Owners seek next gig after pandemic closes businesses

NEW YORK — As airlines slashed flights and furloughs appeared inevitable in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Mike Catania sensed there would be little need for a service that helped airline crews find short-term housing.

So, Catania and his fellow owners shut down Padloop in early March, even though the nearly year-old company had just broken even.

Catania started looking at how life was changing amid the pandemic and came up with the idea for his next business: Locaris, a website to help apartment renters connect with prospective neighbors to get the scoop on buildings and landlords. Because the pandemic limited people’s ability to meet in person, Locaris enabled renters to get the lowdown on a building safely.

“I tried to focus on, what is COVID a catalyst for? What trends is it bringing to market a couple of years ahead of schedule?” says Catania, who lives in Henderson, Nevada. Locaris launched in June and quickly found success.

As owners are forced to shut businesses, they’ve had to figure out what to do next. For entrepreneurs like Catania, the answer has been anticipating the next trend and creating a company to take advantage of it. Some owners have started businesses similar to those they lost, or companies that fill a different role in the same industry. Others have gone to work for someone else, while perhaps holding onto hopes of eventually reviving the businesses they shuttered.

It’s not known how many small businesses have failed in the pandemic, but different estimates all show devastation. Based on a projection last spring by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the number is likely well into the hundreds of thousands. Data from the work scheduling software company UKG shows that about one in six small businesses have closed their doors since the pandemic began.

Alex Willen of San Diego was preparing to open a dog boarding business when the pandemic hit; he was about to sign papers for a Small Business Administration loan to cover construction costs when his bank said it was putting new business loans on hold. Willen sensed the outbreak wouldn’t end quickly, which meant dog owners wouldn’t be traveling and many would keep working from home.

By May, the loan money was available, but Willen decided to give up rather than open the business and not have revenue for months, maybe longer.

“It was looking like COVID was not going away by November or December, and those are huge months for dog boarding,” says Willen.

Willen soon decided to restart a business he’d shelved in favor of boarding: dog treats. Willen didn’t have to start at square one because he had already done some preliminary marketing and package design for the business.

Willen bakes for his two dogs, Cooper and Maple — which gave him the idea for Cooper’s Treats. He sells the treats on his website and Amazon.

“It’s looking like a real business,” he says.

GREGORY BULL/AP Alex Willen was preparing to open a dog boarding business when the pandemic hit. Now, his business focuses on dog treats that he sells on his website and Amazon.