How we successfully navigated our way through the Covid-19 crisis
Businesses around the world have been shaken to their core with the Covid-19 pandemic, with many of them not surviving the economic turmoil.
We have fared better than most companies, not due to luck, but foresight, quick decision making, and dedication to our clients.
Our initial response to the pandemic
As the virus started to spread, our own global reach highlighted to us its very real potential to cause havoc on a global scale.
With different countries reacting to the pandemic not only at different times, but also in different ways, we couldn’t take a “one size fits all” approach to a solution.
While there are some common factors with different countries’ responses, there are local differences as well, so as a company we couldn’t simply use one single strategy to cover every location.
We had to sit down and think seriously about what our priorities were.
Maintaining supply of product was going to be difficult, it was obvious that part of the production process would be heavily disrupted, maybe even go into hibernation altogether, so preserving our customer contact services was essential to keep channels of communication open.
That meant maintaining management of our ecommerce platform, telephone and email contacts, continue our product development and keep talking to our customers.
The effect Covid-19 had on our clients
In some parts of the world some of our clients continued on, while others didn’t or couldn’t stay open.
New York is a good example of that. In the Tri-state area we have some customers that have continued on with product development right through the lockdown, while others literally shut up shop and won’t open again until this is over.
We’ve maintained a strong support for our customers right the way through this crisis. If somebody contacts us, whether it’s by phone, email, ordering through our online ordering platforms… this has still carried on as normal.
We couldn’t just send everybody home, which is what some other business did, and we had no intention of letting staff go.
With several hundred clients across the globe, we have customers from small boutique brands up to large multi-store brands.
We kept doors open, kept client communication open, and the result was a more fluid, agile, and dependable process for everyone.
Looking to the future
There’s a famous trope about the Chinese word for “crisis” being composed of the two characters signifying danger and opportunity.
And while, unfortunately it’s not true, the point motivational speakers who use it are trying to make – is valid.
Hopefully the world will at least start to get back to normal in the next 3 – 6 months. It will be a new type of normal, but life will go on. The world keeps turning and we all need to get back to business.
Moving forward we have to be smart about how things will get back on track and what changes the pandemic has made to the world.
Firstly, we have to face the uncertainty and confront it.
As the Covid-19 Virus has shown, we can’t predict with any certainty what’s around the corner. Long-term business plans need to be more elastic, ready to change, bend and stretch with unseen demands.
Two of our biggest strengths have always been agility and speed.
Our flexibility and adaptability allow us to work around changing circumstances, to understand the change in our client’s business, and what those changes might mean.
Our speed allows us to get product to market quickly, especially for clients whose circumstances have changed. If we have a client who needs to downsize, relocate, or upscale, we can get a new product on the shelves in weeks when some of our competitors take months!
Secondly, this virus has changed the way people around the world work and behave.
Many companies will now realise that there’s no need to rent an office when everyone can work from home.
Many consumers will realise that ordering online is easier, quicker, and cheaper than heading out to the high street.
These two simple yet fundamental realisations will completely change the way businesses work in the future, and companies need to be ready for those changes.
The digital side of a company’s operations need to be on-point, with eTools, websites, and online purchasing platforms finely-tuned, easy to navigate, and above all, working at their full potential.
Join us and step into the future
Covid-19 will go away eventually, but it will stay in people’s minds for a long time.
If a new strain, a mutation, or something like Covid-19 comes along again, will your business be equipped to deal with it?
Our business model is lean and responsive, and we are spread throughout the world with a very good team of people. We don’t have multiple layers of hierarchy, and in times of uncertainty, it’s the flat businesses that thrive while hierarchical business dies.
In a post-Covid world, we are constantly assessing how our business model meets the new normal.
Our speed and our agility allow us to understand the change in your business and respond quickly, giving you the very best chance of staying afloat even in the worst of times.
The apparel and fashion industry can be unpredictable at the best of times, but when something like the coronavirus changes the world, what happens next is anyone’s guess. But for small and medium enterprises, the future doesn’t have to look so dark. We have decades of experience in this industry, and we’ve seen – and survived – a lot of global disruption.
Our experience, our connections, and our professionalism can help guide you through the most trying times, ensuring you come out the other side with your business intact.
If you would like to know more about how we can help you and your business, then contact us today and speak to one of our friendly and professional staff members.