Small businesses are the heart of Hawaii

According to a 2019 Small Business Administration (SBA) profile of Hawaii, 132,640 small businesses with 500 employees or fewer, represent 99.3% of all our businesses and employ slightly more than half our workforce.

We asked a few of our business customers their thoughts on managing through the pandemic and supporting small businesses. Here’s what they shared with us.

Tanioka’s

Located in Waipahu on Oahu, Tanioka’s Seafoods and Catering has been serving fresh seafood since 1978. They’ve stayed resilient through hurricanes (Iniki in 1992 and Ewa in 1982), 40 continuous days of rain (2006), Rail Transit construction (2015), and now a global pandemic.

Since Oahu’s stay-at-home order was extended to September 23, 2020, Tanioka’s made the difficult decision to temporarily close in an effort to support the order and protect the health of their customers and employees.

“Flexibility and the ability to adapt to changes on a daily basis are key for businesses to stay afloat during this time,” said Jasmine Tanioka, chief financial officer of Tanioka’s.

Jasmine also shares the importance of understanding your business’s capabilities, and using that knowledge to make adjustments. Tanioka’s streamlined their menu and added new customer conveniences, like curbside pickup and online ordering. Families are working, learning, and being entertained at home, so they added new offerings like Family Packs and upgraded bentos.

Doctors of Waikiki (DoW)

Opened to the public on December 1, 2018, DoW has established itself as the go-to urgent care center in Honolulu. DoW made it a priority to maintain their hours of operation during the stay-at-home orders, reinforcing their accessibility and commitment to providing high-quality care to the community.

“As a business owner, your staff is relying heavily on your ability to lead, especially during times of uncertainty,” said medical director Alan Wu, who co-founded Doctors of Waikiki with Dr. Tony Trpkovsk. “As the leaders of this practice, Dr. Tony and I are working 60 to 80 hours a week to ensure our patients are well-cared for and to demonstrate to our staff that we’re in the trenches with them.” 

DoW has chosen to support local by outsourcing services – including janitorial, biomedical waste management, and advertising – to other Hawaii small businesses. As a treat to their staff, DoW caters meals up to three times a week ordering only from local restaurants.

Haole Girl Island Sweets
This bakeshop has been serving hand-crafted delights on Kauai since May 2013. Their steady annual growth has seen a 70% dip in revenue since the COVID-19 shutdown; now, they’re experiencing a halting recovery.

Owner Judith Capertina echoes the importance of being adaptable and flexible. She says: “There is no ‘normal’ at this point.”

The bakery uses local and seasonal products from Kauai and Hawaii island, which keeps their reliance on imported goods to a minimum. Being a Kauai Made program member ensures that at least 51 percent of their ingredients come from Kauai.

“Our business model was setup for sustainability, allowing us to support our local economy which is so needed in these challenging times,” said Judith.

The power of social media

All three business owners stress the value of social media as a way to stay connected with their customers.

Since Haole Girl Island Sweets relies heavily on sales from local farmers markets and special orders, Facebook and Instagram posts can quickly inform customers about new and changing venues.

DoW uses the Facebook message feature as an alternate way for customers to communicate with their team

While Tanioka’s redirected advertising and marketing efforts to increasing their social media presence.

What YOU can do to help

Customers don’t have to spend much time or money to support small businesses. Leaving positive reviews on sites like Yelp, Google Maps or Tripadvisor can help others find your favorite businesses.

Engaging with a business on social media by commenting, liking, or sharing can help boost the algorithm allowing the post to show up on more feeds. 

Businesses are energized by their customers’ enthusiasm. Sharing kind words with a business owner or their team, as well as encouraging friends and family to shop small, goes a long way.