Black Diamond Games is in the San Francisco Bay Area, so despite all our plans to work through this, the county has shut us down. Working through this for me, usually I say us, but it's just me now, means planning to come back to the business in several weeks (or longer) with a plan in hand. The lost revenue means I've got over $50,000 in expenses during our down time. A plan means coming up with funding to re-start my business and working with vendors and stakeholders to come to some, unknown, middle ground.
I know there will need to be accommodations made for small business when we start again, but I have to assume there won't be. I also know from distributors that many stores will be done after this.
Taking care of my family, my employees, and my stakeholders is my priority, in that order. Customers have been incredibly supportive. They insisted I sell them gift certificates while we're closed, so I set up a website for that yesterday. They spent $650! As difficult as game trade customers can be at times, they really are the best. I love this tribe.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
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