The Adaptables: Stories of Pivoting in a Pandemic hosted by Sarah Davidson

Businesses around the world have been forced to adapt, pivot and shift their strategies quickly to stay alive during the recent pandemic. We sat down with some of Australia’s small business to discuss their success stories.

Episode 5: Kim Teo x Mr Yum

Melbourne-based start-up Mr Yum started as a free online platform that showed customers what their meal would look like before they ordered it. They evolved to provide an in-venue ordering, takeaway and delivery platform, but then COVID-19 completely removed the ability to dine-in at restaurants and forced everyone to eat at home.

While many Food and Beverage businesses pivoted to takeaway, many institutions were still feeling the pinch from thin hospitality industry margins. Mr Yum quickly helped their customers pivot to provide online ordering for pick up and local delivery, taking just 4.5 per cent commission and helping local businesses stay afloat.

Episode 4: Merna Taouk x Crumpets by Merna & Pierre Issa x Pepe Saya

Crumpets by Merna is based and baked in Sydney, with a philosophy for using the best quality local ingredients and working closely with Australian farmers and producers to achieve this. Their products are served at cafes, restaurants and can also be purchased online for food lovers across Sydney and beyond.

With restaurants and cafes closed, Merna quickly realized their online sales needed to increase in order to survive the pandemic. Through the power of collaboration, Crumpets by Merna joined forces with sister business, Pepe Saya to create the ultimate ‘self-isolation’ breakfast box. Listen in as Merna and Pierre share their takeaways on the importance of agility and finding pivot strategies that don’t necessarily mean an entire business re-modelling.

Episode 3: Luke Stone x Herbivore Florals

You might have heard of chef extraordinaire, Curtis Stone – well, Lucas is his equally successful brother building Herbivore Florals into a booming floral design business in Melbourne for the past 20 years. Lucas owns and runs the business, which boasts contracts with a handful of major airlines, as well as contracts with Victoria Racing Club and Moonee Valley.

With the outbreak of COVID19, these airline contracts dried up along with all of Lucas’ work in events and weddings. But, to stay afloat, he developed a new suite of products to cater for people stuck at home seeking comfort items showing he truly is one of The Adaptables.

Episode 2: Jeremy Fleming x StageKings

In this episode, we speak to Jeremy Fleming, co-founder of StageKings, a theatrical set building company from Sydney’s south.

While Jeremy and gang usually provide themed stages and structures for the Music and Arts Festivals, Sporting and Corporate Events and Brand Activations, the outbreak of COVID-19 brought his entire industry to a halt. Follow Jeremy’s and StageKings’ inspiring journey of how they pivoted in the pandemic.

Episode 1: Sarah Davidson x Matcha Mylkbar

In this episode, lawyer turned ‘funtrepreneur’, Sarah Davidson, tells us the story of her humble beginnings, how she pivoted her own life strategy and the quick changes she had to make for her business during the pandemic and beyond.

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*Source: comScore online panel Q4 2017. Analyzed shopping behaviour of 1 million US consumers on 20 large merchant sites. Checkout conversion is measured from the point where consumer selects a payment type to completion of purchase.

**IPSOS. 2018 Online Payment Experiences Study. The IPSOS study was commissioned by PayPal and conducted in July 2018. Study of 10,500 people, including 6,930 PayPal users, across the US, UK, Germany, Australia, Italy, Spain and Brazil (1,500 people per market). On eligible purchases. Limits apply. See applicable terms here.