It’s fair to say that COvid-19 has caused chaos to businesses right across the globe. However, Covid has also been the driving force behind a reimagining of business offerings, customer service and 360 degree pivots.

For our November session, AwakenHub addressed the very topical theme of pivoting your business . We introduced three founders to our community who have taken big steps and big risks to transform their companies this year. These leaders faced down the Covid tailspin, to successfully pivot their business & thrive. One of our speakers launched a brand new company in just 24 hours!

On the night we met Aveline O’Sullivan who launched her new e-commerce business Bloom in a Box in February 2020 to ‘reinvent the gifting of flowers’ having trialled her business concept in 2019. In June 2020, she left her full time corporate job in Telecoms to pursue her dream of making people feel good and feel connected. Aveline was recently awarded a UK patent for her new business idea and is awaiting a decision on her European Patent due in 2021. Bloom in a Box was recently awarded Network Ireland Galway Business Woman of the Year in August 2020 and has been shortlisted for the Institute of Designers Ireland Awards (IDI) in the packaging category.

Sarah Scullion founded Community Calling NI in 24 hours as the crisis hit. This was not how she planned 2020 with another business primed to launch, Integra bookings, in March. Not to be fazed, Sarah put all her energy, technical skills and business acumen into building one of the fastest responses to community needs ever seen on this island. Incredibly impressive!

Sunnibha Corcoran founded her company, SMC Food Safety Management Consultants, 14 years ago. Committed to training, upskilling and certification in the hospitality sector, all her work was face-to-face. With Covid, Sunnibha swung into action bringing all her training online, facilitating her clients’ needs as they figured out all the new Covid guidelines, helping them keep their customers safe and transitioning them to an online learning and certification platform. Sunnibha successfully brought all her clients along with her and has had an incredibly successful 2020.

Takeaways

1. Pivots are hard work and they take time. It is a journey of constant learning.

2. If you are pivoting your business, bring your clients along with you. Many of your clients have faced the same problems as you this year; you can help them and together, help each other.

3. Networks are so important to ensuring a successful pivot, reach out and ask for help and advice, people want you to succeed

4. Done is better than perfect. It is better to launch something and learn rather than wait for the perfect moment. It is scary but worth it.

5. Stay in constant contact with your clients; remind them you are still here and working hard. Make sure you understand where their needs are not being met and where you can add value.

6. Don’t be shy to jump on new opportunities offered up by a crisis, a gaps in the market or other ways of exploiting your business, platform, network or technology. After all Twitter started out as a podcasting platform!

Watch the whole event here

Interview by Clare MCGee, Q+A by Mary McKenna, Hosted by Mary Carty, Technical Sinead Crowley.