Friends With Money #9: How this business pivoted to keep its doors open during COVID-19

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How do you pivot from building sets for Ninja Warrior to producing desks for a nation stuck working from home?

More than a third of Aussie businesses have struggled financially since COVID-19 restrictions began last year, with small businesses in particular under pressure just to stay afloat. As our lifestyles and shopping habits have changed, many of these businesses have also found themselves branching into new projects.

In this episode of the Friends With Money podcast, Julia Newbould is joined by Jeremy Fleming, founder and CEO of Stagekings, a company that specialises in designing and building sets for major events. The cancellation of these events due to COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 initially devastated Stage Kings, until Jeremy successfully pivoted the business to keep revenue coming in and keep his team employed. Their new mission: creating the innovative ISOKing range of furniture and accessories.

friends with money podcast small business pivoting

Here, he talks about the art of pivoting in response to COVID-19 and shares some of the valuable lessons he and his team have learned along the way.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3mV0Cbr

Listen on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3fSPI2h

Subscribe on YouTube for closed captions and transcripts: https://bit.ly/42VQFMY

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Julia Newbould was editor-at-large and later managing editor of Money from November 2019 to February 2022. She was previously editor of Financial Planning and Super Review magazines; managing editor at InvestorInfo and at Morningstar Australia. Julia co-authored The Joy of Money, a book on women and personal finance. She holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Sydney where she serves on the alumni council.

Jeremy Fleming is CEO and founder of Stagekings, a company that designs and fabricates sets for theatrical, musical and sporting events as well as runs IsoKing which makes office furniture. He founded Stagekings in 2015, and IsoKing in 2020. Jeremy has a long history in the staging and production industries and is a carpenter by trade.
Comments
Glenn A Baker AM
August 18, 2021 4.49pm

Concise, clear and revealing. It taught me some things I didn't know, even though I was the Australian Editor of Billboard magazine for 22 years.