Plan B: West Midlands firms react to Covid restrictionsNew Covid-19 restrictions will put firms in a "precarious situation", according to some businesses in the West Midlands hospitality industry.
The latest changes by the government include guidance to work from home, wearing masks in most public places and Covid passes for some venues.
Business owners said they were relieved not to face a full lockdown.
However, many small firms said the rules meant they faced a tough Christmas and New Year.
One expressed fears they "may not survive".
Under "Plan B" measures - intended to get a grip on the Omicron variant - the working-from-home guidance comes into effect on Monday next week, and the passes on Wednesday.
Beatrice Pallister runs JuJu's Cafe in Birmingham with her mum and said since the measures had been announced, about 80 people had cancelled their Christmas bookings, accounting for almost a quarter of the small restaurant's covers.
Ms Pallister said it "feels like it's come out of the blue" as pubs and restaurants won't be affected by the new rules, adding the cancellations were "heart-breaking".
"It leaves us in a really tricky spot," Ms Pallister said. "We've just started paying back our government loan, there's no furlough and the next quarter is notoriously difficult for hospitality."
Sham Sharma owns Zuri Coffee in Wolverhampton and said he had already noticed trade falling over the past two weeks.
He is chair of the city's business forum and says if more people work at home that "leaves us in a precarious situation", adding firms will lose further sales and have to "dig deep in our pockets and stay afloat".
"We are feeling a bit desperate," he said. "Obviously there is no help any more, there is no furlough and there is no other help."
In Oswestry, Shropshire, café owner Lucinda Coslett said the lack of footfall would hit her business hard.
"Working from home, as a market trader, it is going to put a lot of small businesses out of business," she said. "We may not survive."
At Coventry's Belgrade Theatre, executive director Joanna Reid said the new restrictions was "like having the rug pulled from under your feet".
"It's a huge disappointment," she said. "Theatre is so reliant on people's confidence in public health and what 'Plan B' does is really puncture people's confidence."
Ms Reid said the theatre had already received calls from people wanting to cancel their pantomime tickets, this on top of shows being suspended until 18 December following an outbreak of coronavirus among the cast.
"All venues bank on their Christmas offering," she said, adding it would be a "massive problem industry wide" for the long term financial viability of theatres to lose money at this time of year.