By Toon Dreessen – Architects DCA

Running a small business isn’t easy at the best of times. Payroll comes every two weeks. Rent and utility bills come every month. Tax submissions come every quarter. Today’s pandemic exacerbates the challenges that small businesses face: reserves are often minimal, allowing for, if they’re lucky, a month or two of emergency financial resources.

Due to the nature of tight budgets, small businesses rely on their clients to pay their bills regularly and keep revenue flowing. Sometimes this is within 30 days, but more often within 60, though some are 90 or longer. As long as it’s predictable, things flow smoothly. But when bills are submitted by mail, processed by in-house staff and cheques mailed out, this process can grind to a halt if everyone is working from home. Thankfully, many bigger organizations use direct deposit and accept invoices by email. Making sure bills are paid in a timely fashion helps everyone; it means payroll gets covered and rents get paid.

When staff have to work remotely, it means buying the necessary hardware to work remotely. It means setting up processes and systems to maintain file security and supporting staff with work from home options; that can mean subsidizing their home internet use, paying for their personal cell phone or giving them an office work chair so that their ergonomics at work (from home) are the same as when they are at work.

All these things cost money. A decent computer is over $3,000 alone, not to mention the set-up time, software and so on. Access to the office resources (building codes, reference material) is limited to what can be made available on-line. Many resources can’t be digitized and some projects have security protocols and can’t be worked on outside the office.

Then there is the social aspect. We work collaboratively on projects. That means getting up from your desk to talk to the other people on the project or getting an outside opinion on how to do something from someone down the hall. It might mean printing the drawing you’re working on and grabbing a coffee with someone to talk through the design problem. All this is possible when working from home, but not only is it different, it’s not what we’re used to. It takes time and technology, to make this happen.

Why do small businesses matter? Over 90% of architecture practices in the province employ fewer than 10 architects. Over 75% of Ontario architecture practices are very small businesses, with two architects or less, likely representing less than 20 employees. Yet, Ontario architects have an economic impact that represents 14% of the province’s GDP.

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