Almost twenty days after the declaration of a state of alarm due to the coronavirus, the doors to many small businesses are still closed, and it seems they will be for even more time. Those small neighbourhood businesses as well as the entire economy is taking a heavy hit due to the pandemic. Many of those businesses are run by self-employed people who without business have been deeply affected during this time.

For this reason, more than 20 retail professionals, suppliers, startups and specialists in many disciplines have launched “Con el Comercio”, with which they put their knowledge and tips to service any neighbourhood store that needs them. The objective is to help them manage their businesses in these difficult times and also to those who will come after the crisis whom Kool wants to look at with optimism. For this reason we have joined the cause. A solidarity movement with the purpose of drawing the curtains on these establishments and allow them to provide us with a local neighbourhood shopping experience.

Con el Comercio quiere aportar información de valor a los afectados, creando una hoja de ruta que realmente se pueda llevar a la práctica. Se busca que los pequeños establecimientos se sientan más acompañados y que cuenten con recursos para no tener que echar el cierre. Un mes sin ventas en una tienda de barrio puede suponer el sueldo anual de una persona. ¿Cómo afrontarlo?

“Con el Comercio” wants to provide valuable information  to any and all affected by creating a roadmap that can be put into practice. The aim is that these small businesses that have been the most affected to have success and to avoid having to close down. Even a single month without any sales can be a person’s annual salary. How do we deal with this?

On the webpage of conelcomercio.com they have collected all the information, resources, and good business practices to help keep these stores active. Some of the topics which they cover are:

• Economic measures: costs, subsidies, credits and contracts
• Team: how to motivate your team and what to do if you are alone
• Clientes: cómo mantener la relación con los clientes
• Clients: How to maintain client relations
• Store: What to do if your store is open and if it is closed
• Actions: contingency plan, marketing, digital presence, associations...

We hope that this information can be helpful to any who need it and that quickly stores can give life back to the neighbourhoods which they occupy.