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REINVENTION WHEN TIMES GET TOUGH, THE TOUGH GET INVENTIVE. MEET THREE QUICK THINKERS WHO, WHEN FACED WITH THE BLEAK-ONOMICS OF LOCKDOWN, DID AN ABOUT TURN
story anne schauffer pictures sally chance and supplied
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hile the rest of us were meditating, live streaming yoga classes, attending yet another Zoom motivational meeting, and wondering how to make one bottle of wine stretch for seven days, others were digging deep …. some to generate funds to pay staff, and others focused on their fast disappearing income. Whatever their reasons, they just did it – whether they were one man bands or fully fledged companies like Roger and Matthew Fitzsimons’ BigEye Branding group, specialising in the trade of mobile eventing equipment, advertising/marketing hardware, and point of sale across Africa. Under that umbrella, Craig Stubbs is general manager of Promobasket, which supplies branded apparel and corporate gifting to small/ medium businesses. Craig says they saw the writing on the wall very early: “Many of our businesses involve travel and export, and these were some of the first channels that the Covid noose ensnared.” Pre-shutdown, they ensured all staff were enabled to operate remotely, evaluated expenses, implemented cost reductions, and secured debtors payments. “When lockdown was announced, we didn’t know what we were going to do, but our business founders have a strong
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entrepreneurial mindset so, as a team, we sought out opportunity. No doubt PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and sanitation/hygiene related products were going to be in demand, but whatever stock was available was mainly being traded as a commodity, not marketed to end users. We saw an opportunity – and within a few days, we settled on a full e-commerce model whereby businesses/consumers would have access to Covid-related solutions via an easy to use online shop. “We had the Happy Hygiene website built
speedily, and sourced stock. One of the core fundamentals was to have stock on hand, ready to dispatch. A few days before stock was due to arrive, we did a ‘soft launch’ to judge appetite. This stretched us to new levels. Site traffic was through the roof and orders came flooding in.”
RIGHT: Christy Snyman went from making wedding gowns to face masks.
FAR RIGHT: Photographer Sally Chance used her creative skills to come up with a decor idea.
BELOW: The Happy Hygiene team – keeping us safe.
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