It is hard to think there are any positives when it comes to COVID19. You’re right, but we need to stay optimistic and start preparing for a new way of running our business in the foreseeable future. Provincial government have started roadmaps to get the economy back up and running, and some have already set date for reopening small businesses. The JCTA has created a list for JCTA members to help with reopening. The information includes updated information on when salons can open province by province, provincial and Federal support for small businesses and funding for wage subsidies.

Hopefully, you have all taken advantage of the $40,000 interest free loan from the Federal government. This loan is interest free until Dec 31^st, 2022. If paid back in that time, you only have to pay back $30,000. Even if you do not need it now, I suggest you apply for it, and put it in your bank off to the side just in case you need it in the future. All this information is online for JCTA Members to view. Another benefit right now is the CERB $2000 per 4 weeks you can apply for, which was backdated to March 15^th and ends in June. Anyone making $5000 or more last year can apply. The other is CEWS wage subsidy which you as an owner can apply for and when you bring your employees back can be added. This is a 75% wage subsidy for you and your employees up to a limit of $847 per week per person. There is another loan you can apply for from the BDC. It was a very simple application for up to a $100,000 loan. Just go to the BDC website and sign up. From my understanding, it is interest free for the first year.

At the time of writing this article, I have not been approved for the $100,000 BDC loan due to the number of applications that BDC has received. I have been approved for the $40,000 CERB benefit for our salon and for the $2000 for my wife, and the CEWS 75% wage subsidy for myself since my wages and sales have dropped below 30% of our tanning salon and consulting business. Do not forget you must reapply every 4 weeks for the CERB and CEWS benefits.

Some great news which we announced in the last update was the NEW JCTA insurance program for Tanning and Beauty. This program is only available through Brokerlink out of Calgary. Check out the link here for further information: https://tancanada.org/insurance/ . All you need to be is a JCTA and Smart Tan member and have all your staff certified to get the better coverage and better pricing. I have heard from a member that they just saved $2000 on their building and salon insurance. The average savings is about 26% ($700 to $900) for salon insurance. The coverage was designed by the JCTA to cover all aspects of your business. This program can also cover spas and beauty without tanning. In the last couple of years, the insurance program had to be divided for property and professional liability. So, make sure when you are getting pricing that you understand what you are comparing to. I found that some salons did not realize because of split policies they do not have the coverage they think they have and should have. This happened a lot last year when some brokers just renewed the property side and not the professional liability side, since some underwriters dropped certain coverage on equipment and some dropped property as well. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples.

It’s time you start preparing to reopen since most provinces have announce reopening plan to get the economy back up and running. There will be strict opening rules that each business will need to follow. The basic will be higher disinfection procedures. I expect tanning salon will need to go from sanitization to disinfection. This means the contact time will move from 1 minute to 3 to 10minutes based on what product you are using. The good news is our Supplier Members of the JCTA have been researching this and have found the solution. Hopefully by the time you reopen you will be able to purchase this product that has a 3-minute contact time for disinfection. The other main point for governments to allow us to open will be social distancing of 2 meters, continued cleaning of all surfaces, and limiting the number of clients in the facility at one time. There maybe a requirement for masks as well, and I understand that our suppliers have already sourced them.

As of March 19^th, the JCTA shut down its social media campaign which was having great success. The good news is we will gear this back up once salons are back up and running. We want to let Canadians know that we are open for business and we are making sure we are protecting our clients. This will include following the JCTA Professional Standard and a new Guidance Document for reopening your salon in the world of COVID-19

Stay Safe and please practice social distancing.

-Steve Gilroy