{"id":8453,"date":"2020-12-07T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=8453"},"modified":"2026-01-29T10:00:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T10:00:55","slug":"lessons-from-businesses-thrived-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/lessons-from-businesses-thrived-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"3 lessons from businesses that have thrived during the coronavirus pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMoney Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t3 lessons from businesses that have thrived during the coronavirus pandemic\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\tSinead McHale<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n

As coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to take huge bites out of our economy and the world looks very far from going back to normal, most businesses have felt the strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But amid the economic storm, a few businesses have not only survived but thrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for this are myriad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some companies, success has been a matter of chance. Right product, right time (we\u2019re looking at you, Zoom and Microsoft Teams).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For others, the pandemic triggered innovation that propelled them into a stronger position than they were in previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Satago<\/a>, we caught up with three businesses that have continued to grow and succeed despite everything that 2020 has thrown at them to find out what you can learn from their experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download your free Managing Uncertainty guide to help you create business continuity plans that keep your company moving during uncertain times<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Every cloud has a silver lining<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Grabyo <\/a>is a cloud-based video production platform with clients in the media and sports industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When coronavirus<\/a> struck, demand for tools such as Grabyo soared as media companies and broadcasters scrambled to get videos online while locked out of their production studios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grabyo\u2019s reaction to the pandemic was to pedal hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had already planned to implement more remote contribution features to our platform, but this quickly became a priority,\u201d says Grabyo CEO Gareth Capon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sports industry has been hit hard by the pandemic with lost revenues from cancelled events and closed stadiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To ensure its business didn\u2019t suffer knock-on effects, Grabyo worked closely with clients to help them find digital solutions to make up lost revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe relationship we have with our clients is collaborative and built on trust,\u201d says Capon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs such, we have been able to find solutions and deferred agreements when it comes to cancelled or postponed events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have also seen many customers switch to different services across our portfolio, utilising new tools to keep fans engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takeaway lesson<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When disaster strikes, be the solution your clients are looking for. Where possible, provide them with flexibility, whether that\u2019s within the services you offer or their payment terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Necessity is the mother of invention<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Moneypenny<\/a> answers customer calls and live chats for companies across the UK. When the pandemic hit, its call volume dropped by 50% and it experienced a 300% increase in service cancellation requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to CEO Joanna Swash, the company quickly went into \u201csurvival mode\u201d and a Fast Recovery Team was put in place to establish products and services aimed at helping clients through the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These included an online health-screening bot for businesses in the hospitality and leisure industries, a new outbound calling service for businesses with furloughed staff and efficiencies that enabled clients to take calls from home, including integration with Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, it launched a national advertising campaign across radio, press, podcasts, outdoor, online and social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognising the financial difficulties many of its clients found themselves in, Moneypenny provided contract freezes and short term and flexible contracts for clients where necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of July 2020, call volumes had returned to 116% of their pre-lockdown levels and the new clients it gained exceeded the number it lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takeaway lesson<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When your clients’ circumstances change, invest in the necessary resources to pivot your business to suit their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Download your free Managing Uncertainty guide to help you create business continuity plans that keep your company moving during uncertain times<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cornering the luxury \u2018stay at home\u2019 market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Finnmark Sauna<\/a> specialises in sauna installations for homes and commercial businesses. When spas and gyms shut down in March 2020, the luxury home health and fitness market boomed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople are looking to create their own gym spaces and spa areas as public facilities have shut down,\u201d says the company\u2019s PR manager, Robbie Thompson. \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely profited from that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the pandemic, Finnmark Sauna had invested in digital PR to increase its brand visibility, which led to their products being featured on authoritative websites including the Telegraph and Grand Designs magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The business believe this visibility helped to catch the attention of the right audience when the pandemic struck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been able to serve those people by creating slightly more affordable solutions without compromising on quality.\u201d says Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe also pivoted a little to service the DIY market by selling materials only bundles and offering advice and guidance to customers with their builds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After seeing a huge spike in e-commerce sales, Finnmark Sauna moved to a new warehouse, invested in stock management software and upgraded its website to include multilingual and multi-currency features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takeaway lesson <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Make the most of your industry\u2019s boom periods by investing in PR that will put your product in front of the right customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tailor your products as necessary to suit emerging audiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final thoughts on what your business can learn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Aside from the blind luck of market trends, what these companies have in common is their customer focus and flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three businesses spent time investigating their client\u2019s needs and creating solutions that made their products indispensable to their audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the case no matter whether you\u2019re redesigning tech to meet the changing circumstances of your clients or customers, creating more affordable products to serve an emerging market or renegotiating payment terms<\/a> and contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Managing uncertainty<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Get some top tips to help you create business continuity plans that will keep your company moving during uncertain times.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDownload your free guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Subscribe to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Join more than 500,000 UK readers and get the best business admin strategies and tactics, as well as actionable advice to help your company thrive, in your inbox every month.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to take huge bites out of our economy and the world looks very far from going back to normal, most businesses have felt the strain. But amid the economic storm, a few businesses have not only survived but thrived. The reasons for this are myriad. For some companies, success has been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":702,"featured_media":7856,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,9],"tags":[191,15],"business_type":[4],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[73,74],"imagine_tag":[98,109],"coauthors":[496],"class_list":["post-8453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters","category-strategy-legal-operations","tag-business-continuity","tag-grow-business","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Sinead McHale","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/07\/FRAPER_2019_Sage50cloud_187.jpg","imagine_tags":{"98":"Business continuity","109":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/702"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/7856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=8453"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=8453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}