The Netherlands

We meet Sarah-Linda Forrer, a designer of sensual tableware based in Amsterdam. Sarah-Linda discussed how her client base fell away when the pandemic forced restaurants, her core clients, to close. She faced the challenge of having to construct a new business plan to target consumers at home in order to stimulate her business during the pandemic. Sarah-Linda was able to target this new area of the market by investing in online marketing tools, a new webshop and customer research to ensure she was able to keep selling her products throughout the lockdown.

Sandra Schmoldt is the founder of online transformative coaching business Equilido Transformation Support. Sandra spoke about the diverse mental challenges that the lockdown has brought for herself and her clients. She gave advice on how we all can recognise the negative thoughts we are experiencing and push past them to enable us to have more freedom in our mindset. Sandra emphasised how this mental freedom can help business owners and other professionals open new doors of opportunity in their personal and professional lives.

Heather Gates is the founder of PM Rehab, a project management coaching service based in Amsterdam. Heather discussed the challenges she faced in starting PM Rehab in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. She found there was a grat need for her service but struggled to manage the overload of demand for different types of coaching. In order to deal with this overload, Heather focused on her roots in IT and honed her business process and marketing strategy to ensure PM Rehab's strategic aims were consistent.

Heidi Ehlers, the owner of Koffie Piraat, a coffee retailer in The Netherlands, discussed the difficulties she faced as her suppliers began to feel the effects of the pandemic during the lockdown, limiting the products she was able to sell. In order to deal with this, Heidi maintained strong links of communication with suppliers, so that she was able to continue providing coffee to her customers. Koffiee Piraat has continued to grow in this period by not stepping back during the pandemic and continuing to serve its customer base and provide jobs for their employees.

We meet Stephanie Ward, founder of FireFly Coaching, a business and marketing mentoring company for entrepreneurs all around the world. Stephanie talked about the ways in which she has helped her clients overcome the challenges of the pandemic by diversifying their business to obtain multiple revenue streams. She talked about the importance of connecting with clients on a personal level by sending messages of encouragement, supporting their social media presence and even using 'snail mail' to connect!

We meet Emmlielin Rombley, founder of RIMEOY Finance Consulting Agency based in the Netherlands. Emmielin told us how she made the choice to go alone and set up her own business in August of 2020 despite the economic challenges of the pandemic. She has been able to create a strong client base through an emphasis on personal communication and honesty in determining which clients fit best with the style of her consulting agency. Emmielin discussed the challenges of the multi-platform working environment and emphasised how communication is the key to ensuring deadlines are met and efficient working practices are achieved.

Gunar Gijsbrechts is the founder of Scribes, a fiscal law agency based in Amsterdam. Gunar discussed how the pandemic has fortunately not negatively affected the amount of demand he and his firm are receiving for their service, but he and his team have faced difficulties in transferring the quality of their boutique service to an online environment. Although they are still adapting to this new way of working, through perseverance and strong communication Gunar is hopeful that the pandemic will not affect the running of his business. By exploring new avenues for networking online, Gunar is hopeful that Scribes will continue to grow in the coming year.

Marga Berlinski, the founder of TurnOn the Netherlands relationship and intimacy coaching tells us about how she moved her talks, training and lectures online during the pandemic. Marga discussed how her business is expanding after moving to online methods of coaching, as she can reach a wider audience and promote herself on different forums. She talked about the resistance she felt while initially creating her social media presence, and gave valuable insights into how business owners can move past this resistance to harness the marketing power of online platforms. Marga found collaboration and communication to be the most valuable resources available to her during the pandemic, seeking help from other entrepreneurs in the same position as she was, and always remembering that she wasn’t alone. For Marga, the three things she needs help with right now to move forward with her business are exposure, collaboration and personal support.

Yvette Eersel, a trainer and coach at the Intensive Training Academy in the Netherlands, discussed how she diversified her work during the pandemic in order to keep cash-flow coming in to stimulate her core business. She mentioned the challenges she faced in moving her business online, as she had to learn new skills, explore new platforms and market herself digitally. Yvette invested in training to help her overcome these challenges and move her business into the online world. She is now looking to increase her online exposure to reach more people in need of her help all over the world.

Dave van der Aar, the owner and head barista of a mobile espresso catering business in the Netherlands, Coffee on Wheels, talks about how the lockdown affected a company that depends on the events industry. As soon as the lockdown was announced, all orders, events and appointments were cancelled. But there was an advantage in being a small company of two partners, as it was easy to cut costs immediately and take decisions on what to do next. A positive side of the lockdown was the free time that he could spend with the family, which was the original idea behind starting his own business, along with the passion for coffee.

In Amsterdam, where the lockdown has been lifted in June, the business is still slow. Many people were tired of being confined for months. As soon as they had an opportunity they tried to get away from home as far as possible. They booked long vacations in other countries, leaving Amsterdam quiet for the summer. The people who remained in the city still have to keep the distance which takes away the fun from socializing. If you run a catering business for gatherings and events, like the guest of our new episode Lockdown Economy, it makes you seriously wonder about the future of your company. Dave van der Aar is the owner and head barista of Coffee on Wheels, a mobile espresso catering business. I know from experience that inviting him to arrange the coffee at an event really makes it special for the guests.

We meet Shayonti Chatterji, the founder of Urban Medley, a Sustainable Fashion Brand that supports the Indian handicrafts and artisans by bringing it to conscious consumers of the global market. She shares what it was like to have started a business on the eve of the lockdown when neither the launch plan nor the marketing plan was prepared for the pandemic. In times when the suppliers from developing countries stopped being able to ship their products, and many bigger brands refused to pay them, Urban Medley continuously supports its suppliers in India despite the financial strain it adds to the business. Shayonti speaks about the decisions she had to make to adapt, modify and move on; and how the lockdown showed that we were all connected, whether we wanted it or not.

From Shayonti Chatterji, the founder of Urban Medley, we learn how to engage with your customers in a meaningful way, what is happening in the community of sustainable entrepreneurs and how artisans in India are surviving the prolonged pressure of the pandemic.

We meet Claudia Deken, the owner of Plant Based Sushi, the first vegan sushi restaurant in the Netherlands, that opened in January 2020. She shares how confronting it was to close the restaurant because of the lockdown when things were going just picking up and the team was formed. But it motivated them to go into deliveries, which was done overnight. At first through third-party delivery companies, which was very costly and unpredictable. But very shortly they set up their own delivery service that allowed people to pre-order which helped the sales and made the customers feel more in touch with the restaurant team. Everyone in the team was delivering the sushi and it became a great opportunity to be in touch with their customers and bring them a happy moment.

Joep Hegger, the founder of The Vocal Coach, a voice coaching studio for public speaking and singing in Amsterdam and Berlin, shares how he had to quickly adapt his practice to be available online. The physical studio was shut down as soon as the lockdown was announced and the trips to Berlin were out of the question. Singing classes were no longer possible because of the sound delay. Joep continued to do one-on-one online sessions for public speaking. He was surprised to find a new stream of clients looking to learn about vocal health. For many people doing many video calls every day because of lockdown became a real challenge and led them to explore vocal coaching. Right now he is working on a series of free video classes that cover the basics of vocal training.

Massimo Mercuri, the co-founder of Global Think Tank for Sustainable Development AlterContacts.org, uncovers what a think tank actually does and how its experts transformed what they were doing in-person into the online service to keep visibility, keep producing, and keep the momentum. He shares the journey of a one-year-old non-profit from the moment “What do we do now?” to building collaboration with international organizations and universities. He also talks about the importance of a shorter transaction and keeping the long view in mind while taking care of the day-to-day.

We meet Nils Schmeling, the managing partner at NECXT, an international boutique consultancy based in the Netherlands. Before the lockdown, Nils and his team of seasoned experts prepared inspirational tours across the world for corporate leaders to give them “aha” moments or “mind clicks” which are essential to bringing the cultural change into their companies. With the lockdown, it became practically impossible. Just like their clients, they felt a sense of urgency to make the change. Within two weeks there was the first virtual inspiration tour. Nils shares that it helped him that his clients did not want to stand still and wanted to go on with the transformation to remain ahead of the competition.

We meet Tessa van Keeken, the founder of Lift Your Spirit, a holistic transformation coaching practice that started in Ireland and now is based in the Netherlands. At the beginning of the lockdown she had to stop her practice face-to-face. At the same time, clients were not ready to have their treatments online. Tessa tells how when the business stopped, she focused on partnerships to prepare podcasts and new programs. In the meantime, a lot of her clients had such a hard time dealing with the uncertainty of the lockdown, that slowly they joined her online meditations which hosted for free just to help people to get through it.

In this interview with Joost Boers, the owner of Feeling-healthy.net, an international lifestyle marketing business, we find out how the increased consumers' attention to products related to health, and especially to preventive measures, brought Feeling-healthy.net new customers. In turn, Joost and his team were able to provide new business opportunities for entrepreneurs who lost their source of income -- cafe and small shop owners, hairdressers and personal trainers, event organizers. Feeling-healthy.net helped them re-skill and equipped them with the knowledge required to set up their own webshop and start sales from home.

In this interview, Amir Carmel, the co-founder of the Inner Workout where people from all over the world can train their skills of listening and compassion, talks about how he and his partners had to rebuild a brand new business, started in January 2020, from the physical to online space. They used the momentum to gather a community around it and hosted over thirty free sessions internationally, in Hebrew, Dutch and English. An unexpected outcome was that participants volunteered to pay. The end of the lockdown brings a new dilemma: how to add more value to their offer, now that everyone moved online.

Pascal Bouwman, the co-owner of Zinnige Zaken, a Dutch-based sustainability consulting company with twenty years on the market, shares how the lockdown has strengthened the relationships with the customers. Despite the fact that the clients are holding back on starting new projects, the lockdown has become a great opportunity to involve them in creating new ideas and getting an early reality-check. Besides, Zinnige Zaken continues to move ahead and has used this time to digitalize of a lot of its products on sustainability.