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Westin Atkins

Dr. Guenzel

ENC1102

3/03/21

Research Dossier: Small Businesses Tactics Against COVID-19

Research Dossier Introduction

Whenever the coronavirus hit us, there was not much of a notice and mostly
everyone was unprepared due to the fact that there was only a small percentage of
people who lived through the last Spanish Flu pandemic. Although everyone was
affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, a specific group of people that were hit hard
was small businesses. These owners had to deal with a lot and have never
experienced some of the guidelines that they were legally forced to follow.
Therefore, business owners were forced to find options and tactics in order to be
successful during these slow times.

In this research project I will be discussing all of the different techniques

that small businesses have taken over the duration of this pandemic have figured
out what works and what doesn’t work. For the Rogerian mode of Argumentation,
I have put the small businesses into three specific categories in order to compare
and contrast the different ways different types of businesses were affected. I have
chosen the restaurant industry, the clothing store industry and medical centers such
as doctors offices. I believe that all of these businesses can be looked at through
research as prime examples of how COVID-19 has affected these businesses and
there is plenty of research opportunities to determine what these businesses have
done to overcome the pandemic. With my research I will be able to determine what
works best and what doesn’t work.

In the restaurant world, they have limited population indoors, so they had to
switch to alternatives for their money-making tactics. Many restaurants have been
doing a lot more online orders, curbsides, deliveries, etc. For clothing stores, they
have to worry about customers touching every piece of clothing and customers
attempting to try on clothes. The stores are required to come up with new ideas
such as limiting the number of things you can try on and sanitizing/washing the
clothes that are tried on and not bought. Also, the arguably most impacted business
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by COVID-19 is health services. Doctors’ offices must be extremely careful more

than ever with how they go about taking care of their customers. Although, these
businesses are one of the only businesses that had some preparation.

In my research thus far, I have determined the points that I want to make and
where I want to make them. I have collected all my sources for statistics on all
types of businesses but also many sources that explain how restaurants, clothing
stores, and health centers are affected specifically. The biggest issue that I had with
my research was trying to find sources that would talk about statistics on how
effective certain strategies are for the businesses. Therefore, I have to take statistics
myself and compare them in order to show how they work in the business world.

Research Proposal Memo

Subject: How has COVID-19 Changed the Way Small Businesses Operate?

Topic description: In this research project I will talk about things related to

COVID-19 that had an effect on the way small businesses work and operate on a

day-to-day basis, as well as a long-term standpoint. There are a lot of different

categories about businesses and all of the different 3rd party systems that have

blown up over the pandemic. For my critical lens, I will mostly be discussing about

the Intertextuality from the texts we read from Porter and Gee. I think

intertextuality will match good because all businesses had to adapt from other

things and see what works and what doesn’t. The three different types of small

businesses for the Rogerian Mode of Argumentation are restaurants, clothing

stores, and health centers.

Documentation Style: MLA, I am used to MLA format and therefore I will be

more successful using a format I am most comfortable with.

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Purpose: I am a business major and eventually plan on being a business owner in

my future. Therefore, I see this research project would not only be interesting for

me to look into, but it could be extremely beneficial for me as I learn more about

the world of business.

Intended Audience: My audience will be my fellow classmates. Although, I still

think a lot of people will have beneficial value from my research project. Every

single person is a consumer and uses businesses every day. There will be

information about tactics that businesses use and maybe we can all learn to adapt

from them.

Research Question: COVID-19 had a great impact on how small businesses can

function. What are the many alternative tactics that were issued into play as the

world of business learned?

Types of Research: Internet and Field Research

Keywords: Small Business, Restaurants, Clothing retail, Health facilities, COVID-

19

Schedule:

March 3: Workshop Research Dossier Draft

March 8: Peer review workshop
March 24: Workshop Draft
March 31: Final Draft
April 5: Workshop Draft 1 Research Paper
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April 6: Peer review/ Workshop draft 2

April 19: Workshop Draft 3
April 21: Self-Assessment Draft
April 26: Final Draft Research Paper

Annotated Bibliography

Bartik, Alexander W., et al. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Small Business

Outcomes and Expectations.” PNAS, National Academy of Sciences, 28 July 2020,
www.pnas.org/content/117/30/17656

Content: This source is good because it talks about all small businesses, but it
specifies on how the businesses manage their expenses and goes in detail about
percentages of employment and its effects.

Author: The author Alexander Bartik attended the University of Illinois for the
Department of Economics and has lots of articles about business and COVID-19.

BEAM: This article has little to no bias because the author isn’t a business owner.
The author just takes the perspective of someone who studies economics and
businesses. This is relevant because he went to school to study these sorts of
things.

Brady, Christine. “5 Innovative Ways Restaurants Can Drive Sales During

COVID-19.” QSR Magazine, www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/5-

innovative-ways-restaurants-can-drive-sales-during-covid-19.

Content: This article goes in depth about how businesses can help build their sales

during the pandemic. Gives ideas on how businesses can even get a little extra

boost per service to boost total sales.

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Author: Very limited information on author, writer for QSR magazine.

BEAM: This article has no bias because the author is just discussing techniques

that businesses should be using and they most likely do not run a business. The

author has the perspective of someone who studies economics in order to give

information on it.

Deshpande, Rohit. “Your Customers Have Changed. Here's How to Engage Them

Again.” HBS Working Knowledge, 16 June 2020, hbswk.hbs.edu/item/your-

customers-have-changed-here-s-how-to-engage-them-again

Content: Rohit Deshpande talks about the best and most proper way for firms to

adjust to their customers and mostly gives tips that would be effective for the

restaurant industry but could be used for all business.

Author: Rohit Deshpande is an American Economist for Sebastian S. Kresge

Professor of Marketing at Harvard Business School.

BEAM: There is a little bit of bias in this article because it is his job to show how

businesses operate but it can be seen as a positive bias because he is being

beneficial for businesses. His perspective would be from the point of view of an

economist.
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Gips, Michael. “COVID-19 Case Study: Clothing Retailer Experiments with UV

Fabric Cleaning.” ASIS Homepage, 7 Aug. 2020, www.asisonline.org/security-

management-magazine/latest-news/online-exclusives/2020/research/covid-case-

study-clothing-retailer/.

Context: This article is very specific to clothing retail businesses about how new

technology can be used to help benefit their business. The main idea is about how

clothes can be cleaned with UV in order to be sold to customers without moving

germs.

Author: Works for ASIS foundation research

BEAM: There is only a little bit of bias on this article because he has been

studying this technology so he is going to do whatever he can to allow you to see

what’s good about the technology he has been researching. He has the perspective

of a researcher that finds out benefits from this UV cleaning for small clothing

businesses.

Hand, Tim. “COVID-19 for Restaurants: What's Working and What Will Become

Part of the New Normal.” FSR Magazine, 1 Apr. 2020,

www.fsrmagazine.com/expert-takes/covid-19-restaurants-whats-working-and-

what-will-become-part-new-normal.
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Context: Hand introduces the idea of simplifying your restaurant business in order

to boost sales. Whenever you simplify the business, you will be able to engage

with more people and bring in more customers.

Author: Very minimal information of Tim Hand. He is an author for FSR

magazine and studies economics.

BEAM: There is no bias on this article because he doesn’t run a restaurant

business, he just has tactics in order to help businesses function. His perspective is

from someone who studies how businesses run and can determine how certain

options benefit a company.

McDermott, Daniel. “What Impact Has the Coronavirus Pandemic Had on

Healthcare Employment?” Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker, 16 June 2020,

www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/what-impact-has-the-coronavirus-

pandemic-had-on-healthcare-employment/#item-start.

Context: The article talks about the loss of mostly employment for all sorts of

health service workers.

Author: Daniel McDermott is a Policy Analyst with KFF’s Program for the Study
of Health Reform.

BEAM: There is some bias in this article because it talks about the downfall of
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healthcare and health workers, but his company is all about the health industry. His

perspective as a writer for a company that studies how health companies are

operating during these times.

Lagasse, Jeff. “COVID-19 Impact on Hospitals Worse than Previously

Estimated.” Healthcare Finance News,

www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/covid-19-impact-hospitals-worse-

previously-estimated

Context: The article talks about the rates and percentages of how hospitals and

health centers are affected during COVID-19 and you can compare them to how

they were before COVID.

Author: Jeff Lagasse is an associate editor for Healthcare Finance.

BEAM: There is some bias in this article because this news and finance network

specializes in healthcare and will defend the health systems. This is not a negative

bias; it is just going to explain how the health centers are suffering. The writer has

a perspective of someone is going to defend Healthcare services forever.

Ilchi, Layla. “All the Major Fashion Brands and Retailers Severely Impacted by

the COVID-19 Pandemic.” WWD, WWD, 24 Dec. 2020, https://wwd.com/fashion-

news/fashion-scoops/coronavirus-impact-fashion-retail-bankruptcies-1203693347/
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Context: This article is about clothing businesses and it breaks down the statistics

behind how each business was impacted by COVID-19 and percentages on the

impacts.

Author: Layla Ilchi is an author for WWD, and she specializes in fashion, so she

knows quite a bit about the clothing business.

BEAM: There is not a lot of bias in this article. She doesn’t state a lot of opinion in

this article because it is mostly just statistics stacked on top of each other. It

doesn’t leave a lot of room for bias to take part. She has the perspective of

someone who studies fashion and gets to evaluate the losses from businesses due to

the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buttle, Rhett. “Managing Covid-19's Impact On Small Businesses: A Conversation

With Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 2

Dec. 2020, www.forbes.com/sites/rhettbuttle/2020/12/01/managing-covid-19s-

impact-on-small-businesses-a-conversation-with-wisconsin-state-treasurer-sarah-

godlewski/?sh=5ba0fa5528b0.

Context: This is an article about an interview with the State treasurer of Wisconsin

and small businesses being affected by COVID-19.

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Author: Rhett Buttle is a Forbes contributor who specializes in small business

strategy for his articles. In Buttle's words, "I write on the relationship between

business, policy, and politics". 

BEAM: The bias in this text is that the author studies small business and therefore

has strong beliefs behind them. Also, the treasurer has bias because she wants

Wisconsin to look like its doing good. The perspective of the treasurer is also and

important part to notice.

Hernandez, Karina. “From stores to Chinatown Restaurants, here’s how the

coronavirus is affecting small business owners in the US”. CNBC. (May 4, 2020).

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/04/heres-how-coronavirus-affects-small-

businesses-in-the-united-states.html

Context: This article is talking about small businesses in general but specifies on a

Chinatown Restaurant is being affected. They also go on to talk about certain relief

bills to help.

Author: Katrina Hernandez is a CNBC news associate.

BEAM: There is no certain bias in this article, it is an author who is just going

over the struggling small businesses throughout the country. The perspective can

be seen from the author or the perspective of the Chinatown restaurant business

owner who breaks down the losses from the pandemic.

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