Financial uncertainty has not deterred some West Coast business owners who have taken the plunge and set up shop in the midst of the pandemic.
Country pop artist Jody Direen swapped her microphone for marketing after her gigs were put off because of Covid-19. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
Before the pandemic, country pop artist Jody Direen split her time between touring and her life in Franz Josef.
"Most of my shows that I was playing were bigger shows, definitely over 100 people in most cases so ... I lost essentially almost 100 percent of my gigs."
She has been a self-managed recording artist for years, building her own career and launching a music festival along the way.
So when it came to making a choice, swapping her microphone for marketing seemed like a good fit, even if it was not an easy decision.
"I had all of these skills sitting there, it was a really obvious transition for me. I guess in some ways I didn't have a choice because I did need to keep working and earning money as we all do," Direen said.
"But at the same time, I've actually really enjoyed the transition. I still feel like I'm an artist, I'm still creating, I'm just creating in a different way."
She launched Direen Creative early last year and has been busy the past six to nine months.
As part of the government's tourism recovery package, she has been providing business advice and support to Westland businesses.
"There's not many digital marketers on the West Coast so to be able to offer that help is extremely rewarding, and to help really set businesses up and optimise their assets before tourism does start to come back I think is going to be really significant for the business here," Direen said.
One of them was Melanie Richards' new business, the Franz Josef Dog Retreat.
It was partly inspired by her three-year-old Huntaway rescue, Ace.
"A local mechanic said to me, 'why don't you start a doggy business' ... I've got a great big section. Well I was on the phone about two seconds later to the council and it sort of basically grew from there."
She opened her doors to paws last year, and said so far, she was getting good support from locals and travellers.
"Especially with the walks that you do here with the Department of Conservation, you can't always take your dogs. So it's just been great."
It was her side business and she currently could only take up to four dogs at a time.
But she had not ruled out expanding in the future, especially if business picked up.
The new Paparoa track, where one guide says they were fully booked through the first season. Photo: RNZ / Conan Young
Paparoa Guided Walks lead guide and owner Edward Cochrane said they were about two thirds of the way through their first season.
"We are fully booked out our whole first season. There's been a few cancellations coming in here and there with Covid.
"But I think the popularity of us operating on a Great Walk and the Paparoa Track being so new that there's plenty of people out there looking for a product like we offer."
There were a huge number of older New Zealanders who wanted to do the new Great Walk, but might want additional support, he said.
"By offering the ability to decrease their pack weight, provide that safety net for them and then also teach them some things along the way about unique flora and fauna in New Zealand, yeah, I was sure that there was plenty of people that were interested.
"It's just providing that package and piecing it all together for them to be able to achieve completing the track safely and successfully."
He was excited to add international visitors into the mix.
"It's been quite great being a new company to kind of grow quite organically, just focusing on the domestic market.
"But there's definitely potential for us to become even more successful as we begin to broaden our kind of marketing and get our package out there."
With the return of international visitors approaching, businesses were hopeful their risk would continue to pay off.
