For an El Paso business owner, Covid-19 gives and takes away from his bottom line

EL PASO, Texas -- Cashing in on COVID-19, an El Pasoan makes the most of the pandemic by working hard during tough times

"The first week of the pandemic, I made a thousand bucks," Jorge Perez said.

Perez has owned and operated his own company, JP and Son Computer Repair, for the past eight years.

"I am a single employee," he said. "It's my own business. I work out of my house and it's great like that."

Now, things have slowed down again and he is having to get creative to make ends meet.

People don't need computer servicing as often as they needed during the early days of the pandemic and people were trying to figure out how to work from home.

Nowadays, people seem to have things running smoothly, so Perez isn't as busy as he once was, which means his business took a hit. 

"I was able to get a small business loan," he said.

Perez applied for a loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

"I was able to get $5,500."

He then used that to pay for his salary and and finance some home improvements.

"The house was built somewhere before 1930," he said. "The glass was an eighth-inch thin, just a single plane, so in the summer it was super hot and in the winter it was super cold," he said. 

Perez installed new windows, traded in a 4-ton AC unit for his swamp cooler and is in the process of going solar. However, these three major improvements are costly.

"If it wasn't for low interest rates below 3 percent, I wouldn't be doing this," he said.

Perez isn't waiting for work to resume with his computer business.

"I do a lot of 1099 (freelance) work for several delivery services," he said. "I make as much as I need to make for the day and I am usually done in 6 hours."

Perez showed us the applications that he uses: GH Drivers, Favor Runner, Dasher, Fleet, Uber Driver, Uber, GrubHub, Whatburger and Shopper.

"I make about 120 to 150 bucks a day, that is what I clear daily in 6 hours," he said.

He says he gets more income off the delivering service apps than from his own business.

"COVID-19 actually benefited my business because I got a lot more work. People were staying home and they were needing to get items to their home without having to risk themself," Perez said.

"It's good for some people and for a majority of people it's terrible," he added. "I bleed for a lot of my friends who are suffering in the food industry and the bar industry. Actually they are the ones who are getting hammered."

Perez says he is taking very strong precautions with the delivery service apps. He says he keeps a very clean and sanitized car and he's been tested twice; both times he's tested negative. 

The Small Business Administration says business owners can use PPP loans to make home improvements, as long as they can claim it as a deduction.