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Pivoting through COVID-19 Australian Businesses Beating the Pandemic
For some, the initial shock and impact of COVID-19 on business in Australia was a devastating reality. For others, the pandemic was used as a chance to thrive and pivot in an environment they never thought they would overcome. CEO & Co-Founder of Enjoy Living, Lisa Carrick did just this and has shared her story on how, as a wholesaler, they pulled through one of the toughest years they have ever experienced. It certainly was not the year we planned to mark our 10 years of business. We had BIG product plans, had just come off the most successful Trade Fair in Sydney and were finding our stride when life as we knew it just literally stopped in its tracks mid March. After the initial shock of it all, which lasted about a week, I reached out to a few trusted wholesalers and retailers in my network. We took some comfort in the knowledge that everyone was sailing through the same storm, but soon realised that not everyone was in the same boat. If we were to weather it, we needed to shift our focus pretty quickly to the end game – what life would be like after Covid. We needed to regroup to ensure all our community (staff, agents, distributors, contractors and retailers) could get through this together. Given my corporate background with Coles-Myer, I pivoted like most had to do, and decided to focus on strengthening our infrastructure. If we could not grow sales as forecasted, then we had to reduce costs, which
meant everyone working on the business, rather than in it. Every action we took had the sole purpose of adding value directly or indirectly to our community of retailers who had supported us. We focussed on how our business should look once we came through the other side. With some incredibly loyal staff and fortuitous meetings of the minds, we formed new long term and mutually beneficial strategic alliances, worked on rebuilding the brand and website from the ground up, put in place systems and processes that removed duplication, and streamlined the business as much as we could.
