Follow up to the series in March-April 2020. How are our entrepreneurs doing 4 months later?
Together with her partner, Suzanne Haeck is in charge of MaximaVida. MaximaVida is a company specialized in garden furniture. Their bestseller is picknicktafel.nl.
How did they handling business in these uncertain times?
We learned a lot from the various scenarios we made at the end of March / beginning of April. We now know even better what our fixed costs are and how our turnover is structured. We are building up more reserves, should there be another lockdown (or another crisis) we want to be able to pay the fixed costs for 2-4 months.
We were very well prepared for the normal seasonal rush and the expected sales increase of 10-15%. Fortunately, our part-timers could not go to school, so they could work extra. We also tried to spread the peaks as much as possible by also working with part of the team on Easter Monday and King’s Day. This allowed us to handle the peak of April.
It was also during the lockdown period that we placed assignments with the companies and self-employed people we normally work with. For example, we have planned photo shoots with our photographers in our own garden, because they saw their schedules empty due to the lockdown. We have now hired a number of new people. B
ecause the turnover remains at a higher level, we can continue to invest in our team towards the future.
Because people travel less, the focus has shifted to home and recreation in their own country and it looks like this will remain the case for a while. Our range fits in perfectly with this!
Demand is particularly high in the field of online marketing and ICT. The shortage on the labor market is easing due to the economic malaise. This also brings good people onto the market.
All in all, 2020 has been a strange but very successful year for us so far. Hopefully we can maintain this positive vibe!
