If you’re the owner of a business in the home and garden niche, you may have been hit really hard by the restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of you have been forced to close or are struggling with the question of adapting your home and garden business to COVID-19.
We asked owners of home and garden businesses all around the world what they are doing to adapt their business in a world suffering from the Coronavirus. This is what they had to say:
Mattress Reviews and Sleep Authority Site
My name is Matthew Ross. I am the Co-founder and COO of The Slumber Yard, which is a leading mattress reviews and sleep website. My company employs 12 people.
Luckily, our particular industry hasn’t been affected all that much by the COVID crisis. Surprisingly, online mattress sales have been fairly stable. With that said, our overall traffic has dipped by about 10% most likely due to declining consumer sentiment.
Accordingly, given the uncertainty of the markets right now, we’ve reduced our overall spend (content production, marketing, advertising) in order to not overextend ourselves financially during this delicate time.
We’ve also adapted our workflow processes since everyone is working remotely right now. Even though all of our employees are normally in the office together, our production efficiency actually hasn’t dropped all that much. I think it’s due to the fact that we’ve:
- helped all of our employees set up home offices so they have the necessary resources and space to get work done efficiently.
- implemented new rules, protocols and guidelines for workflow and video conferences.
- provided best practices tips and tricks when working from home.
- purchased gift cards to grocery stores for all employees and provided instructions on how to order online.
Matthew Ross, The Slumber Yard
Quilt Shop
Quitman quilt shop Stitchin’ Heaven is providing resources for making DIY protective face masks at home. Since the shop was forced to temporarily close due to COVID-19 concerns, staff have shifted their focus to making masks for donation to local medical facilities and nursing homes across the country.
After putting out the call on their social media channels, Stitchin’ Heaven’s community of quilters has already produced thousands of masks that have been sourced all across the country.
Deb Luttrell, Stitchin’ Heaven
Lawn Care
Even though our company has a large online presence, we’ve definitely had to adapt thanks to COVID-19.
My name is Dan Bailey, President of WikiLawn, a provider of on-demand lawn care and maintenance that connects people with the best lawn and outdoor services in 2,500 cities across the U.S.
We work with landscapers and lawn care professionals, putting them in touch with verified leads. Because everyone’s staying inside, there’s significantly less business. Many of our best clients have temporarily closed up shop just to keep themselves and their employees safe.
As you can imagine, we’ve had to focus on future efforts. We’re producing (free) content to help our current subscribers manage their yards during this time, including fun DIY projects to take part in with the family. It’s our hope that these will keep us fresh in their mind, then when they need to hire a professional again, they’ll remember where to go.
Additionally, we’re spending most of our resources on finding new leads. By the time the quarantine orders are over, we’ll be into late spring, possibly even early summer. So we’re tweaking marketing campaigns for those markets and holding them back until there’s some word on the procedures going forward.
Dan Bailey, WikiLawn
Blinds and Shades
With COVID-19 changing the way companies conduct their everyday business Stoneside, America’s highest-rated window covering company, has implemented technology to ensure client and employee safety while satisfying in-home shopping experience. Stoneside is committed to quality customer service and is offering free virtual design consultations.
Stoneside virtual consultations are available via the free, easy-to-use video conferencing platform Zoom. This service allows Stoneside to comply with current government policies on coronavirus and makes the safety of customers and employees a top priority.
The company is open for business during this unprecedented period and will return to in-home consultation services when deemed appropriate. For now, Stoneside’s focus is on transferring its luxury shopping experience to the virtual space by implementing new technologies to conduct business in new ways.
We’ve trained all our design consultants on how to conduct virtual design consultations using their computers and the customers’ smartphones. This technology is allowing us to talk to our customers, walk through their homes, help them measure their windows, and create a design plan, all online. We then follow up by sending material swatches so that they can view the materials and fabrics in their home and finalize their selection… Our customers are loving it.
Mickey Fain, Stoneside Blinds and Shades
If you’ve got a home and garden business, we’d love to hear about what you’re doing to adapt to Coronavirus. Leave a comment below!