Earl Foote And Amelia Wilcox Talk COVID-19 Business Recovery On Tech Beat

Earl Foote And Amelia Wilcox Talk COVID-19 Business Recovery On Tech Beat

Has your company taken a big hit during the pandemic over the past year? Find out how our Zenovate CEO & Founder Amelia Wilco brought her company back from the brink, on this episode of Tech Beat.

If your business was threatened by the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re not alone. The pandemic drastically cut revenue, and for some businesses, also increased expenses in order to facilitate remote work.

In many cases, these factors closed businesses outright — but many others, like Zenovate, essentially went on life support, before being brought back thanks to hard work and careful innovation by their leaders.

Want to know how they did it?

Nexus CEO Earl Foote was joined by Amelia Wilcox on this recent episode of Tech Beat to talk about how she oversaw the recovery of her business over the course of the pandemic:

3 Lessons To Learn From Amelia & Zenovate

Before starting Zenovate, Amelia worked as a massage therapist. She knew she didn’t want to open a conventional spa or work solely in therapy forever — eventually, she had the idea for Zenovate.

Zenovate provides a range of wellness services for companies, from teletherapy and massage to meditation and life coaching. Instead of selling massage therapy and associated services directly to clients, Zenovate works with companies to provide health and wellness support for their employees. It was just as Zenovate began to develop and gain steam as a corporate massage therapy provider, with Amelia and her team investing time and money in its’ future, that the COVID-19 outbreak began.

“COVID came out, and not only was our path no longer viable, but our business died over the course of ten days,” says Amelia. “We had a 98% revenue reduction.”

So how did Zenovate survive? Over the course of the episode, Amelia shared her insights:

1. Take Control Of What You Can: After allowing herself to feel the full effect of the circumstances that had almost completely wiped out her company, Amelia committed herself to the task of making the most of the situation. It’s like that old adage says — have the serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the courage to change the things you can, and wisdom to know the difference.
2. Recognize The Resources Available To You: A challenging situation like the COVID-19 business climate is a great opportunity to see what you have to work with. With virtually no revenue incoming, Amelia had to find other ways to compensate the staff members she didn’t furlough, which also showed her who was even more committed to Zenovate than she would have assumed. Key members of the team took on new responsibilities, showed greater initiative, and worked for equity — all of which encouraged and rewarded their personal investment in the business and its future.
3. Find Your Pivot: Amelia and her team knew they needed to find another way to provide value and generate revenue, all within the limitations imposed by the pandemic. To figure out how, they gathered information from clients and staff members; what was the former looking for, and what could the latter offer? From this info, they developed a list of potential services that fall under the umbrella of health and wellness, but aren’t in-person massage therapy. They proposed services like life coaching, meditation, and yoga, and soon found that, while the economics of these were different, they were ways to continue generating revenue and keep the business afloat.

This past year has taught business owners a lot of different lessons. Key among them is understanding that no matter what happens, the future of your business is in your hands. With the right tenacity, teamwork, and a little luck, a global pandemic won’t necessarily mean the end of your company.