GREAT FALLS — At best, Trevor Cavanagh was uncertain about the future of his business - Smoked American Barbecue - when Governor Steve Bullock directed all restaurants to close their dining rooms in March. He was worried that business would drop and people would stop supporting local businesses, just when they needed the support most. The community came through in a big way.
“I’ll be honest, it was phenomenal,” Cavanagh said with a smile on his face. “The local support was great. We always do a good lunch crowd, but we started seeing a lot of new faces. We had an above-normal lunch crowd, we actually increased our sales during the day, which offset some of the catering we lost.”
Smoked didn’t raise their prices during the pandemic, and that could have potentially hurt them with costs skyrocketing. Some meat prices rose, but so did the costs of sanitation equipment and personal protective equipment like gloves and masks.
Cavanagh remained firm in his belief that the health and safety of his staff and customers should come before the financial well-being of any business. That being said, he still filled out an application for a small business loan, which he says was very helpful.
“We just completed the application for what the state of Montana is doing, so that’s yet to be seen with what’s going on,” Cavanagh explained when asked what the process for getting that loan was like. “I have to say, as a whole, it’s just something you have to stay on top of. You have to have good record-keeping and complete your applications quickly, or you’re going to miss out on a big opportunity.”
Trevor also admitted that it’s likely things won’t get back to the way they were before the pandemic soon, if ever. Smoked has added outdoor socially-distant seating and outside handwashing stations. You still can’t come and sit down inside Smoked for the time-being, and Trevor says that’s for the best for everyone.
He says that he thinks most people won’t want to come out in droves right away, anyway, and that’s okay. In terms of meat supply, which has been a topic of concern during parts of this pandemic, the key for them is communication. Smoked has started planning ahead with their meat suppliers, to try and make up for the shortage of, among other meats, pork. The restaurant normally doesn’t freeze any of their meat, but Cavanagh says he might have to consider it next time they get a big shipment, since they don’t know how often that will be for the foreseeable future.
Before I left Smoked., I asked Trevor if he had any advice for other small businesses that might be struggling with how to operate going forward, and he did.
“I would encourage anybody who’s not open right now or hesitant to be open to get yourself up and running. Do something to produce some type of product the consumer wants to buy,” he said. “The consumers are buying and supporting local business extremely well, so, I don’t want to say take advantage of it, but it is an opportunity. They want to support local business. Don’t sit back and say ‘woe is me’ and feel sorry for yourself. The local economy is going to help you out, the local people are going to help you out, and get your business up and running, because they’ll come in droves.”
Smoked is located at 203 2nd Avenue North. Click here to visit their website.
MARCH 24: Smoked rides line between public health and survival
