So, story time. I use to work for a fundraiser, it's very school dependent, like 80% of sales are through schools. They were struggling when I left in 2019, then pandemic really put a dent into things. The owner instead of trying to hire people for slave wages to save money paid everyone out for 3 months and sold the business to a company that could handle it. No one was fired and 100% of people got their 3 months pay (plus a thank you bonus of a few hundred bucks).

IMO this is how an owner should behave. Don't take it out on your workers, even customers, understand your industry and then make a decision that is good for you AND the people who have been helping you out. It sucks everyone lost their job via lay off, but they were all able to file for unemployment (since laid off, not fired) then on top of being given a 3 month cushion. This is how you deal with a failing business, not trying to take advantage of and underpay the people who do all of your work for you.