By Erin Harper

As the University of Maryland nears the anniversary of the COVID-19 shutdowns that upended life for students on and off campus, many student-run businesses continue to navigate through uncharted territories of the pandemic in order to remain profitable. 

 “It’s definitely been a blessing in disguise,” said sophomore McKenzie Horton.

Horton, a criminology and criminal justice and psychology double major, started her business, Sadity Wigz, in her junior year of high school after experiencing frustration with trying to find reliable wig companies. 

“It started out as people just bringing me their own bundles to my house from different companies, and I would make the wig,”  Horton said. “However, I decided to start supplying the hair for the wigs. This also allowed me to expand my client base.”

Prior to the pandemic, Horton focused more on enjoying the college experience over her business. Once the pandemic hit, Horton found that she needed to make changes to her business model in order to meet the demands of the changing market. 

“At first, I did a lot of in-person advertising and while that’s effective, it only goes so far,” Horton said. 

The pandemic caused Horton to lose her job and dip into funds reserved for her business. Horton has focused on relaunching her business plan to gain new customers by implementing new marketing techniques. This led to an increase in Horton’s sales. 

“There’s literally nothing else to do but research how to make my business better,” Horton said. “Now I advertise by paying Instagram influencers and YouTubers to review my brand. This has reached way more people than I could ever.”

Rising e-commerce sales have become a trend throughout the pandemic. Because stores have had to limit in-person interactions, COVID-19 has pushed customers to use online shopping sites. 

For Horton, whose business has always been strictly online, the shift away from retail stores was not a challenge. But for businesses that had to move operations completely online, like Rendered Inc., the change was not as easy.

Rendered Inc., a sustainable apparel company founded by senior Saba Tshibaka, relied on in-person markets and events to help promote its products and raise awareness about the environmental impact of the clothing industry.

“The main way we sold our product primarily was through pop-ups that we hosted at different places on campus or other organizations that had marketplace events,” said Tshibaka, a philosophy, politics and economics major. “Once the pandemic hit, we were pushed completely to e-commerce. So that was tough because we didn’t have another option.”

After moving to an online format, Tshibaka was able to capitalize on the increase of products popularized by the pandemic, such as face masks.

“The pandemic actually led us to being more profitable than we have ever been before,” Tshibaka said. “Once I pivoted to making face masks, which was a product many people needed, more sales came in.”

Drew Haas, a freshman letters and sciences student, found herself in the same situation as Tshibaka and Horton. A shift to e-commerce led to more sales being earned for her business. Haas, founder of Cookies by Drew, said that she didn’t have many customers before the pandemic. Once COVID-19 hit, her business took off. 

“A lot of people were really interested in buying cookies because so many local restaurants and bakeries closed down,” said Haas. “I was able to [operate a business] while still following safety guidelines, including contactless pickup and shipping.”

Haas also used the surrounding College Park community to sell her goods. She used the kitchen at College Park Grill to bake her cookies and sell them to students.

“Sales have risen because I’ve been able to spend time over quarantine growing the business and dedicating a majority of my time to making it expand. Though I wasn’t able to sell when the pandemic was really bad, I still took the time to work on my social media platforms to spread the business itself,” Haas said. 

For people looking to start their own businesses during the pandemic, Horton recommends using resources from the university.

“Don’t be afraid to step out there and start,” she said. “It’s okay to ask for help.”

Featured image: Cookies by Drew, founded by freshman Drew Haas, has sold cookies internationally. Photo courtesy of Drew Haas.