not considered essential, because of this; other businesses were also affected due to decrease in customers and resulted in shutting down as well. Over the years in the line of business, we have seen great moral support and network spread for restaurants, retail stores, real estate etc., however, very few reach out within the mechanical side. I believe a business in a mechanical repair shop is just as important as a restaurant, retail, and any other business.
That being said, I want to share with my readers how we’re managing to keep our heads just above the waters in Prestige Auto Tech during this hard time. Now don’t get me wrong, we too have been affected by the changes leading us to let go of multiple employees and left standing with no more than 10 staff. Instead of giving in, we’ve decided to look at the bigger picture. Now that we are slow, have more time on our hands to think outside the box for creative measures to reach out to the public for our services. One of the ideas we came up with as a group was to offer pickup and drop off for mechanical repairs but didn’t have much of a success. This led us to the works of social media.
As the owner of Prestige Auto Tech, I’ve come to the understanding that we live in the 21st century whether it’s for you or not. We live in a generation where everything is moved and done through the internet. To think that you can survive with techniques from the past such as referrals, word of mouth and not putting your money to use for expansion is not sufficient enough to stay on top of the game. For that very reason, many businesses closed down. We have to keep up with the now and that is through your mobile devices. Mobile devices have become a major necessity, through it we order, shop, monitor and many things. We lose our phones and all hell breaks loose.
To succeed, we have to think big and be enthusiastic. Believe that your business is at the top of its game and work with that mindset. Our mind is our biggest battle if you can change your state of mind; you can do anything.
This is my 1st article of our series Coronavirus Small Business Update. I will continue to write about the changes we’ve applied to our shop and how we’re making it work. New projects are in stand by as we speak. I strongly believe that every shop is different in their own way and what might work for us does not always work for you. We have to consider all the factors but it’s important to at least try and not give up than to be left with the “could of, should of, would of”.