A Missouri sushi restaurant started adding a covid-19 surcharge to its bills, causing a storm on social media.
But, this may be a sign of the future.
Small businesses trying to keep their doors open have new demands:
– Increases in supply chain costs. Getting stuff costs more and takes longer.
– Extreme cleaning requirements to eliminate the virus.
– Traffic restrictions. Some restaurants, for example, can only host half of the diners they can accommodate. But rents, utilities, maintenance, and other fixed costs remain the same. The difference has to be made up in higher prices — or maybe one-time surcharges.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
