COVID-19 pandemic disruptions have impacted businesses in different ways. Some businesses have had to change structures and make operational changes to thrive and survive. And with each new year, there brings a “newness” for lack of a better term where we are able to start fresh and change those things that went wrong or act on the things we have been thinking about doing.
We asked entrepreneurs and business owners about the pivot they are making as a result of the pandemic and here are the responses:
#1- Social media marketing
To keep afloat, I had no choice except to embrace wellness measures. I decided to develop a firm around these practices since they were so beneficial to my mental and physical wellbeing. COVID has made my company's message even more relevant to those who are struggling to make the move to a remote job. Demand for e-commerce and social media participation is increasing. COVID has proven that adaptation is crucial. While this means we'll have to take on more responsibility, it also means we'll have more financial flexibility in the event of setbacks.
Thanks to Andrey Priobrazhenskiy, Discount Reactor!
#2- Long-term view
We're concentrating on forming long-term collaborations. After having to reduce and rethink our strategy during COVID, we observed that our community and sales have skyrocketed. 2020 is all about making sensible decisions and taking a long-term view. In the business world, there are many things that are well worth the wait. The pandemic also serves as a reminder to improve existing client connections rather than succumbing to shiny object syndrome and focusing solely on new prospects. Especially during challenging times, retention is significantly more crucial than acquisition.
Thanks to Gavin Johnson, Evking!
#3- Caring for the team
Things haven't always been easy for us. I'd be lying if I said I didn't get upset or stressed thinking about what the next day holds. The team, on the other hand, is focused on remaining upbeat, and leaders go out of their way to help employees in any way they can, even if that means staying up late at night to talk them through anything they're going through. I need to look after our personnel because they look after our customers. You can't run a profitable business if your people aren't pleased.
Thanks to Ben Zellner, 3000MileMyth!
#4- Creating virtual tours
When open houses in Seattle Real Estate shut down at the beginning of the pandemic my Photography business knew that Virtual Tours were going to be very important. To prepare for this we invested in Virtual Tour cameras and software and packaged it with our other services. Fast forward several months and Virtual Tours became the lifeline for so many listings, especially with so many out-of-state buyers. Today Real Estate is booming and Virtual Tours have become standard.
Thanks to Luca Sforza, Lensit Studio!
#5- Turning to remote-based work
My business pivoted as a result of the pandemic by becoming more remote for my employees. We used to run everything in-house but when the pandemic hit like many other businesses we turned much of our staff over to remote-based work. This was challenging as it felt like it almost happened overnight and we had to move quickly to make it work properly. After we got everything in place we managed to successfully run our agency remote with minimal issues.
Thanks to Tim Connon, Paramount Quote!
#6- Stepped up eCommerce
My business pivoted quite well as a result of the pandemic. Although our in-person services were put on hold, our eCommerce products, including virtual services tripled in revenue. This lets us know how important our products and expertise in natural skin care are for people all over the world! Since the initial lockdown, we have beefed up our digital offerings and skin and beauty webinars so that we offer the education and guidance customers are needing, even in a pandemic.
Thanks to Ayanna Freeman, Ayanna Denise Skin!
#7- Reduced prices and downsized
As far my interior designing company, for example, is no longer doing business in the same way. Firstly, our services are cheaper now. We redesigned our organization to take advantage of lower labor costs. We had to make the difficult decision to cut down on staff and this allowed us to hire workers at lower rates. Secondly, we had to make some changes to our clientele. We now design homes for the less affluent. This means that there are more projects but they pay less.
Thanks to David Mason, The Knobs Company!
#8- Shifting our focus on the global market
Yes, our business pivoted as a result of the pandemic by Shifting our focus to a global customer base We shifted focus from offering services within North America's confines to focusing on a global market. When the pandemic struck, it diminished the purchasing power of our original customer base, resulting in a drop in our monthly sales. Due to that, we decided to widen our client base to increase our revenue. We expanded our services to the whole world, and it paid off as we are now a global company handling ten times our original client base.
Thanks to Stephen Curry, CocoSign!
#9- Remote management
The business has changed in the sense that my employees and myself communicate differently than we used to, and have become familiar with the technology we previously used only sometimes, if at all. Remote management and sharing platforms, video calling software, and group chats have become a norm, and have proven quite convenient. That said, they do lack the human connection that you can only get from in-person contact.
Thanks to Adam Garcia, The Stock Dork!
#10- Developing a people-first culture
The biggest pivot we've made because of the pandemic has been to become a culture-led and people-first organization. We've always cared about our staff but we've had to take this one step further because the pandemic has made people re-evaluate their wants and needs. People across the U.S. are leaving their jobs for new ventures that they feel will give them new satisfaction. We have developed a new culture based on staff feedback, that is based around community.
Thanks to Jenna Carson, Money Lucid!
#11- Paying attention to metrics
Metrics do not lie, and metrics over a longer time period are much more useful to study. Although your company's analytics are vital, simply investigating your own metrics is insufficient. Instead, you should monitor metrics for the whole sector. Revenue increases or declines in your sector as a whole might help you think about and decide what measures to take to grow your firm.
Thanks to Shiv Gupta, Incrementors Lead Generation!
#12- Coming up with an online solutions
The seeds of inspiration for the creation of PerkUp were planted when the pandemic struck the world. It created this massive disruption to businesses who were suddenly plagued by the idea that business as usual could mean the end of their profitable ventures unless they adapt and come up with solutions for their remote productivity. We came up with our own disruption, an online solution that is growing in appeal by the thousands as businesses continue to recognize our value proposition for improving productivity.
Thanks to Thomas Mirmotahari, PerkUp!
#13- Adopted hybrid workforce
The pandemic moved everything to work from home. Initially, the change was difficult to adapt, especially for those of us who did not have a home office. It took a while for the business to adjust to the work environment and the new technology. But now that the shift has settled and streamlined, it seems like we will continue this change. We will be adopting a hybrid workforce, as it seems more beneficial. This will give everyone flexibility to choose their work environment and keep them motivated.
Thanks to Glen Carroll, Clicks marketing!
#14- Leveraging technology
The pandemic has altered how we used to perform in the office. As our company transitioned to working from home, we added a number of new features to make it easier and quicker for our employees. New techniques such as collaboration tools and video conferencing were introduced. We prioritized our employees' well-being by supplying them with the necessary equipment that might otherwise have hampered their production.
Thanks to Samantha Odo, Precondo!
#15- Rankings of sites
To beef up our finances during the pandemic, we pivoted from being exclusively focused on the rankings and performance of our own portfolio sites to doing it for others as a service. Indeed, it turned out to be a good thing, as we were able to expand our team and start many fruitful collaborations that are going to be there even if we should decide to go back to our original model sometime in the future.
Thanks to Mark Coster, STEM Geek!
#16- By adapting to current trends
As Covid hit the world, businesses, began collapsing only to become a little more stable during 2021. It has been a tough year for my company as well; however, I'm proud of what we have accomplished as an organization. It was stressful but we learned how to adapt to the current situation and catch up with trends rather smoothly. We learned how to become flexible enough to work from any place available. It was a little difficult at first, but with teamwork and sticking together through thick and thin, we learned how to handle the situation.
Thanks to Anthony King, Transport Executive!
#17- Got investors to work online
The pandemic required and enabled many employees to work remotely from all around the world, which allowed us to pivot the messaging of working and living from anywhere, as well as investing without lifting a finger. In a lockdown, everyone wants to change up their four walls, and we used this to leverage human nature to explore, discover, and give investors the opportunity to earn a profit from anywhere. We've taken advantage of workations and turned that into a marketing strategy to attract potential
investors in a modern way to make an income.
Thanks to Corey Ashton Walters, Here!
#18- Investing in technology
We have learned to be more flexible. The pandemic has proven to be challenging for all businesses worldwide. Learning to pivot is the name of the game right now. Being flexible and choosing to invest more in technology has helped when it comes to communicating with remote employees. Working with cloud technology has been a must. Making sure employees are adapting well to the changes has also been critical to our success.
Thanks to Shaun Price, MitoQ!
#19- Small businesses automation
We realized early on during the pandemic that businesses were not equipped with the skills and knowledge to implement digital solutions into their business quickly. As part of our bespoke solution, we realized we should focus more on content solutions to share with our current and prospective customers and now are shifting our focus to training and DIY products that can help small to medium businesses automate their business
systems.
Thanks to John Elder, The Business Blocks!
#20- Customer Support with AI
We incorporated AI technology to streamline our customer service processes during the pandemic. For instance, to avoid the problem that arises with customer self-service, we used a strong conversational AI representative combined with AI-powered searching capabilities to align with the constantly changing product catalogs. In addition, providing our clients with AI-powered customer support 24 hours a day helped our business satisfy them by assisting them anytime reduced customer service expenses.
Thanks to Ryan Yount, Luck Luck Go!
#21- Improving our user experience (UX)
We are more focused on improving customer UX to make our services as convenient as they can be for our clients. The pandemic emphasized the importance of convenient customer UX in the face of lockdowns and other mandatory restrictions. We had to learn to update our processes by integrating technology into our systems. We improved our online platforms and interface to make our services more accessible for our clients, ensuring that our transactions are smooth sailing.
Thanks to Brogan Renshaw, Modelers Central!
#22- Improving client-facing services
One way my company pivoted to survive the course of the pandemic was to improve client-facing services in order to keep them engaged. Improving the client-facing aspect of our services played a crucial role for us to retain our clients by showing them that we are reliable and transparent. We give constant updates and check-ins about the progress of our work to keep them in the loop. Client-facing roles and services were the heart of our operations in the face of the disruptive pandemic where regular business interactions were upheaved.
Thanks to Michael Conley, Michael Conley Lawyers!
#23- Making an app for photocopying
The pandemic forced me to accelerate the implementation of my plans. In 2019, I mainly dealt with biometric photo booths, but I wanted to create an application for taking photos for documents. I took my time with the development of this project. The outbreak of the pandemic changed everything. I focused 100% on the development of the app and was successful. Currently, the PhotoAid app is at the pivot of my entire
business.
Thanks to Tomek Mlodzki, PhotoAiD!
#24- Diverted to online meetings
Our business used to be reliant on face-to-face meetings and catch-ups with our clients to maintain the relationship. However, with the pandemic, we've pivoted to online meetings and providing more updates over email or text messages instead of providing clients updates during face-to-face meetings. Currently, with more people feeling comfortable meeting up, we have adopted both approaches depending on the client's preferences. Some clients still prefer face-to-face meetups, while others are perfectly fine with the new way we do things with online meetings and email updates.
Thanks to Shawn Plummer, The Annuity Expert!
#25- More empathetic messaging
Our focus has pivoted from generating sales leads to addressing our customer’s needs, questions and concerns. We look for ways to put our audience first by making our messaging more empathetic, relevant, and authentic. This shows our willingness to help our customers while understanding the challenges they face. By stripping our messaging of sales-speak and pivoting to a customer-centric focus we ensure that our voice remains relevant and appropriate for the current business environment.
Thanks to Dean Kaplan, Kaplan Collection Agency!
#26- Providing same-day deliveries
When the Covid pandemic hit, it led to the majority of the consumers opting for online shopping. For all retailers, it meant one thing: bring your A-game in terms of online shopping, or risk getting left behind. Keeping this in mind, I revamped my businesses’ e-commerce game. A part of my strategy included introducing same-day deliveries within the city. I hired over 20 new riders to make this strategy work, and work it did; I saw a steep upturn in orders a few weeks after implementing this option.
Thanks to Johan Liebert, Dazz Deals!
#27- Cutting down expenditure
It’s not a secret that businesses spend a good percentage of the revenue to pay employees. As a small business owner, I have managed to stay afloat by reducing my workforce and cutting down the cost. While implementing this strategy, I made sure that quality and productivity are not sacrificed. I managed this by retaining employees who can handle different types of tasks and increasing their salaries slightly. It’s a technique that has worked for my business.
Thanks to Alex Bryce, WeInvoice!
#28- Top Focus as marketing
Because so many businesses are undergoing digital transformation and developing their processes to move online, this means that overall competition across basically every industry has skyrocketed. With markets becoming oversaturated, I had to begin taking my marketing and outreach way more seriously. Business leaders need to consider SEO strategy, unique marketing campaigns while also reconsidering marketing budgets. A good marketing strategy will keep your business relevant, and your consumer-base
growing. In a competitive environment, that is crucial.
Thanks to Michael Dean, Pool Research!
#29- Career counseling
The pandemic was a tough year for everyone, especially those who were seeking jobs. As a company that helps its users create a strong CV and provide career counseling, we stepped up our game. What I did was create a social media post that gave people hope regarding their careers. Many people saw that post and came to me for counseling. I
told them to work hard. I also gave them the motivation to start their own business. As a result, many customers were happy and ended up with a source of income.
Thanks to Justin Berg, CV Maker!