It’s been a funny old year I can’t remember a year as messed up as this one. I was one of the millions of people who were looking forward to a brand new decade! Instead, Covid-19 popped up and gave everyone the lockdown blues.

The year of the mask

It’s very difficult to keep a beard looking good when you have to wear a mask! I’ve tried and it doesn’t work. It is extremely hard to find a mask that covers a large beard.

Luckily, after trying several different masks I found one that covers my beard. Well, for now at least! The company is The British Mask Company and they do several different styles, colours, patterns, etc of masks. I have tried both Beard Masks and the XL was the one that worked best for me!

If you are still looking like a 1970s lingerie advert then get yourself over to The British Mask Company.

Beard Companies (Small Batch)

They are Small Batch, I don’t do big companies anymore! Loads of people spent their time during the lockdown starting up small businesses and Beard Companies exploded.

Good news for me and all the beardies out there. The thing that surprised me the most was the high-quality oils that these guys created. It’s great to see and I love the passion and dedication these companies have. Go check out #smallbatchbeardco to see what companies are making waves here and abroad.

Is the high street dead?

The high street and conventional shopping has changed dramatically over the last 2-3 years. But, when lockdown struck it changed the face of retail forever. Having worked in retail for several years, I have seen a decline in footfall to the shops and a massive shift to shopping online.

There is so much choice online and with next day delivery from most companies, it is a whole lot easier and more convenient than having to go shopping! This is great news for all the new beard companies as they are primarily online companies.

But, where does this leave other businesses? Especially small companies that rely on local trade and footfall. Hopefully, once the madness has subsided we will be able to go back to normal and these businesses will thrive.

What else can you do?

Well, I started this website in lockdown. It gave me something to do and a purpose during the 3 months I was on furlough. I found that I enjoyed writing articles and have seen the website grow.

It is still early days but I hope to keep this going and one day it could be my full-time job! It’s a long shot but all dreams start somewhere.

I use a company called Wealthy Affiliate to help me get my website started and to learn all about building an online business. It’s helped me with grasping the fundamentals of running a website and writing etc. If you’re interested then have a look by clicking the link below.

Take care and keep growing