Small businesses in the U.S. employ nearly 60 million people, and 57 million are self-employed independent contractors, gig workers, temporary and part-time workers. Benefits like health care coverage or sick paid leave are not guaranteed for all of these workers and many rely on their income to handle these expenses.
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to limit the social gatherings and local governments mandating the closure of nonessential businesses to help curb the spread of COVID-19, these business owners have a major challenge: Find creative ways to adjust in a time of crisis.
At School of Rock, the show goes on
School of Rock, a multilocation music school, has inspired would-be young rock stars with its "performance-based" music education program. The closure of its schools because of the coronavirus pandemic forced a school focused on group-based learning to rethink its approach.
"Like most people, we had a seizure of terror," said School of Rock CEO Rob Price on closing its schools.
Instead of fully shutting down, School of Rock launched a virtual, one-on-one remote program, where students use video conferencing tools to continue music lessons with teachers. The school teaches more than 40,000 students around the world.
School of Rock will accept new students during this time, offering singing lessons and instruction on instruments including guitar, bass, drums or keyboard.
"You have tens of millions of people dislocated, with time on their hands feeling anxiety, grief, fear and dislocation," said Price. "We know from 21 years of experience that music is one of the best natural antidotes to those conditions."
— Brett Molina