Courtesy: Ross Lavigne

By Darren Rathwell

Braving the pandemic: small businesses opening during a time of crisis

Oct 27, 2021 | 5:45 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — If Candice Funk had the chance to do it all over again, she likely wouldn’t.

Funk opened her specialty bakery, Baking with Candice, on the Southeast Hill, during the pandemic.

“So my business was originally meant to be just baking and cooking classes but obviously with COVID-19 I’ve had to pivot many times over,” Funk said.

But the entrepreneurial spirit hasn’t been completely dampened by the pandemic in Alberta, according to the Alberta Motor Association.

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An AMA survey found one in 10 Albertans have considered starting a small business during the pandemic. But, as Funk discovered, there can be surprises along the way.

“There’s people that are a little more apprehensive on attending classes or.. getting out and about, especially (if they’re not) double vaxxed,” Funk said.

The Copper Leaf Cafe, which also opened in the midst of the pandemic, found unexpected challenges as well.

“Every time restrictions come (into place) our sales go down,” said owner Janelle Hullah, adding ongoing provincial changes to COVID-19 measures have been a source of anxiety.

“Every Friday you’re kind of waiting what the new restrictions are going to be or if there are new restrictions,” Hullah told CHAT News.

Funk, meanwhile, says she planned to open her shop in March of 2020, and likely wouldn’t have opened later if she could have seen the future.

“Me being a stay-at-home mom who homeschools three kids… I don’t know if I would put my family through the same stress,” Funk said.

Hullah says even if she knew what was to come, it wouldn’t have stopped her.

“(We’re) adapting, doing curbside pickup, delivery, our website which we’ll be launching soon.. it’s always been a dream of mine to open a cafe and to really serve people and to talk to the community,” Hullah said.

And Funk is offering not only classes but selling baking online, saying she has renewed her lease with plans to be “around for a few years yet.”