Companies across the world have been struggling for the last year with the COVID-19 pandemic having hit small businesses in particular. One such pair of struggling business owners – Neal and Samir Idnani – found a sympathetic ear in US President Joe Biden.
The owners of Indian restaurant NaanStop got the opportunity to sit down for a virtual chat with the American President, in a video release by the White House.
Their restaurant serves Indian food in three locations in Atlanta, Georgia and has seen a drop in business by almost 75 per cent Neal told Biden.
"As small business owners during the pandemic, every day is an open question," said Samir in the video. "When President Biden found out about our situation, he reached out."
Neal also told Biden that because of the decline in business, their staff had gone down to 10-15 people from having 20-25 employees.
When President Biden asked the duo what they need for their restaurant to survive, Neal responded that their biggest need is for everyone to get vaccinated so that people could start going out again.
President Biden also told them about his rescue plan that “provides tens of billions of dollars in grants to small businesses".
"We have to invest more, not less. We've got to give you a chance to rebuild that's separate and apart from dealing with the virus," he added.
The video ends with Neal and Samir accepting Biden’s request to visit NaanStop whenever he visits Atlanta next.