Coronavirus Good News Stories?
Discussion
Bored of reading all this doom and gloom. Has anyone got any good news stories of how their business has been doing over the last few weeks?
We're fortunate in that one of our suppliers in China of which we're the UK distributor were selected as supplier of choice for certain PPE items by both the MoD and NHS. These are items that we didn't have much of a market for in the UK prior to the outbreak and has come as a total shock and surprise.
It's been a completely mental couple of weeks and the good news is we will now definitely survive.
We've also been able to donate vital PPE to a couple of local hospices who otherwise would never have been able to lay their hands on it.
There must be others out there, would love to hear them...
We're fortunate in that one of our suppliers in China of which we're the UK distributor were selected as supplier of choice for certain PPE items by both the MoD and NHS. These are items that we didn't have much of a market for in the UK prior to the outbreak and has come as a total shock and surprise.
It's been a completely mental couple of weeks and the good news is we will now definitely survive.
We've also been able to donate vital PPE to a couple of local hospices who otherwise would never have been able to lay their hands on it.
There must be others out there, would love to hear them...
My wife’s online fabric business (I do the accounts and website, but very much part time) is trading at double normal turnover, with a lot going to Europe.
Whilst we also have half the staff in order to maintain social distancing, we are just about keeping up by working 7 days a week (Max 5 per person).
She has donated 270m of fabric to enable local people to make scrubs for the NHS and has also helped them buy over 300m more at wholesale prices as a way of giving back.
Royal Mail have also been epic, even to the point of sending a special van on Tuesday morning due to Easter orders.
Frimley111R said:
IIRC Disney gained about 50m new subscribers to their TV channel package
I wonder how far that goes to offset the loss with having their parks closed? I read $15m a day. Add to that lost revenue from sporting events as they also own ESPN running into hundreds of millions.Glad to hear you guys are doing OK, I'm hoping we can employ some of the people who have lost their jobs after this is over.
One of my interests is a very seasonal general store in the Highlands. Normally we'd be extremely busy up to and through Easter heading into Summer. 6 weeks ago my best case scenario was we'd see a long extension of winter trading figures however we've seen locals supporting the store more then normal and there's a lot of goodwill there now aided by things myself and staff are doing in return for the vulnerable people of the community. So while it's by no means business as usual we are doing better then I expected. However it has been, and still is, a constant fire-fighting scenario with supply's, lack there of, and alternatives. Most of our suppliers lost 2/3 - 3/4 of revenue overnight with closures of hotels/cafes etc so just hope they survive.
I put around 1500 orders for perspex cashier protection screens in the direction of a plastics company on the Wirral and publicised it on LinkedIn. My employers are quite a big and respected organisation, so I guess orders will have continued to grow from that. Not huge, I guess, but a nice little job for a business that could easily have seen work dry up.
One thing I am seeing amongst my contacts is the re-establishment of the local shop as the place to buy your essentials. I hope people remember this when restrictions are lifted. Some of these guys have really gone out of their way to support their local communities.
One thing I am seeing amongst my contacts is the re-establishment of the local shop as the place to buy your essentials. I hope people remember this when restrictions are lifted. Some of these guys have really gone out of their way to support their local communities.
TurnedEmo said:
One thing I am seeing amongst my contacts is the re-establishment of the local shop as the place to buy your essentials. I hope people remember this when restrictions are lifted. Some of these guys have really gone out of their way to support their local communities.
Agreed. I've not been in a supermarket for weeks now. Would be awful to see some of our local places disappear. I keep reminding everyone that what you do now will have a massive impact on 2021.
Treat people badly, price gouge, etc. - this will be remembered long after we've learned to live with the virus. Look at Britannia Hotels - how many will use them for business travel when the lid is lifted? On the other hand, I'll go out of my way to use MacDonald hotels as they picked up the staff Britannia screwed over.
But also remember that you do need to keep working on everything you were working on before this hit the fan - I'm not being aggressive in prospecting new business right now, that'll come - but people I've already connected with are being called and updated when I feel it's appropriate and I should have a good number of contracts in place for Half 2 and into 2021. Some of my competitors have gone into a defensive mode and are forgetting there's a future the other side of this.
Treat people badly, price gouge, etc. - this will be remembered long after we've learned to live with the virus. Look at Britannia Hotels - how many will use them for business travel when the lid is lifted? On the other hand, I'll go out of my way to use MacDonald hotels as they picked up the staff Britannia screwed over.
But also remember that you do need to keep working on everything you were working on before this hit the fan - I'm not being aggressive in prospecting new business right now, that'll come - but people I've already connected with are being called and updated when I feel it's appropriate and I should have a good number of contracts in place for Half 2 and into 2021. Some of my competitors have gone into a defensive mode and are forgetting there's a future the other side of this.
TurnedEmo said:
Treat people badly, price gouge, etc. - this will be remembered long after we've learned to live with the virus. Look at Britannia Hotels - how many will use them for business travel when the lid is lifted? On the other hand, I'll go out of my way to use MacDonald hotels as they picked up the staff Britannia screwed over.
Agree with this. Need to treat people well in these difficult times. Not use the situation to screw people over, use it as an excuse to take advantage, break contracts etc.Pay suppliers on time, or communicate if that’s difficult. Treat staff well. Thank clients that support you.
I’ll definately remember how client/suppiers/employee behaved during these times. You find out a lot about people when backs are against the wall.
Haibiker said:
I run an ebike specialist shop in Poundbury. Never seen anything like it. We've been here selling expensive bikes (2k-12k) for 6 years now. Selling on average 2 bikes a day. I'm looking forward to a holiday ! (Not complaining - I know how lucky we !)
That's great for you! - I'm amazed at how many shiny new bikes I'm seeing around (and wobbly riders) since this kicked off.Great time to own a bike shop and repair business.
I hope it may change UK attitudes to cycling.
TurnedEmo said:
I hope it may change UK attitudes to cycling.
I would add, though, that there seems to be a grey line between 'exercise' and 'non-essential travel' where cyclists are concerned. Hoofing along in lycra and a plastic hat for 20 miles is all very well, but how many virus-laden breaths might they be exhaling in their slipstream as they whizz past me?ETA Same goes for 'running 20km for the NHS'. The NHS doesn't need money, it needs kit. HM Govt is writing blank cheques. Run half a mile then go home!
Edited by Simpo Two on Saturday 11th April 21:45
Greenie said:
Agree with this. Need to treat people well in these difficult times. Not use the situation to screw people over, use it as an excuse to take advantage, break contracts etc.
Pay suppliers on time, or communicate if that’s difficult. Treat staff well. Thank clients that support you.
I’ll definately remember how client/suppiers/employee behaved during these times. You find out a lot about people when backs are against the wall.
Agree with this 100%. I've had a couple of customers who have instigated chargebacks on their credit cards for £20k bits of kit. We tried to deliver them and their practices were closed for obvious reasons. We communicated with them, we attempted delivery and we sent them pictures of their stuff in the warehouse ready to go.Pay suppliers on time, or communicate if that’s difficult. Treat staff well. Thank clients that support you.
I’ll definately remember how client/suppiers/employee behaved during these times. You find out a lot about people when backs are against the wall.
I'm hoping American Express (both paid using theirs for the points) see sense in this situation, luckily it won't make any difference to us now, but at the time it genuinely could have brought us down as we'd paid our supplier up front to guarantee delivery and nobody else is going to buy them off us for the foreseeable.
I'll be borrowing the quote in bold.
One of my friends runs a Compost Company - they take in garden waste and tree cuttings from gardeners, Landscapers and Tree Surgeons and make compost
As I understand it the Gardeners and Tree Surgeons pay a fee to dump the stuff, he makes mountains of compost out of it and sells it back to the gardeners, allotments and general public.
He is flat out at the moment - people are putting in a Veg Beds all over
He reckons he is doing 4-5 times normal business and taken on 2 or 3 people who were laid off
We have a company locally that deliver from Co-Op / Tesco using robots. They're doing a roaring trade and expanding as quickly as they can by the looks of it.
It's brilliant, do you shopping on the app, someone picks it all and puts it in the robot which then trundles off and appears at the end of the driveway with your shopping.
It's brilliant, do you shopping on the app, someone picks it all and puts it in the robot which then trundles off and appears at the end of the driveway with your shopping.
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