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My name is Jonathan Wiseman, I am a small business owner in the city of Toronto.
I've had a dream ever since I was 19 years old to open up my own personal training facilities. When I turned 28, I was able to open my first gym in Downtown Toronto and at the age of 33, our second gym opened in the Upper Beaches in late 2019.
To say I was proud of myself is an understatement. I had built a viable and successful business. One that focused on helping others... from their mental wellbeing to their physical sense of self and optimizing their health for long term high quality of life. This is my passion... working with amazing trainers, staff and running a robust business that's results driven has always been my long term goal.
Before lockdowns hit, both of my locations were growing, the teams, the clientele, the brand. It was amazing to see all the hard work, the time, the energy and the money that I had invested finally coming to fruition. We had no debt, everything was self funded and I was able to support and take care of my growing family.
Once lockdowns started, we stayed positive and did everything we could to adapt. I made the decision to keep my entire staff working... benefits continued, I did everything we could to support our clientele. Fast forward 1 year later and Toronto is still in and out of these seemingly never ending lockdowns. My gyms have been closed for over 305 days now.
The fact I am writing this means that these lockdowns have finally taken their final toll on my business and unfortunately I have to shut down our second location... this location's first tax year end is 2020. That means it's not eligible for government loans or funding. Because of that, it's incurred quite a large debt and my landlords have decided to begin the process of eviction.
Instead of losing both businesses, I must shut this one down so I can keep the other and not lose everything I've worked for. The loss from this location is already financially devastating to myself and my family.
So, I must ask you for help. How can we squeeze water from a rock? The gyms have been closed for a very long time, we have ran out of funds and there's a debt owing to not only my landlords but other creditors as well. I want to wipe the slate clean, move forward and not have to continue to experience the mental and emotional stress that this situation has caused me. I want to secure the business, I want to protect my staff and I don't want to lose everything I've worked to build, I need your support so I can start over.
There's little solace in knowing that the closure of this businesses second location has nothing to do with my ability to run a business, but rather unsurmountable odds imposed on us by the Ontario government with little to no support. But that doesn't stop the debt that we've been given that is going to drag us down a very dark hole if we don't escape it as soon as possible.
I've had a dream ever since I was 19 years old to open up my own personal training facilities. When I turned 28, I was able to open my first gym in Downtown Toronto and at the age of 33, our second gym opened in the Upper Beaches in late 2019.
To say I was proud of myself is an understatement. I had built a viable and successful business. One that focused on helping others... from their mental wellbeing to their physical sense of self and optimizing their health for long term high quality of life. This is my passion... working with amazing trainers, staff and running a robust business that's results driven has always been my long term goal.
Before lockdowns hit, both of my locations were growing, the teams, the clientele, the brand. It was amazing to see all the hard work, the time, the energy and the money that I had invested finally coming to fruition. We had no debt, everything was self funded and I was able to support and take care of my growing family.
Once lockdowns started, we stayed positive and did everything we could to adapt. I made the decision to keep my entire staff working... benefits continued, I did everything we could to support our clientele. Fast forward 1 year later and Toronto is still in and out of these seemingly never ending lockdowns. My gyms have been closed for over 305 days now.
The fact I am writing this means that these lockdowns have finally taken their final toll on my business and unfortunately I have to shut down our second location... this location's first tax year end is 2020. That means it's not eligible for government loans or funding. Because of that, it's incurred quite a large debt and my landlords have decided to begin the process of eviction.
Instead of losing both businesses, I must shut this one down so I can keep the other and not lose everything I've worked for. The loss from this location is already financially devastating to myself and my family.
So, I must ask you for help. How can we squeeze water from a rock? The gyms have been closed for a very long time, we have ran out of funds and there's a debt owing to not only my landlords but other creditors as well. I want to wipe the slate clean, move forward and not have to continue to experience the mental and emotional stress that this situation has caused me. I want to secure the business, I want to protect my staff and I don't want to lose everything I've worked to build, I need your support so I can start over.
There's little solace in knowing that the closure of this businesses second location has nothing to do with my ability to run a business, but rather unsurmountable odds imposed on us by the Ontario government with little to no support. But that doesn't stop the debt that we've been given that is going to drag us down a very dark hole if we don't escape it as soon as possible.
Organizer
Jonathan Wiseman
Organizer
Scarborough, ON