Are you essential or not? …That was the million-dollar question for businesses big and small since the pandemic brought on the first wave of restrictions across the country. As many were told to stay home and close their shops, services and restaurants, many industries were being sorted through to determine whether or not they could or perhaps should still operate. The notion of being essential or not was unclear.
Our home stagers use gloves, masks, social distancing and disinfectant on every Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland project.
We have offices in three states along the west coast, and what an adventure it was to chase all the rules and requirements given by each state’s set of leaders to know what we could or could not do. Even we weren’t sure for our own line of work as home staging exists basically to make houses look pretty. Sure there are valid reasons that were important for the real estate market, but when you put it in black and white, it’s not essential…. Or is it? The state of California and the state of Oregon both deemed us as essential right away because they considered us to be movers. Movers are essential as they help support the effort in providing housing during their mandated stay-at-home orders. So, anything revolving around housing was left to continue operating specific safety measures. Washington State, however, was all over the place in making up its mind.
When coronavirus showed up in Washington State, everyone found themselves in panic mode there. Real Estate among many other seemingly luxury services was halted, so we halted, too. Then, 48 hours later, after a realization that there were transactions to be closed and homes to be moved into and out of, that decision was turned around. Justin, our owner, along with others in our leadership team felt like they were solving a riddle with the details of requirements and mandates. Suddenly we learned not only were we essential, but we were mandatory. We had to get back up and resume services.
It was like no one knew what was going on anymore, and since we now finally had our clear directive company-wide, we wanted to make sure those we serviced were managing okay and see how we could help while they got back in the groove safely as needed. There was a lot more communication with our clients which actually unearthed a lot of moral dilemmas with lots of opinions for how to maintain health and safety protocols within real estate. We felt caught in the middle suddenly, but there were two conversations that stood out to Justin, our founder, that helped him understand the necessity for Spade and Archer to get back up and running.
The first conversation was with a new client who was in absolute need of selling her home after her agent and stager backed out leaving her helpless. That urgent need and cry for help was enough to motivate Justin to formulate a plan for operating again. So how would his staff react to working amidst a pandemic? The answer was clear after a certain conversation with one of his newly hired staff members. When Justin asked him if he would be willing to work, he answered with an absolute “Yes!” as he hadn’t been able to file for unemployment because of his former employer never claiming him as an employee. Going back to work meant he would be able to avoid relying on credit cards to get by and would certainly make the near future for his family much easier.
Now realizing that the states, the clients, and the employees were all wanting us to operate, Justin made the decision to do so. That meant figuring out what PPE (personal protective equipment) was needed to stay safe and what our new process and schedule would look like. It was a huge team effort. We had to apply extreme caution because if safety wasn’t prioritized first, then nothing else mattered. We provided our staff with cleaning supplies, masks, and thoughtful scheduling that supported everyone’s well-being and social distancing. Sure, we’re extending our installation timelines to more than one day, but we’ll take it. If we can adhere to requirements, still manage to service our clients’ needs, and keep our employees working, then we are in a very good place.
At this point, we have been back up and running for over a month now having safely installed a number of staging projects in Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles. One very amazing coincidence in timing that helped us continue accepting new projects was the launch of what we would immediately refer to as our “touchless service” of Instant Pricing. We had this new pricing tool in the works for months and found the ability to provide a new benefit to our clients that we never could have imagined right when the pandemic hit.
We were just one of the countless small businesses in this country forced to learn how to juggle over a tank of sharks very quickly. It’s hard to know if you’re doing the right thing with each step. With the rules and guidelines changing from one minute to the next, it has been and will continue to be hard to please everyone. That’s true regardless of a pandemic! Fortunately, we have amazing staff that is ready to adjust with every turn that comes our way, knowing that grace, and perseverance will get us through this new normal.