As most pubs and nightclubs grappled with the reality of having to shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged operators to “rethink” their business model and “adapt to what is not a usual set of circumstances”.
Highlights
- Following the coronavirus-imposed closure of social gathering venues, businesses have been urged to find novel sustainable ways to fit in the current altered economy
- Within the last two weeks, Greek Australian Martha Tsamis went from running two nightclub venues in Melbourne to distributing personal hygiene and medical-related goods
- Ms Tsamis says the initiative is based on a ‘care working model’, keeping staff on the payroll, helping those living in isolation access needed products and connecting vulnerable community members with local medical services
Melbourne nightclub owner Martha Tsamis was quick to heed the advice, repurposing her business from running two venues in the Victoria capital to providing a sourcing and delivery service for high-demand protective equipment and hygiene products, like gloves and hand sanitisers.
The move allowed her to retain her staff, including six managers, with the team operating the service from a warehouse site.
“We thought we’ll make a financial commitment to keep our staff and rebranding ourselves down a different path," Ms Tsamis told SBS Greek.
“It is basically the same company that's working and paying the staff but instead of buying alcohol and selling, it is now buying and distributing medical supplies.”
Ms Martha Tsamis Source: Supplied
Currently, their top-selling products are alcohol-based hand rubs, facemasks and gloves.
Finding a new market
When the operations at her two venues were suspended, Ms Tsamis says she came across an opportunity amidst trialing a new service and devoting time to care for her loved ones.
“We wanted to make sure our parents and people close to us have all the right tools to maintain hygiene,” she says. Ms Tsamis and her team managed to identify suppliers of things like hand sanitisers, masks and gloves though their networks.
They became aware of the high market demand for these products while experimenting with alcohol delivery business in the wake of suspending operations of nightclubs.
“When we shut down, we applied for a license to deliver alcohol. We were allowed to deliver up to two bottles of wine or two six-packs of beer. Once we got that licence, we thought we can do the alcohol deliveries and we should do the [hand] sanitiser also. But that became huge, people weren’t ringing for the alcohol, they were ringing for the sanitiser.”
Things moved quickly, with the team researching the supply chain in the personal hygiene and protective equipment industry, packing deliveries in the warehouse and dispensing a range of products from thermometers to face masks and even gowns for pharmacists.
Shelves empty of hand sanitiser in a supermarket Source: PETER PARKS/AFP via Getty Images
The clientele has grown from a word-of-mouth cohort to corporate enterprises and businesses including construction, childcare and pharmacies, with the delivery area being expanded outside Melbourne to rural Victoria and even interstate.
Their next steps are rehiring staff who were stood down initially, for car and bike deliveries, and possibly venturing into the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) market to be able to supply on bigger scale surgical masks and other approved protective equipment to healthcare workers.
‘Still connecting people’
A second-generation Greek Australian, Ms Tsamis knows first-hand the challenges facing some people while they adapt to the COVID-19 restrictions, especially in migrant communities.
“A lot of people live on their own and we actually get to hear all their stories.”
Apart from delivering the products to their customers, the team is also linking vulnerable community members to appropriate services.
“We’re giving them the number [to the healthcare service] because there are people who don’t know what to do (if they are concerned about coronavirus)."
Ms Tsamis says the new business model bears some resemblance to running the nightclub venues.
“Before we were connecting people socially… now we’re actually providing them with things of survival and we’ve been praised all the time as people can’t find these things. They can’t go out and they get frustrated.
“We’re a country where I believe we could get through this a lot quicker if we self-isolate and we’re sensible. So people just need the right information and they need to have people that are there for them that care for them.
"And I think what we’re doing has a caring part, making sure that others are OK too”.
