When LISC first spoke with the Veola’s team in 2021, the small business had just received a $365,000 LISC loan following months of COVID-19 restrictions that put the spa in jeopardy of closing down. We checked in with Veola’s Day Spa and Wellness Center to see how the extra support has helped the 18-year-old business pivot during challenging times
LISC often points to the value of patient, flexible affordable capital for small businesses so they have the financing they need to weather economic challenges, innovate and grow.
LISC first talked to the team at Veola’s in 2021 shortly after the spa received a $365,000 LISC loan following months of COVID-19 restrictions that slashed revenues and jeopardized the 18-year-old business.
We wondered: how did Veola’s pivot in subsequent months to respond to the pandemic, and could that offer any insight to other small business owners? Operating partner Jasmine James was kind enough to fill us in.
When the pandemic hit, “No one had a protocol,” James remembers, and she and her mother worried that their business might not survive. There is no working from home for people in the personal services trade. “We can’t provide a facial or pedicure through a laptop,” James said.
Veola James (sitting) and Jasmine James
Revenues dropped down to zero during the shutdown, but the spa’s bills stayed the same. The city worked to provide meaningful support, but much of it focused on the needs of residential tenants, not commercial mortgages or building utilities. Gift certificates were the only income coming into the shop, which some clients purchased with the hope of exchanging for services in the near future. While it helped, James said it wasn’t covering their bills. As for many, it was a stressful and uncertain time.
Now, Jasmine sees the sudden onset of the pandemic as a “blessing in disguise.” It pushed her to launch Veola’s retail website, a project she had been sitting on for a while that suddenly became urgent.
She created at-home wax pot kits that could easily ship and came with cleanser, wax oil, and instructions for folks to tide themselves over until they could come to the spa. The kits were a hit and ensured regulars had access to what they needed from someone they trusted. Next came pedicure kits and an expansion into a variety of health and wellness offerings.
On their own, those sales still weren’t enough. The spa needed financing to help them purchase inventory and maintain their facilities.
It was a “blessing that LISC came in at the time that it did” Jasmine recalls. “LISC [financing] was our revenue during the shutdown.” The LISC loan even covered unforeseen expenses, like replacing two of Veola’s air conditioning units that gave out in Chicago’s summer heat– just as operations were getting back up and running. Veola’s couldn’t wait, and LISC funding helped ensure the spa could keep operating smoothly.
Today, Veola’s continues to offer products online, and James appreciates that it is a now permanent revenue stream for the spa. While she sees it as crucial that Veola’s has a brick-and-mortar location as their heart and soul, a website works 365 days a year, even after hours, giving the business a broader reach and clients more convenience.
Now the Veola’s team “has enough information to know how to pivot if we need to” in the future– although she hopes it won’t be necessary.
She said the pandemic started a “shift in how important self-care is… in the shutdown you really realized how important it is to take care of yourself.” She added: “First it was the pandemic, now it’s inflation, or uncertainty about the economy.” At spas like Veola’s, trusted staff members are like community therapists. They listen and offer support as neighbors, partners and friends.
“The pandemic has proven that with a strong community, planning, and the ability to make adjustments when needed, we aren’t going anywhere,” James said. Her mother Veola’s long-time philosophy still holds: you can’t teach what you don’t know, and lead where you’ve never been. With the right planning and a healthy dose of passion to succeed, James is leading toward stability and growth.