We are half way through the second national lockdown. I was just getting back on my feet. The business was risk assessed, Covid awareness certified, visors, sanitisors and enhanced cleaning. I resumed my classes towards the end of September so had just ran just one block of courses before Lockdown 2 struck. The following block was set to start on the week of the restriction. I was fully booked…everyone paid in advance and in full. Well, with distancing measures, my studio could only take three bookings when I would normally have six or seven. Hale was a little more. So putting more work in to reach the same capacity.
It was unclear if I could continue, an email sent to all my bookings to stall them while I tried to decipher guidance. A quick straw poll resulted that the preference was to continue with in-person classes rather than move online. New mums were desperate for a bit of normality, to do something with their baby. Reading the guidance looking for clues….I questioned weather I could I be classed a ‘support group for new parents’ or ‘education’? These restrictions are never clear for businesses like mine as we are considered very low down the order and we have to work it out. Generally, we are run by mums for mums….and we are the providers that plug in gaps that are left by local authorities for new mums. That’s a whole another blog post.
I have no governing body to turn to for advice or guidance, no colleagues or team. Just me to work it out. I try to gauge to see what everyone else is doing. Warrington Borough Council couldn’t give a clear answer as to weather I should continue and passed me onto Public Health Warrington, who said the support group would be for health professionals (I would like to see if health professionals were actually offering support groups for new parents). They’re advice was ‘I am not essential and I should not continue’. Of course, I had to take heed of this advice and not continue with in-person classes and move online once again. Other similar businesses were given the green light to continue from Public Health England. Conflicting advice and open to interpretation it would seem.
The process of emailing all my bookings to let them know I would move to deliver live stream and I would offer a nominal refund. I wasn’t delivering completely the same experience as in-person so felt I owed something. My heart sank as one group, seven out of eight bookings wanted a full refund and didn’t want to continue online. I wasn’t expecting that. I started the process of refunding everyone. This was most of my earnings until January, gone in one day. Just one mum was keen to continue. Most wanted to take classes with their friends, or didn’t have quality wifi, or a laptop or simply hate Zoom. I get all the reasons. It made sense. My Appleton groups were happy to move online, which was a relief. I do feel I’ve been working hard with a lot of administration and prep, but with little return. All part of running a business.
After feeling deflated with not being able to continue, I took stock and thought about the reason why there is another lockdown. Infection rates were increasing, especially high in this area. I didn’t want mums travelling unnecessarily with their babies. Despite stringent measures, I didn’t want to put them at risk and I certainly didn’t want to put my family at risk. This was the right route. Even if I was given clearance to carry on, I would have felt uneasy continuing in the middle of a lockdown, going against the spirit of what the measure was trying to achieve.
I’m teaching every day although with very small groups. The upside, this makes it more intimate and manageable and perfect to chat and interact properly with mums. I am getting to know them just as well as I would if they were in the same room as me. My Zooming skills, I think, have improved, I’ve worked out which room is best to do it from and I deliver enjoyable classes. I’ve had encouraging positive feedback. I believe they’re learning techniques that can only help them and their baby and I urge them to keep practicing for their own mental health.
Interest and uptake has been low….is there anyone out there, I wonder? Has the Zoom novelty bubble burst and we’re all fed up with live stream classes and saying ‘you’re on mute’…? Perhaps I’ll have throngs of mums and new mums knocking in January itching to get to actual classes. Let’s hope so and let’s hope we’re back in the game.
Duran Duran Is There Anyone Out There
Baby Massage Course to be announced soon!
