Although it cannot be understated, that COVID has resulted in widespread personal tragedies and business hardships, there are stories circulating of businesses that have managed to buck the downward trend.

Very often this is due to being in the right sector to take advantage of growth opportunities opening-up, more often, it is down to careful planning.

For example:

• An online personalised cake company that has seen its sales of cakes by post triple during the last year.
• A wholesaler of greeting cards to the retail sector saw a massive drop in orders as lockdown closures of retail premises started to bite. So, they switched to becoming online retailers – direct sales via internet sales platforms – and doubled their profits during 2020-21.

This effect, of migrating to online sales platforms, is likely to continue as consumers become used to the variety of products on offer and the speed with which they can be sourced from a five minute search on the internet.

It’s an approach that is worth exploring if your customer base is compromised due to COVID restrictions.