BRUNSWICK, Ohio — Chances are you’ve seen Facebook posts recently from small businesses across Northeast Ohio sounding the alarm about their future.
Their transparency comes at a troubling time, as some now find themselves at the point of no return.
Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank caught up with one former restaurant owner in Brunswick who just pulled the plug on his dream.
Brandon Lambert’s idea for Geeked Out Pub and Grille was born while he was on an overseas trip with friends.
“We were a family place during the day and more adult-oriented at night," said Lambert.
The doors to Geeked Out in 2019, just a few months before the pandemic hit.
"From when we opened the doors until we locked them, we were completely packed."
Lambert said he had confidence his concept would survive COVID-19.
That feeling however quickly started fading this summer.
"Business just fell off a cliff like I've never seen," said Lambert.
The dramatic decline in revenue, some 30%, came at the same time expenses started spiking.
"Everything went up 30 to 40%. I'm talking utilities, food costs. And some food costs went up 100-150% The math just doesn’t work," said Lambert.
Lambert said he held out as long as possible, but in the end, the entrepreneur realized it was game over.
"We had to pull the plug before somebody pulled it for us. I was not the only mom-and-pop restaurant that closed last week, when we closed there was another one here in town that did as well," said Lambert.
According to the Ohio Restaurant Association, nearly 60% of restaurant owners reported sales were flat or down in some cases more than 10% this summer.
Around 70% have seen food costs go up, with more than half of them seeing an increase of 6-15%.
"It feels like the only restaurants that are going to succeed in the future are the ones that have massive corporate backing," said Lambert.
That's a concern Katie Van Dyke understands.
"Access to capital is really tough for small businesses," said Van Dyke.
Van Dyke is with the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Cleveland State.
"A lot of times our small business owners are leveraged as much as they possibly can," said Van Dyke.
Van Dyke and her team help bring small business owners back from the brink of failure at no cost to them.
"A lot of the restaurants we've worked with, we've really helped them pare down the menu to the most popular items, and the most profitable items," said Van Dyke.
Other ideas include changing the hours of operation and finding new ways to cut down costs.
"Sometimes you are so into the business as a small business owner, you're doing everything. It's nice to have a fresh point of view," said Van Dyke.
The outlook for Lambert has drastically changed.
"It's been such a battle now for so long that there was a sense of relief when I finally pulled the plug," said Lambert.
Lambert told News 5 he is concerned with the rapid pace small businesses in Northeast Ohio are folding.
“I think that there's going to be more coming," said Lambert.
