Highlights
- Prior to the pandemic, Regina and her husband James were doing research and development on packed products.
- Regina shares that a business should have multiple income streams in order to survive unforeseeable events in the future.
- Steady finances and a focus on what the customer needed during the pandemic helped her business stay afloat.
"Because COVID happened, we have to restart and have a different mind set. You give your 110%. You never give up."
While food entrepreneur Regina Meehan admits that the pandemic altered the way they do business and shifted their plans for the future, they're certainly still one of the lucky ones.
Regina admits that luck had a lot to do with their business staying afloat. Aside from deciding to let go of their stall in the Queen Victoria market in the Melbourne CBD, they were in the midst of doing research and development even before COVID hit the country.
"All we had to do was accelerate the release of our [packed] products. They weren't supposed to be released until end of 2021, but the pandemic hastened the process."
Aside from hastening the release of products, Regina admits that having multiple streams of income helped them survive.
"Our products weren't supposed to be released until end of 2021, but the pandemic hastened the process." Source: Hoy Pinoy Facebook page
"In business, you have to be proactive to ensure you have multiple income streams moving forward. Doing product delivery is just a small chunk of what we do."
"We do events. We also do those events in New Zealand and import charcoal from there and because New Zealand wasn't as affected by COVID as Australia, our business continued there [while we had to shut down temporarily here]."
With multiple streams of income and luck on their side, Regina shares that the pandemic taught them valuable lessons for the future - whether or not another catastrophe or calamity hits.
"Because New Zealand wasn't as affected by COVID as Australia, our business continued there [while we had to shut down temporarily here]." Source: Regina and James Meehan
"One is to remain customer-focused. We looked at what customers needed during the pandemic and what they would need post-COVID."
"Financial reliance is also important. Make sure you have strong cash flow because there's no point in putting a small amount of money on, let's say new equipment or new products, if you can't do what needs to be done."
"Also, don't be afraid of change. You need to adjust. Your customer might not need what you're selling now; so moving forward, you have to change course. Ask yourself: What does everybody need right now?"
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