From small startups to large corporations, no one has been spared the wrath of the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis nearly shut down entire industries and forced companies of all sizes to adapt and evolve, including many of our clients.
The silver lining? As they say, when you’re backed up against a wall, break it down.
Several Go Figure clients have done just that, emerging from the other side with a new outlook, a new business plan, and a success story.
Back To Better
Even as the need for emergency medical care skyrocked last year, thousands of elective and non-essential medical services watched their patient practices crumble. That includes Dr. Jason Brooks, a chiropractor based in New Jersey. With urgent care and emergency rooms packed to the rafters and unable to help, Dr. Brooks decided to take action.
“COVID-19 affected not only how we could care for our patients, but also how we could operate the clinic. As a healthcare professional, it was frustrating to want to serve our neighbors and friends, but be limited by legislation. But rather than be angry, we decided to look for ways to help.”
By adding a medical director and medical services to his chiropractic practice, Dr. Brooks was able to meet the needs of his community by pivoting his business into a Multi-Discipline Practice.
“The whole world stopped because of a health issue, but now, more than at any time in our lifetime, health is the world’s number-one goal at this point, and we are in an incredible position to help people.”
Benefit Of The Doubt
Certainly COVID-19 sent businesses scrambling, from implementing work-from-home to keeping employees safe. Nearly a year later, it’s clear to several of our clients that their employees need more support than ever before.
For Ron Yeh, President of Tay Yuh Feng a.k.a East Side Asian Market in Orlando, Florida, that meant establishing a retirement plan for the business so everyone is better protected in the future.
Scott Levine, Founder and CEO of SDB Trucking in New Jersey, not only expanded benefits to include a retirement plan for employees, he purchased an ancillary business related to his strategic business needs to leverage growth in a crowded trucking market.
Quick Thinking
No business owner wants waste in their business, whether it’s dollars, productivity or time. Right now, that’s especially true.
Which made 2020 the perfect time for Don Bahr of A Lot Cleaner in Toms River, NJ to finally make the move to Quickbooks Online (QBO). He was able to use the initial coronavirus shutdown to orchestrate the move, giving his business’s recovery a major leg up by automating tasks so he could do more with less.
Turns out, this QBO switch literally saved his business when Don landed in the hospital with COVID-19. Beyond cash flow benefits, QBO’s cloud-based automation kept payroll, timesheets, accounts receivable, expenses, and reporting all on track while he recovered.
In some markets, we realized that we no longer offered solutions they needed. So we purchased a business to add new product lines that would meet those needs, as well as adding a new list of potential clients to our existing business.
Retooling
By now, many business leaders have recognized that their customers need to make difficult decisions about budgets and which projects they’ll invest in. That was certainly the case for Universal Tools & Manufacturing in Springfield, NJ. Although UTM has met the challenge of custom metal stamping and tool and die making since 1945 — their parts have literally gone to the moon! — COVID-19 forced them to look harder at their scope of work.
“We separated each industry and created an outline of the new challenges they might be facing and the solutions they might be looking for,” says Robin McElwee. “In some markets, we realized that we no longer offered solutions they needed. So we purchased a business to add new product lines that would meet those needs, as well as adding a new list of potential clients to our existing business.”
Making Magic Happen
Within the space of 72 hours, most of the employees at Walt Disney World in Orlando were furloughed. That included husband and wife bakers, Shonnel and Joey Powers.
Yet, with everyone staying at home, the duo noticed that the interest in food and baking was soaring. So they took their love of colorful cakes, confections, and cookies to social media, and Shonoey Cookies was born. Full disclosure: They aren’t a Go Figure client, but their story is inspiring and, well, we love their cupcakes!
At Go Figure, we are proud of the small role we played helping these extraordinary businesses survive and thrive, whether that’s with our accounting expertise or endless appetite for sweets.
