Businesses all throughout the world had to respond quickly and decisively to the pandemic’s difficulties. COVID-19 has impacted nearly every firm in the globe, yet results have varied greatly, even across countries and industries. To learn more about the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on businesses, we interviewed 30 entrepreneurs and business owners in the United States to see how they dealt with the pandemic.
INTERVIEW HOST
The host of this interview was Jed Morley. Jed Morley is the CEO of a leading payment processing service provider called PlatPay.
The question we asked:
The pandemic encouraged many businesses to pivot and adapt to changing market conditions. How did you adapt? Did you introduce additional product lines or services?
Kathleen Ahmmed
The number of active gig workers in the current market has already begun to increase due to the pandemic, as well as the rise of remote work.
This combined with the volatility of the job market in the past two years has proven that the gig economy is a valuable resource that small businesses will now need to take advantage of, in order to adapt, scale and survive in the post-pandemic future.
As such, we have opted to be more agile in our business operations, moving forward by outsourcing some of our projects to more skilled contractors, as we start to focus more on minimizing business costs and maximizing outsourced talent to boost productivity in this new remote work environment.
And an added benefit of this new change is that we no longer have to deal with the hiring and training costs that tend to be associated with bringing in full-time employees.
Table of Contents
Mike Belsito
COVID seemed to have an impact on all types of businesses. But especially for conference organizers like me, COVID’s impact was especially dramatic. In 2019, my company, Product Collective, generated nearly all of our income from our live, in-person conference series — INDUSTRY: The Product Conference — which serves tech and software product management professionals. Our last in-person conference ended on March 11, 2020 in Dublin, Ireland — a day that felt like the world closed down.
Yet, in 2021 — we enjoyed (nearly) our most profitable year ever despite not putting on a live, in-person event. This happened because of three specific reasons:
1. We took swift action.
While many things were unclear about the longevity of COVID at the time, it was clear to us that live, in-person conferences wouldn’t be happening any time soon. So on the flight home, we began crafting our strategy for how we would change our business. We didn’t wait it out. We worked with extreme urgency.
2. We introduced new product lines that leveraged our strengths.
It wasn’t even two full weeks after we arrived back when we announced the launch of a series of virtual workshops. We already had great relationships with product management leaders and influencers.
Despite us never offering virtual workshops before, we worked with these individuals to create these high-value experiences. Our community responded — as hundreds of attendees signed up for the several sessions we created, which not only provided much-needed immediate revenue, but it also opened up an entirely new business line for us.
3. We reimagined the products we already had.
In 2019, very few virtual conferences existed. Those that first started emerging in 2020 were mostly free. We reimagined what our conference series could look like if it was “virtual-ized” — and still be worthwhile for attendees to pay for. In Spring 2022, we introduced a Virtual edition of INDUSTRY that ended up being one of our most profitable events ever (complete with Ben Folds playing a virtual set just for our attendees!).
We’re grateful to have adapted greatly throughout COVID in a time where many companies that have relied on live events as a primary revenue stream have struggled. But it couldn’t have happened without all of the above happening.
Angela Olea
As a nationwide senior placement and referral service, Assisted Living Locators quickly adopted a high-tech and high touch approach to meet the challenges of the pandemic. Our company’s franchisees used ingenuity with virtual consultations and online tours of senior communities to provide care when most facilities closed their doors to tours.
By leveraging technology, our franchisees created joint videos with communities for safe virtual tours, zoom call meetings for in-take interviews, and utilized state health department databases for the latest COVID-19 information to protect older adults. Assisted Living Locators franchisees persevered during the pandemic by upgrading personal service and guidance.
Our 140 Assisted Living Locators franchisees became dementia care certified, making us the first nationwide senior placement service to achieve system-certification. Using this knowledge, along with high tech tools, our franchisees are providing a new standard of solution-based alternatives for families.
Throughout the pandemic, Assisted Living Locators franchisees reached out to their communities to help in many meaningful ways. From letter writing campaigns to isolated seniors, to countless hours of Meals On Wheels volunteering, to collecting and donating iPads to ensure senior veterans connect to their families, our franchisees have worked tirelessly to support and improve the quality of life for seniors.
Corey Tyner
Everyone wants to buy and sell
I had a firm belief that there are still a lot of determined buyers out there who want to take advantage of the current market. I took advantage of the bright side, such as low-interest rates. I realized that market activity would continue despite what the pandemic may appear to be.
Using technology
No more face-to-face meetings with prospects or clients, much smaller open houses, and no door-knocking/networking to generate leads are all examples of social distance.
Virtual meetings
Until further notice, everything was under lockdown, and this was a new reality. So I didn’t simply sit around waiting for it to end since I didn’t know how long it would take. I had to adapt and overcome obstacles. When I needed to talk to a prospect or customer who would ordinarily call for a face-to-face appointment, I utilized video chat apps like Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts. Video calls are far more successful than phone conversations in establishing rapport.
Hosting virtual open houses
At the time, open houses were ghost towns. Furthermore, several brokerages were beginning to prohibit them for the time being open. What was my strategy if I didn’t want to lose my listing? Having a virtual open house. There were several approaches I could take. Ideally, I hired a 3D camera technician to come in and film a tour. I put the 3D photos on a landing page and used Facebook and Google ads to promote the “virtual open house.”
Digital marketing
I’ve always been a big fan of Facebook and Google advertisements since they’ve helped me develop my business. And while the pandemic may not have seemed like the perfect moment to start using Facebook advertisements at the time, it turned out to be the exact opposite. That was a fantastic moment to launch Facebook advertisements.
Why? Many people were lounging around at home doing nothing except browsing social media. As a result, more individuals were viewing my adverts. Because many other businesses had to cut back on their advertising, there was less competition. Consequently, I was able to get more exposure for less money, resulting in exceptionally cheap costs-per-lead. I experienced around 30% more ad reach during the pandemic.
Some types of ad campaigns that I ran: Hottest homes for sale in (area) under ($X) Virtual open house Free guide for home buyer’s Free guide for home valuation Free guide for home seller’s Please link this to my website ‘Buy Yo Dirt’
Luisa Favaretto
When the pandemic hit, we quickly realized that people were not going to be able to travel much, so we transformed our travel website into one that focused more on places to live and settle.
We updated our content based on interviews and market research to reflect the shift in people’s preferences for cities that offer more space and are more livable overall. As a result of this shift, we have achieved more growth in 2021 than ever before.
Stephen Light
The pandemic heightened environmental awareness, and over the past two years, consumer demands for organizational transparency and accountability regarding social causes have spiked.
Our mission was always focused on the elimination of harsh chemicals found in typical memory foam mattresses, but the pandemic threw into relief just how much more we could be doing to offset climate change, especially in the eyes of consumers.
In 2021, our company committed to a more eco-friendly footprint and launched products made with sustainable latex and bamboo materials. A pivot towards further sustainability was exactly what we felt the mattress industry needed to stay relevant and in touch with the world. We sourced all-natural and sustainable materials like Talalay latex, organic cotton and wool, and recycled steel coils.
Our two new latex hybrid mattresses and new bamboo sheet set are the truly natural options that we felt the market needed.
Monica Barnett
I run a wardrobe styling and personal branding company which is traditionally very hands-on (e.g., touching fabrics, dressing people, ensuring fit, connecting with people) but the pandemic put a halt to that along with all of my speaking opportunities.
Given I am visual when I think of the word pivot, I immediately envision a line that is required to change directions thus creating an acute or obtuse angle of some sort, and then the line continues moving in that new direction.
As a small business owner, I adapted by making my services accessible digitally and being able to access me online/virtually. More specifically, I created an online style school to allow people to do short-form courses that still allowed them to pose questions to me but get the key takeaways that I would share in a one-on-one session, I doubled down on my social media by getting a social media marketer to help me create more posts that would engage people so they could still feel a “connection” to me and like they were getting to know me, and I shifted all of my in-person services to virtual options but leaving the same pricing intact.
I think the BIG keys in my pivot were not just offering virtual styling but:
- In finding ways to stay connected and create touchpoints so clients felt like they were still get personalized attention, and
- Reinforcing that style needs to happen whether they were at home, on Zoom, or doing occasional in-office. So no new services but finding ways to change the current services to virtual offerings!!
Peter Robert
The pandemic has forced businesses across all industries to implement massive digital transformation efforts to stay relevant and productive. With ECS Office being a business that provides IT management services, we used the pandemic to update and increase the services that we provide.
Many businesses at the beginning of the pandemic had no idea how to run a remote working environment, so we decided to use that as an angle for advertising and pushing our services. We began using our social media more consistently, and advertising content on our business website that could provide business leaders with more insight into navigating their IT through the pandemic.
By creating more specific, useful social media engagement, this helped increase traffic on our website, and secure more conversions in the long-run. One of the most popular features we offer at ECS Office is our free IT consultations for businesses. This was something we really decided to push at the beginning of the pandemic, as it’s a very affordable way for businesses to gain insight into the current state of their business’ IT department.
During times of transition, collecting as much insight and information as possible is crucial for making informed business decisions.
William Scott Goldman
Flexibility has always been key to our firm’s survival and growth. And this past year was no exception. Recognizing early on that the pandemic would affect various geographic areas and economic sectors in different ways, we decided to expand our focus globally, also reaching out to a wider range of industries.
As a result, when certain parts of the U.S. and particular regions of the world would see a spike in COVID cases, any consequent declines in demand for our services would be offset by increased demand elsewhere, thus ensuring a consistent flow of business and no interruption of workflow during these challenging times. We now intend to continue with more of the same as we’re perfectly positioned for this year and beyond.
Liviu Tanase
Our entire team went remote in March 2020, but we soon realized the need for our service was going to increase quickly. As most businesses used email to communicate critical updates, they needed to make sure their email lists were fresh and healthy.
Using an email verifier is a must, so we stayed focused on best serving our customers. On top of that, we launched more tools our customers needed to ensure their emails land in the inbox.
In April 2020, we launched three tools:
- An email server tester to help senders make sure their configurations are correct.
- An inbox placement tester that allows them to see if their emails will land in the inbox (if not, they can adjust before they send).
- A blacklist monitoring tool to help them check if they risk being blocked by inbox providers.
In the spring of 2021, we launched a fourth tool, Activity Data, that tells them which of their subscribers have been active in their inboxes for up to a year prior. While some of our competitors have added extra tools to their platforms, none of them offer the variety of features ZeroBounce does.
The ability to access all these features on one single platform makes ZeroBounce the preferred service for brands like LinkedIn, Airbnb and Samsung. Another critical aspect is that we’ve worked relentlessly on our product and brand awareness. When the pandemic hit, ZeroBounce was already highly regarded in the email verification industry.
The product itself, the 24/7 customer support, our PR and marketing through the years, the awards we received – they all built up our brand, and that certainly helped when we needed to be top of mind. During the pandemic, we’ve intensified our PR and marketing efforts with tremendous results.” — Liviu Tanase, Founder and CEO of ZeroBounce.
Ouriel Lemmel
The single most important mindset we had to adopt in order to make it through a pandemic was to be flexible. Our business longer functions in the way it always has.
We worked quickly to come up with new ways of thinking about our business and how it would function in the new context. Instead of finding this change stressful, we thought of it as an obstacle to solve.
We immediately introduced more technology into our daily work lives. Video conferencing and collaboration apps made sure our team members were always in contact with each other and felt supported no matter where they were working from. Because we were early adopters, we have managed to stay relevant and we weathered the pandemic coming out ever stronger on the other side.
Paige Arnof-Fenn
I started a global branding and digital marketing firm 20 years ago. The biggest change for me, my team and my clients from the virus is the shutdown of all networking events, travel and conferences. This is typically a very busy time with many events, trade shows, business meetings on the road, etc. and for the past almost 2 years everyone is staying put and meeting virtually instead.
I have had more Zoom and Skype calls in the past 15 days than the 12 months pre pandemic! Pivoting to online meetings, webinars, etc. is a smart and productive way companies can continue to have conversations that educate and inform, build relationships and move forward during this crisis period.
So first and foremost I have learned to help small businesses to be flexible and open minded so we can keep working together during the crisis and create more flexible capacity going forward over the next year as the economy fully reopens. If small groups on the team want to talk through specific issues (managing anxiety, kids, parents, etc.) virtual coffee meetings online have been helpful too.
A few colleagues have even met online after work for virtual happy hour/beer/cocktails as well when they had more time to chat. It is starting to feel like the new normal by leveraging technology to build and maintain my relationships. We have learned that finding routines and things we can control helps I think.
Communication is key to all of our community, customer and employee engagement. Another pivot because of the pandemic, this is a great time to build your brand through online marketing and social media. Social media and technology are 24/7 so it is easy to get sucked into it but you do not have to let it run your life!
My advice is to pick a few things you enjoy doing and do them really well. You cannot be everywhere all the time so choose high impact activities that work for you and play to your strengths. I am a big fan of Content Marketing and Thought Leadership which are great ways to build your brand, increase your visibility more broadly, raise your profile and attract more clients/customers.
Activities like hosting a podcast or webinar, speaking at a conference online/offline, writing articles, building your following on social media all contribute to increasing your awareness with potential customers and building your credibility with a larger community. If you are not committed to blogging at regular intervals (weekly/biweekly/monthly) instead of trying to start your own blog or newsletter, try contributing regularly to existing well trafficked blogs in your industry or newsletters of like minded organizations reaching the same target audience as you.
Make sure you put your URL or contact info on it so they can find you and follow up. When your articles or talks become available online, make sure to send them out via social media to all your friends, followers and contacts. Everyone is not going to like you or hire you but for the ones who would be a great fit for you make sure they feel and keep a connection and give them a reason to remember you so that when they need your help they think of you first.
Don’t let social media drive you crazy, you do not need to be everywhere, the key is just to pick your platform, it does not matter which ones you choose just pick one or 2 that are authentic to you. It should look and sound like you and the brand you have built. Whether yours is polished or more informal, chatty or academic, humorous or snarky, it is a way for your personality to come through.
Whether you are B2B or B2C, thought leaders need to be on LinkedIn so that they can be found easily. It adds credibility and transparency when you know the people you are meeting or working with. LinkedIn has become more than an online resume or rolodex, it is the foundation for building trusted relationships in the digital economy.
You do not need to blog or be on all social media platforms but make sure you are active on the ones where you are. If your audience does not use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to find you then you do not need to make them a priority. For many professional service businesses like mine, leveraging LinkedIn matters the most.
We have learned that CRM tools are only as effective as the relationships you have built so disconnecting from technology periodically and focusing on cultivating human, face to face relationships when not social distancing is important. Meeting for coffee or lunch even virtually can accomplish so much more than e-mail exchanges, social media posts, etc. and it is a great way to get to know people better, their interests, hobbies, and dreams.
I have found that building trusted relationships is what drives my business and technology supports them once they are solidified. Technology helps advance the conversation but it will never replace the human interaction that builds trust over time. I predict the most trusted leaders and brands will have a big competitive advantage in the new normal that evolves in a post-Corona world.
Employees, customers and clients will remember who treated them well during the crisis and they will be rewarded with loyalty from earning that trust during the bad times. The current crisis has provided a stage for leaders to rise to the occasion. We have learned that it is about touching people in meaningful ways which may mean being less busy not more for a while.
Maybe the silver lining is that this crisis reminds us that we have always needed each other and we have learned that everyone is struggling right now to find a new normal so the key is to show our humanity and compassion while we look out for one another.
With Zoom, social media, cell phones, etc. we see that technology does not have to be isolating, it can be used to build our real world communities and relationships too! This advice is not fancy and does not require big budgets but it does take time. It is a smart investment to get this right. Authenticity is the key, it has to be and feel real for it to work I think. For professional service firms like mine we will recover even if our revenues slow from the crisis.
Cody Candee
The pandemic changed promotional narratives, pushing ecommerce companies to focus their efforts more on informative customer communications that related to their current experiences.
As the stresses of the COVID began to wear on the public, businesses realized that pivoting to a more compassionate and sensitive communication style became necessary.
Addressing physical and mental health concerns of customers and employees alike, and utilizing a public service announcement style, was needed and used by ecommerce businesses to be more sensitive to the current climate. By pivoting in this manner, they were able to show they were part of the community, rather than just selling to it.
Yuvi Alpert
The pandemic caused many problems, one of the major ones being the shipping of goods, which caused a loss in sales, so last year, we pivoted to pop-up shops to bring our products into the physical market space. The mountain of available retail space created a unique chance for retailers to lease property for short periods of time at very affordable rates.
Pop-up shops generated over 20 billion dollars in revenue in 2021 and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. They not only allow retailers to get their in-stock products in the hands of customers, but created wonderful branding, promotional, and market research opportunities to continue to benefit businesses in the years to come.
Woody Sears
The pandemic caused an increased demand on ecommerce businesses, and thus, extra stress on their websites, which means that companies had to pivot towards digital capacity adjustments to handle increased demand.
Nothing can be more crippling to an ecommerce business than a website crash or problems with accepting online purchases. Hiring experts to handle and increase bandwidth capacity, digital communications, and shopping cart transactions, was a necessity in order to avoid disruptions in service.
Ecommerce businesses that brought in professionals to assess, and then implement a strategic plan, were the ones that best weathered the website traffic onslaught.
Amira Irfan
The pandemic has been a significant event for the world. It has affected the economy, culture, and way of life. The pandemic is not just about the virus, it is also about how you adapt your business to survive. One of the ways we adapted as a company to reach our target market was to focus more on video creation and Facebook Lives rather than written blog content.
We also developed new digital products and services (legal templates and blog online coaching) that people could sign up for and begin receiving results right away. Because people’s attention spans were short, it was critical to design products that were inexpensive and offered quick wins.
Video became a powerful tool for our marketing and business. It has become the most popular form of content on the internet. One of the main reasons why video has become so popular is that it helps communicate ideas in a more personal manner than other types of content like text or images.
It also provides us the opportunity to engage with customers on an emotional level, which leads to higher conversion rates and more sales.
Abe Breuer
There have been a lot of uncertainties and volatility in the market since Covid 19. Most business owners have had a terrible year, from canceled events to supply chain issues to the actual threat of Covid-19.
One thing was certain: we needed to be adaptable. Flexibility is essential in times of extreme uncertainty, as anything that does not bend will break. We learned at VIP To Go and John To Go that our staff was quite concerned about the long- and short-term effects of Covid-19 on themselves and their family.
We wanted to take some of the worries away from our employees because they are like family to us. After a great discussion, we decided to implement a comprehensive healthcare plan for all of our employees.
We only did it because we care about our staff, but we’ve already seen renewed passion and loyalty as a result. Our colleagues once again saw how much we care about them and wanted to reciprocate by showing their gratitude. We also offered a complete refund on any cancellations submitted within 48 hours, which significantly increased our sales.
This was so successful that we continue to do it. Improving communication was also critical to our survival and success. We devised a new communication strategy for clients, partners, suppliers, investors, and other stakeholders. Keeping customers up to date on our company’s policies, any operational changes, and any new methods we can serve them.
Furthermore, I discovered that the ability to pivot and be adaptable distinguishes the winners from the losers.
Wayne Winsley
The pandemic caused us to totally pivot from the large assembly-style in school presentations which were our main product and develop something new to serve the in-need students who are our core clients.
We developed and launched Brave Enough To Fail’s BOSS Academy, a twelve session course that equips students with actionable tools and practices that they can use to achieve success in school and beyond.
As a result of quickly adapting to the changing landscape, we are now able to serve more students than ever before and Brave Enough To Fail is now the fastest growing student motivational program in America.
Calloway Cook
Illuminate Labs is a supplement manufacturer, so when we officially launched in March of 2020 we planned to grow through wholesale and retail marketing. The goal was to get our product in as many retail stores as possible, starting regionally and expanding domestically and internationally.
The pandemic shut down pretty much all of our retail marketing goals. We couldn’t pitch in stores, we couldn’t attend conferences, and many retail stores were shut down for months on end. This forced us to pivot to content marketing. Towards the end of 2020 we began formulating a content marketing strategy which we launched in July of 2021.
At the time we were achieving around 2,500 organic monthly pageviews to our site. Today we get over 100,000 monthly pageviews to our site, and nearly all of our sales are through our website rather than retail.
We only have our products in one single retail location and the pivot has been so successful that we plan to grow online-only at least for the time being.
Bishal Biswas
The pandemic caused us to shift our entire business model remotely. Due to the pandemic’s increased uncertainty, we used different tools at our disposal, such as Trello and Slack. Through this technology, our employees could effectively communicate with one another and bridge any communication gaps.
Google Meet replaced the physical meeting at our office during the lockdown. This measure allowed for streamlined communication and didn’t affect our organization’s operations. Unfortunately, we didn’t introduce any new product line as our priority was to improve company culture. Through a flexible work environment, we gave reassurance to our employees that we hadn’t left them to fend for themselves.
Jason Kraemer
Our e-commerce business made a major pivot in our user acquisition strategy to adjust to the pandemic. Our acquisition had been nearly entirely paid ads for the first few years of the business, but when Covid hit we very quickly realized that would not be sustainable.
The cost per click skyrocketed and conversion rates plummeted. We made a major pivot from paid ads to 100% organic traffic acquisition. This was a major shift in the business model and meant creating & implementing a brand new SEO strategy.
Jesse Richardson
We’re a small, family-owned business who were impacted by the pandemic like everyone else, but we didn’t let the past two years get us down. We’ve continued to expand and actually add new products to reach a broader audience. While we’ve always been passionate about CBD tea, we’ve expanded into CBD daily superfoods, essential oils and body products, rosin honey and coconut oils, and more.
Our acclaimed lines of products are sold all over the country and we ship nationwide as well, which further expands our reach. The pandemic has forced us to be even more creative and innovative to stay afloat. Now, we like to think we carry something for everyone.
Victor Garcia
I opened up my paleteria in Haltom City in October 2016 under the name Helados la Azteca. It was basically an extension of my family’s business in Waco, Texas. Between my father, brother, and several uncles, we own over 12 paleterias in Texas.
It runs in our blood. That being said, while my family has made paletas from scratch for as long as I can remember, we purchased scoop ice cream from Blue Bell or Blue Bunny throughout the years. I believed we needed to change that and incorporate the Mexican flavors of our paletas to the ice cream as well. In 2018, after many failed attempts, I learned how to make homemade ice cream onsite.
I added flavors to the menu like avocado, mamey, tres leches, and even tequila. People loved it, and we continued to tweak the recipes to improve the taste and quality of our ice cream. In Feb. 2019, Helados la Azteca was invited to participate in Big Taste of Fort Worth, a premiere event that raises money each year for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tarrant County.
We won Best Dessert out of over 20 of Fort Worth’s best restaurants and caterers. This validation really boosted our confidence that we could do so much with our brand. In May of 2019, we cleaned up an old building next to us and began renting it out for parties and events.
It quickly grew as our community really needed an affordable spot to throw parties. Later that year, we began building out our online store. I worked several hours each day learning to code and build our website and product line. It started off extremely slow. In the first month of going live, we only made a couple of sales. We continued working to improve the site and over the months it has proven to be a worthy investment.
It accounts for 33% of our revenue today. COVID 2020, the year of COVID, was a wake up call for us all. As an entrepreneur, you expect unforeseeable challenges that force the business to pivot. It’s probably one of the most exciting parts. COVID brought an entirely different level of uncertainty.
You didn’t know when they may shut restaurants down, how long it would all last, or if one of our team members would get infected. Never mind the worries of providing for your family and their health. We invested heavily early in the year expecting to kick off our busy season in March strong. As the pandemic hit and sales dropped to all time lows, we weren’t sure if we’d be able to pay our bills. We took a HUGE gamble by moving locations, rebranding and investing heavily in our e-commerce store. Three big challenges with no guarantee.
Months of hard work and dedication later we saw our efforts bear fruit. We now have a simple, universal name, a better location with a drive-thru, and our customers can reach us in safer, more convenient ways. In early 2021, we permanently closed our event space down (which we opened in 2019 to offer our community an affordable place to throw parties) after many months of poor performance and transformed it into a fulfillment center for our online store.
We believe in our mission, want to bring our delicious treats to more spots in Texas and want to give our team more opportunities so we are looking to open another storefront but have been struggling to convince landlords to give us a shot at leasing their spaces. Nonetheless, we will continue searching. This is simply another obstacle we must overcome in our journey.
Lindsay McCormick
Many leaders were thrown through a loop when Covid hit, especially when their daily management tasks often morphed into being a marketer, a content writer or whatever the day called for. People were working from home for the first time and sometimes, things fell through the cracks.
During this time, leaders either put expansion plans on hold, or found ways to slow down the process, so that it wasn’t depleting funds during extremely uncertain times. Additionally, leaders became mentors – and the idea of an open door policy was embraced more than ever before.
Every successful leader had to have their eyes on their team – anticipating when there was a lack of engagement. You see, with employee retention at an all-time low, there was no time (or often a budget) for hiring and training new team members. However, at Bite, we didn’t allow the pandemic to slow us down.
We still continued with the process of offering new products, and continuing to monitor our current product line. In fast, slowing down a bit during uncertain times actually allowed us the opportunity to reflect, brainstorm like crazy, and get really innovative and creative.
Liz Hutz
The Covid pandemic has forced so many companies to shut down or file for bankruptcy. Thankfully we were able to survive the scare. We adapted by digitalizing our operations to cut costs and alleviate loss of international competitiveness.
We have made good use of information and communication technologies to enable remote work, supply chain management and an online relationship with our clients. No, we did not introduce any new product lines or services. Our only pivot was to digitalize our operations.
John DiBella
How Did You Adapt? I didn’t have to. My business has always used a remote working model, and the small staff that I employ all work remotely. The nature of my business meant that it was uniquely placed to cope with the problems the pandemic created and capitalized on the surge in people looking to start their own online businesses. As horrible as it sounds, the pandemic actually helped my business to expand.
Did You Have To Introduce New Product Lines Or Services? We didn’t have to, as the service we offer caters to people setting up their online businesses and we were almost overwhelmed by new clients by the time we entered the second month of lockdown, and we’ve been rushed off our feet ever since.
Ryan O’Donnell
“We communicate with our clients as much as possible. It’s our way to be able to pivot during the pandemic successfully. All businesses are competing for attention to retain existing customers and attract new ones, and it isn’t easy to stand out among your competitors.
What worked well for us was continuing to connect with our customers across platforms. Connecting with them allows us to let them know that we understand their challenges, especially during the pandemic, and tell them about the strategies we have that enable us to adapt to the new normal. We also let them know that we are doing safety measures to keep our employees and customers safe during the pandemic.”
Marina Vaamonde
I make all my decisions through a framework called First Principles, which is a thought process in which you boil a problem down to its most molecular level and always ask yourself the question: “What am I absolutely sure is true?”
Likewise, during the chaos caused by the pandemic and the madness that happened in the real estate market, I did the same thing. I knew that the changes in the market and the tremendous price inflation were caused by certain fundamentals: a lack of housing supply, a labor shortage, people wanting to move to less densely-populated areas (especially because they could work remotely), and supply chain issues that caused the price of materials to skyrocket.
Hence, I addressed these fundamentals, especially the issue of materials and labor shortages. We’re trying to partner with trade schools so that we can hire students who graduate and we’re trying to source materials more locally so that we’re less vulnerable to supply chain problems. All in all, we adapt by sticking to our First Principles and not letting “hot takes” in the media sway our decisions.
Federico Crespo
It’s more that our clients adapted rather than us. Valiot has always been a company that operates remotely, however manufacturing has typically been more of an in-person industry, and one that, in my experience, likes to cling to older methods. However, with the pandemic we noticed that far more manufacturers were open to change, despite limiting their capital expenditures.
So we started a more aggressive sales campaign and supplied data showing manufacturers just how much money they are losing by sticking to older methods. This garnered a lot of positive results, and we have seen more and more companies open up to the idea of using remote operations, which in turn has led to more clients and greater innovation in the industry as a whole.
Jon Carder
The health-care system is getting tested in ways never before seen in modern times, so it was beneficial to lean more into a concept that not only gave people more control over their physical and mental wellbeing, but also didn’t further inundate medical and laboratory professionals during a prolonged pandemic.
We created a way to provide greater health access to people by offering an easy, at-home wellness testing application.
Instead of going to a doctor and undergoing complex and time-consuming lab work to discover which toxins are affecting you or what nutrients you’re deficient in, we created a way to make testing easy and affordable for everyday people.
Our business is accelerating because the services we offer are greatly beneficial to those looking to better balance their lives. At-home medical testing is turning into a commonly used practice in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, so our product is perfectly in line with what the public desires.
