April 8, 2020
Today’s blog comes with a considerable amount of thankfulness. I, like many other small businesses out there, will not be able to survive this time in our country’s history without the patronage of our local communities. I happen to be more fortunate than some as I can continue to function during this “lock-down” with only minor concessions.
Even though I am “quarantining” at home, I have the benefit of owning a small business that is located in a home-like environment. So while I am staying at home most of the time, when the need arises, I can get in my car, drive about five minutes to the little stand-alone 1920s cottage that serves as my studio where my wife and I are the only employees, and “meet” people who make appointments to either drop off or pick up orders. During this time, we are operating under a strict “no contact” rule. They leave the order for me to collect or I leave the finished product for them to pick up once the order is completed. All correspondence or financial transactions are made electronically or over the phone. For the time being, we have decided to keep each other safe by eliminating all person to person contact. But even with these precautions, business has reduced… understandably so.
The government makes great promises about providing financial assistance to small businesses during this time. But quite frankly, that assistance is slow in coming… if it ever will. Our main support will come from the same place it always has… the communities we serve. Without that support, we cease to exist. So I am thankful for the clients who continue to bring me work.
Today I received an order that will help support me through this trying time. And I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide the services I can render to them. I trust they will value the product I will deliver back to them as much as I value their trusting me with the memories they left at my door.
Keep yourselves safe. Support your local small business entities. When all this is over, you’ll be glad you did.
Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio Mount Dora specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.