Small businesses evolve to keep people safe

This is especially important for companies that rely on access to people's homes, such as Closets By Design in Raleigh.

"We are home organizers, so most of the time, people have been in their home, and they don’t need to move. They just need to have more space," said Chantale Persinger, Closets By Design chief executive.

Retailers pleased, restaurants impatient with governor's reopening plan

Getting organized comes with more questions than it used to. Is it safe to allow a crew into your home? Is it safe for the crew members themselves to come into your home?

These are questions company leaders had to start asking when the virus outbreak started.

"It’s kind of like, how do we keep safe in an atmosphere like this?" Persinger said.

Like many people, the business had to make changes in an effort to continue to serve the community while also staying healthy.

"What we do is we cover their floors. We put up tape makers to say stay 6 feet away from us. We ask them to social distance to keep them safe and us safe," Persinger said.

These are changes many small businesses that rely on entering homes are now doing.

"We said this is what we are going to do. We are going to continue to work, but if we are going to continue, we have to protect each other," Persinger said.

Closets By Design has been able to stay open during the pandemic thanks to a loan from the federal Paycheck Protection Program.