Starting a new business is usually hard, but even tougher when Australians are ordered to stay home, not dine out, or have their hair done.
There were raised eyebrows when Dylan Connell told people he was opening a business at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.
The former defence force aircraft electrician had spent 18 months developing the Brekkie Box, a shipping container fitted out to operate as a takeaway cafe in Wodonga in north-east Victoria.
How could he know that his first foray into the hospitality industry would coincide with a widespread economic and social shutdown?
"When the coronavirus pandemic hit that peak point in March, that's when I was basically waiting for the go-ahead from council to start and open," Mr Connell said.
"It was a little bit daunting and it was that feeling of, 'Oh, here we are and it's all about to fall on its head, it's just not going to happen for reasons out of my control'."
Mr Connell was forced to consider how he could adapt the concept to meet the unique challenges of a community in lockdown, including taking customer orders by phone or text ahead of time, offering delivery to local workplaces, and opening the business seven days a week.
"We came up with a number of solutions for that, which have been really good, in that we can incorporate it into the business moving forward anyway," he said.
Tears and fears
Hairdresser Jade Sparks and her business partner, beautician Jessica Snaith, opened their new hair and beauty hub Harlo & Co Salon in Wodonga on April 6, a week after the country went into lockdown.
"Every plan that we made had to be changed at the last minute," Ms Sparks said.
While the hub's five hairdressers were able to operate under strict guidelines, its four beauty professionals could not.
"I've been hairdressing for 20 years, I really didn't think I'd experience something like this," she said.
"Deep down we were really freaking out, just the uncertainty of what's going to happen next — there were lots of tears."
With fewer customers able to be serviced, and no rent coming in from the beauticians who couldn't work, Ms Sparks was working 13-hour days to pay the new business's debts.
When restrictions eased on June 1, Harlo & Co was able to open fully but Ms Sparks feared a second wave of coronavirus cases and how it would impact upon the salon.
"I still can't think quick enough and sometimes you don't know how you're feeling … I still feel like that, I think everyone's going to feel like that for a really, really long time," she said.
Benefits of 'starting up' in a pandemic
Jamie Cunningham from SalesUp business coaching in Beechworth said people who started a business during challenging times such as a global pandemic probably had an 'It's up to us to make this work' attitude.
He said businesses benefitted from this mindset.
"If you have employees, it really builds a culture of resilience if everyone thinks 'There isn't much to stop us'… that can be really powerful," he said.
Mr Cunningham said a challenging situation forced business owners to factor in worst-case scenarios from day one.
"It makes you look hard at your numbers and costs and get really clear on break-even points," he said.
Moving out of a pandemic, Mr Cunningham suggested owners should re-evaluate their business when external stresses died down.
"They should make time to reassess and look at the landscape ahead through a fresh lens rather than the lens they started with," he said.
For all the challenges that came with opening a new venture during the pandemic, Mr Connell said it gave his fledgling business a resilience for the future.
"Be as flexible as you can — that's definitely the biggest thing I've taken out of it."
