Revenues are down, anxiety up

It's been a tough and stressful COVID-19 year for all of us, and business owners are certainly no exception.

The impact of the global pandemic and its accompanying restrictions is running much deeper than the bottom line on business owners' mental health.

Last week, the Business Development Bank of Canada released a survey of 500 Canadian business owners and found that two-thirds have their professional situation under control and are coping. That's the good news.

Now, the not so good news.

The remainder were either overwhelmed or taking it day by day. Two in five business owners also said they felt depressed once a week, and twothirds said they felt tired or had little to no energy.

The main concerns were not making enough money to generate a profit or cover expenses. They were also concerned about the health impact of COVID-19 on their families, employees and themselves. One-third said mental health challenges affected their ability to work at least once a week, and in some cases, every day.

Local business owners can relate to the stresses and worries of COVID-19. If you ask them, you'll hear about how they've coped, found new revenue opportunities to help offset lost tourism dollars and embraced online sales. You'll also hear how they've scaled back operations and said goodbye to long-time employees that they couldn't afford to keep. They've had to rely on government rent and wage subsidy programs just to get by.

You'll also hear how revenues are significantly down and sleepless nights are significantly up.

It can be easy to forget in Atlantic Canada that we're part of a global pandemic. Businesses are open and new ones keep popping up.

For all the talk of a second wave, the province of P.E.I., for example, has seen no hospitalizations or deaths from the first wave.

But P.E.I.'s chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison noted last week that it isn't a matter of "if" we see a spike in cases in P.E.I., but "when."

On Monday, Halifax saw its first two COVID-19 cases in schools, and Newfoundland and Labrador had its first coronavirus hospitalization in five months. New Brunswick reported eight new cases Monday.

This is hardly encouraging for business owners already worried about the survival of their business if we have another shutdown like the one in March.

If anything, this survey is a reminder that we are all part of a community. Business owners are our employers but they are also our neighbours, friends and customers. They have mortgages and bills to pay like anyone else.

There is a lot of uncertainty about the months ahead, but those who can should continue to support local businesses and help each other out.