Pandemic Pivots: Entrepreneurs Adjusting For Survival and Success
We can dress for auction success but with the Pandemic conditions, we cannot get together with the same level of crowds in the audience as before. The pandemic pivot for many auctioneers has included the need to do more online without an audience -whether live or timed auctions.
Items taken in on auction need to be cleaned and prepared and photographed but that’s not dramatically different. We use gloves and viral disinfectants and take safety precautions so we all stay healthy. Auction attendance for online auctions is more popular than before. People are spending money and having items shipped to them. Business online is growing. We recently decided to add online auctions beginning next month under our new brand that will be known as Cash Now Auctions.
Networking groups and organizations have done their pandemic pivot to include events with online networking on sites such as Zoom. People are meeting via video and people are using online platforms to post content and stay connected. This pandemic pivot meant a pivot to more virtual meetings and virtual networking instead of the in-person get togethers.
The result of this pandemic push to get together online means that there are so many actual restaurants, bars, meeting halls, banquet facilities, coffee shops, and stores that are missing the traffic and revenue from all of these people. Stores, restaurants, bars and businesses are still waiting for customers to show up and spend money.
Trend towards ordering online and taking things out or having them delivered. As we know, when some businesses are in a decline, others are benefiting from the pivotal changes. The take out and deliver businesses models have had to ramp up further and get more organized. There are companies making a lot of money during this pandemic while others are being forced to lay off workers and even close their doors. This Covid-19 changed reality for many businesses.
We watched the History Channel and learned about the efforts to raise money to #SaveOurRestaurants. Many of the best restaurants have pivoted to offer new ways to serve their customers. We’ve seen high-end steak house who have lost their weekly dine-in revenue who have opened butcher shops. The same customers who dined in now order the meats and make them at home.
In a recent visit to a steak house that has been in business more than 30 years in the same spot, I learned that they are making a shift and adding a seafood restaurant and seafood market to fill in the revenue gaps left by this crazy pandemic. The good news for many entrepreneurs who are flexible enough to make changes whether simple or very complicated, is that they get to keep going and keep working at their success while surviving.
What amazing pivots have the exercise facilities and dance studios in our area had to make? The dance studios have had their students join them for online dance instructions and virtual parties. The students who have gone into the studios have worn masks and there is social distancing and limited numbers of people for group activities and classes.
The virtual events have expanded, the in-person programs have been reduced or put on hold. Many of the dance studios have added exercise type classes to make sure that people are staying in shape while at home and not getting out as much as before.
