ORLANDO, Fla. — There is no overlooking the expansive ripples the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the world.

Economically, the virus crippled and shuttered businesses across Florida, while putting thousands out of work.

More than 18 months since Florida’s initial statewide shutdown, there is optimism.

Some small businesses in Central Florida are finding they’re not only surviving, but thriving.

On Wednesday, Kelly Seidl is found in the back of her Corrine Street shop, Kelly's Homemade Ice Cream, scooping fresh flavors into buckets.

The caramel-vanilla mixed is one of 200 flavors she rotates in and out of her homemade ice cream shops.

“It was a hobby and passion that turned into a business,” Seidl said.

She first started selling her sweet treats at area farmer’s markets, before buying a food truck in January 2015. The original Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream opened on National Ice Cream Day in July 2015.

Seidl admits there were points in the pandemic where business was slow, but the draw of ice cream got the crowds coming back.

“We now have four scoop shops, one Kelly’s Counter inside FoxTail in Winter Park, and we are set to open another shop by the end of the year, and two more counters,” she said.

While many businesses in the restaurant and hospitality industry are struggling to hire workers and build a rebound, Seidl is among those trying to keep pace with demand.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce partnered for a Summer 2020 survey of small businesses and found 60% of new jobs gains in Florida since 2012 have come from small businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Experts say this shows the significance of small businesses to local and state economies. 

A more recent survey of small businesses from America's SBDC Florida found that small businesses are making strides, slowly but surely. 

Some small business owners have talked about the delicate challenges of balancing safety with staying open. 

Experts say there’s no one reason why some businesses may be finding success while others are not.

Various economists have suggested a variety of factors, including industry, wages and benefits as possible attributes drawing in workers and customers.

For FoxTail Coffee, success has been partially built on pent-up demand.

“We’ve been busy in the last year, absolutely, not so much at the start of the year, but increasingly busier and busier,” Iain Yeakle said.

Yeakle, co-founder of FoxTail, believes setting their shops up in a way to allow people to work and meet with others has filled a void where many have longed to get out of quarantine and out of the house.

Yeakle opened FoxTail Coffee in 2016 with Alex Tchekmeian, a friend since kindergarten.

The idea of FoxTail began in part, Yeakle said, as a hobby of roasting coffee at home. It’s now grown to a company with 28 stores across Central Florida, that sources coffee from around the world.

Down the street at Pig Floyd’s BBQ, Thomas Ward said business has also been picking up, despite some cost increases due to the pandemic.

Ward said he’s now spending more to source food, paper products, and other supplies — a cost he’s had to pass on to customers. Despite that, he said business is up compared to 2019.

“I think there was a pent-up demand and a lot of money running in the streets when the government sent out checks, and that was great because we needed it," he said. "It just shifted with what business was going on last year, and it was all to-go, and now people are actually going out and enjoying being out."

Speaking of going out, Ward is refurbishing outdoor seating area of his restaurant, thanks to the increase in business.

“One of the things we’re doing is evolving the concept and trying to put cover outside so we can have more outside seating,” he said.

More seating — under cover from rain and shade for the sun — means more seats to fill, and more opportunity to build business.

As Ward is building up, so too is Siedl, with sights set on future growth.

“I’ve always had the itch and more people are like, ‘Come to Lake Nona, come to Sanford, come to Lake Mary,'" Siedl said.

For now, small business owners like Siedl, Ward and Yeakle are looking to keep on track by keeping customers coming through the doors.