Life has changed for family business owners due to coronavirus

Her husband, James, does essential shopping in short bursts donned in gloves and a mask, there are regular family cricket matches and the treadmill is finally getting a good work out. Both parents are working from home and their children, Max, 13, and Josie, 10, were pulled out of school days before government advice.

"We're all in the high risk [group], I have asthma and so do my kids and my husband and I are both immunosuppressed," Mrs Lennane said.

"We decided on March 20 we would self-isolate regardless of what the schools did."

"The kids were fine with it, they understood and they were getting too stressed at school anyway."

The family should have been returning from a South Coast holiday this week, plans Mrs Lennane said will be postponed to later in the year, or next. Likewise, a family trip to the Sunshine Coast in the September school holidays is unlikely to go ahead.

"We had a four night trip to Broulee ... we had planned out where we'd eat each day and which businesses we could support," she said.

Despite Mrs Lennane's kids dance studio closing last month she said her work hours have increased as she strategises to retain staff and students with online classes.

"Overnight the business was closed, that had a big impact on the family because it's a big part of our life," she said.

"I'm trying to turn it into a positive ... it felt like a grief because I'd lost my business."

The Gumnut Dance director is used to working from home but has recently needed to implement strict work hours.

"I've been working more. I don't know what I'm doing to get at the end of it, I don't know if I'm going to succeed," she said.

"I just put in whatever hours need to be done."

"My hours have increased and they're a bit all over the place ... I've had to place structure around what I do otherwise I found myself checking emails at nine o'clock at night."

The studio's six staff members have kept their jobs, however, Mrs Lennane said there was not as much for some of her employees working remotely to do.

Ahead of classes restarting for term two Mrs Lennane expected a change to enrollment numbers amid the digital shift but was determined to maintain a semblance of normality for staff.

"I've applied for JobKeeper ... I gave them an out at the beginning, I said to them this is huge, if you just want to have time with your family and do your studies, you can'," she said.

"They've all stayed, they love it. They're missing their students and they really like the opportunity to be creative."

Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here.