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Stand-up paddle boarders depart from Marina del Rey’s Mother’s Beach. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

March 19, 2020, was a tough day in California.

Pro SUP Shop's business model is built on face-to-face customer interaction. The pandemic has forced the shop to adapt, and quickly.

Two Pro SUP Shop employees are seen here at Mother’s Beach, pre-pandemic. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

A solo stand-up paddle boarder rows around the water of Mother’s Beach. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

In addition to paddle boards, Pro SUP Shop also rents out one- and two-person kayaks to those who enjoy a more traditional row around the water. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

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This Marina del Rey small business owner actually during the pandemic. Here’s how.

grew her business

That Thursday, the statewide stay-at-home order came down from Sacramento. Public health officials released social distancing guidelines and ordered Los Angeles business owners whose services were deemed nonessential to shut their doors, effective immediately. Entire economic segments of the nation’s second biggest city ground sharply and suddenly to a halt.

The COVID-19 pandemic was upon us.

Local businesswoman Jennifer Kirkley-Vaughan was one of many L.A. entrepreneurs whose livelihood was turned on its head March 19, and for many days to come.

Stand-up paddle boarding (or SUP) first appeared in Hawaii in the 1990s and has been one of the fastest-growing sports in the world since then, with millions of Americans participating. But for two months following March 19, paddle boarders were nowhere to be seen atop the waters surrounding L.A.

Stand-up paddle boarders enjoy the sun on the calm waters of Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

—Jennifer Kirkley-Vaughan, co-owner of Pro SUP Shop

Mike Vaughan Sr., Jennifer Kirkley-Vaughan and Cole Vaughan are co-owners of Pro SUP Shop. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

Pro SUP Shop, which she co-owns, is situated along Admiralty Way in classic L.A. tourist burg Marina del Rey, right at the edge of the sand that connects the pavement to the sheltered waters of the Marina, nicknamed Mother’s Beach. In normal times, the shop does brisk business providing stand-up paddle board and kayak rentals and lessons to tourists looking to get their fill of the Pacific Ocean, as well as recreation- and adventure-minded Angelenos looking for a fresh pastime.

“We’re a family-operated business,” said Kirkley-Vaughan, whose late husband founded Pro SUP Shop with his father 11 years ago and which she continues to operate with his son, Cole Vaughan. “We’re very passionate about giving people an experience that they haven’t had before.”

In May, pandemic restrictions were eased and Pro SUP Shop was allowed to reopen, but with strict health and safety guidelines in place. The shop had always depended on tourism and general beach-going foot traffic to keep it in the black, so Kirkley-Vaughan was facing an acute challenge, as the pandemic had transformed her usually bustling corner of the Marina into a ghost town.

A range of stand-up paddle boards available for rental line the sand outside the shop. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

The Pro SUP Shop business model, which, she said, is built on face-to-face customer interaction, would have to adapt, and quickly. Fortunately, while the shop was closed, Kirkley-Vaughan had made a list of what she’d need to do to ensure the safety of her clients and staff and the survival of her business as society gradually reopened: Obtain and provide sanitizing equipment. Implement new cleaning procedures. Enforce social distancing. Wear a mask.

It was manageable — the shop is essentially an outdoor facility, making at least some of this easier to do right. Right away, Kirkley-Vaughan set to work with her staff, systemizing a sanitization plan, installing a Plexiglas screen at the check-in desk, and enforcing thorough mask-wearing and social distancing practices.

But there was one last item on her reopening list, and she knew it would be an important one: Introduce touch-free transactions at the point of sale and allow revenue to flow back into the business safely, conveniently and efficiently.

“When we were getting ready to reopen, that’s when I started doing my research on some of our available [touch-free payment] options,” Kirkley-Vaughan said. “We implemented [PayPal QR Code] that same weekend.”

PayPal QR (Quick-Response) Code, which the payment company introduced in 28 global markets, including the U.S., in May, is a scannable barcode in the PayPal app. It allows customers and staff to safely complete monetary transactions using their mobile devices — without having to handle cash or credit cards or pass anything from their hands to anyone else’s.

Here’s how it works: Kirkley-Vaughan prints her PayPal QR Code directly from the PayPal app and affixes it to her Plexiglas check-in window. When it is time to pay, she asks her customers to open their camera or PayPal app and scan the code using their smartphones. They then enter the amount they’re paying and tap send. Pretty easy.

PayPal’s waiving of seller transaction fees for QR Code payments until 2021* has made adoption a limited-risk proposition for businesses like Pro SUP Shop, which also sells paddle boards and offers social and team-building activities under its motto of “Life is better on the water.”

So, how did it pan out for Kirkley-Vaughan? She said that most of her customers were already familiar with QR codes from using them in restaurants and on Instagram. Generating a QR code through the PayPal app is easy and quick, and her generally young staff and customers were natural early adopters.

Stand-up paddle boarders return to shore after a day spent on the water in Marina del Rey. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

She thinks PayPal QR Code helped, too.

“I’m a big believer in testing new things, new technology, to see if it works,” said Kirkley-Vaughan, “so knowing that I didn’t have a cost associated with testing this out was a driving factor [and] a big benefit.”

Perhaps the best — and most surprising — news is that Pro SUP Shop is not only surviving but actually thriving in 2020: Kirkley-Vaughan said that the business has had its best year to date despite those two months of zero revenue.

One factor, she said, is the nature of the sport. Since it’s all about being out in the open water all by yourself or with one or two friends following in your wake, social distancing is built into stand-up paddle boarding. That has encouraged more people to give it a try as a safer outside-world activity option during the pandemic.

“I think it has to do with people spending more time doing outdoor activities,” Kirkley-Vaughan said. “Pre-pandemic, we had so many options. Now that we’re limited, there’s been a big focus on outdoor activities.”

“I don’t think it’s going to go away after the pandemic’s done and there’s maybe not a need for touch-free payment,” she said. “People carry their phone with them anyway, so now they don’t need to always carry a wallet or purse … I think it’s the way of the future for getting content, downloading stuff, and making payments.”

—Paul Rogers for PayPal

Stand-up paddle boarders and kayakers celebrate their recreational success on the waters of Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey. (Photo courtesy Pro SUP Shop)

The shop is not only surviving but thriving in 2020, having had its best year to date despite two months of zero revenue.

* Does not apply to PayPal Here QR Code transactions. Other fees may apply. Fees are subject to change.

“We’re a family-operated business. We’re very passionate about giving people an experience they haven’t had before.”