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The hairdresser entrepreneur Bianka Bergler from Dortmund became known at the beginning of February for her anger video in which she complained about the lack of payouts for the promised Corona aid.
Now she was able to reopen her shop with five employees on March 1st.
All Monday she stood in the drawing room until late at night.
The next morning, when the next customers are already on their way, she finds time for a short phone call.
WORLD:
Ms. Bergler, how was the first day in the salon?
Bianka Bergler:
We really celebrated this reopening.
It was very emotional.
I didn't leave the store until after 10 p.m. and fell into bed totally happy and broken.
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WORLD:
Do you have a lot of reservations?
Bergler:
Yes, the books are full until April.
The rush is so great that for the next few weeks we will be opening the salon earlier in the morning and closing it later in the evening.
I expect to work more than twelve hours a day for the next few weeks.
WORLD:
How was the reaction of the customers to the reopening?
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Bergler:
The customers really missed us.
Many were very worried about us whether we would be able to do this financially.
And women in particular suffered quite a bit without a hairdresser, many no longer felt comfortable in their own skin.
We cut two baskets of hair yesterday, so a lot came together.
WORLD:
At the beginning of February you became known through a video in which you railed that the promised Corona aid would not be paid out - neither short-time work benefits nor basic security.
Has the money been there by now?
Bergler:
No, not everything.
The short-time work allowance has still not been paid.
I had to pay in advance again for February to finance my employees' wages.
The business account was previously 100 euros plus, now I'm almost 5000 euros in the red.
I couldn't even pay for the goods I ordered at the opening.
I was lucky that I have been working with the companies for a long time and that they know each other accordingly.
So I could order everything on account.
That's the only reason I was able to open on March 1st.
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WORLD:
The current income will improve the financial situation after all.
Bergler:
Of course.
Hopefully this will get me out of the red as soon as possible.
And in the middle of the month I will be able to use it to pay for the goods.
But next month the advance VAT payment will come, so my industry will not get any relief - unlike the catering and hoteliers.
They get seven percent relief from sales tax.
No one can plausibly explain to me why such differences are made.
WORLD:
That means?
Bergler:
That the tax office will demand 3,000 to 5,000 euros from me next month.
This means that my income from this month is completely gone.
At the same time, I have to pay wages again - and probably finance them again, because we are now expecting that the bridging aid will not be paid out until the end of April.
Maybe.
With a lot of luck.
WORLD:
Why is that?
Bergler:
Unfortunately, the tax advisor cannot do anything other than submit an application.
I was told that it takes so long to distribute the money because the Federal Ministry of Economics and Finance cannot agree on how the aid will be paid out.
This is supposedly due to the terms of the payouts.
This is really unbelievable.
I would like to ask a politician to forego 70 percent of his wages after five months of no income.
I would really be interested in how he could do it that way.
WORLD:
What lessons do you draw from your experience?
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Bergler:
Oh, I learned a lot from the new lockdown.
For example, that you can only rely on yourself and your fellow men, but not on a higher body such as an administration or a government.
People who have a heart move together in difficult times and support each other - and that is worth much more than any party that tries to trick us into believing that there is a safety net.
But my most important lesson was: I'll never close my shop again.
WORLD: Are
you afraid of another closure?
Bergler:
No, because I won't let anyone break my salon, for which I worked hard for years, again.
So in a possible third lockdown, I'll be the one to open my business anyway.
WORLD:
That means you would defend yourself against it?
Bergler:
Absolutely.
Not only would I complain, but most importantly, I will no longer participate.
It can't be true that the government is now saying we can open again, at the same time we won't get any tax breaks, then I should tax the income at 19 percent and return it to the state.
How are we supposed to get out of the red as a company and become liquid again?
We will never be able to make up what we have lost anyway - and then we will also be punished for going back to work.
It all doesn't fit in the back and front.