Surviving the Pandemic: Michelle Nohotima’s Business Strategies

By: Joshua Finley

The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges for businesses across the globe. With demand fluctuating wildly and supply chains disrupted, companies large and small faced a pivotal moment – adapt or risk shutting down for good.

For Michelle Nohotima, an entrepreneur juggling multiple businesses in the disability services, pet care, and travel sectors, the pandemic proved to be a time of both struggle and opportunity. By embracing flexibility, seeking new growth streams, and maintaining mental resilience, she steered her ventures through the storm.

Rising Demand in Disability Services

Michelle’s disability services company assists disabled clients with daily living, community engagement, respite care, and emergency response. Prior to the pandemic, the business served approximately 150 clients with a lean staff.

“When the pandemic hit, we became a lot busier. Our clients probably doubled in that time,” Michelle recalls. With many family caretakers unable or unwilling to risk exposure to COVID, her company’s services became essential.

Responding quickly, Michelle hired additional staff to meet the surging demand. Fortunately, with many retail stores shuttered, she was able to hire former retail workers looking for a new opportunity. “We actually found a couple of the support workers who were retail people and obviously the retails were all shut down. So, it helped us,” she explains.

Pet Boarding’s Temporary Slowdown

In contrast, Michelle’s pet care businesses faced a sharp decline as travel ground to a halt. “No one was going to doctor’s appointments, or specialist appointments. No one was going anywhere,” she notes. With revenue plunging, she was forced to lean on her other businesses to stay afloat.

Yet the slowdown provided an unexpected upside – the breathing room to master a new enterprise. As Michelle explains, “It gave me time to learn the business and how to run it without too much pressure from a lot of dogs and cats there.”

Rebound and Growth Diversification

As pandemic restrictions eased, Michelle saw demand rebound and even exceed pre-COVID levels. “After the pandemic, of course when all borders were open and everybody could travel, we were smashed,” she says of her pet boarding business.

With demand high but uncertain, Michelle took steps to diversify her growth streams. For pet boarding, she purchased a mobile dog washing service to complement kennel facilities and began selling retail products. This flexibility proved pivotal, as mobile washing enabled continued service for less mobile clients during any future shutdowns.

Preparing for Future Disruptions

With the pandemic fresh in mind, Michelle aims to prepare her businesses for the next major disruption through these key strategies:

Multiple Income Streams – As Michelle notes, “You definitely need multiple revenue streams. You can’t just rely on one.” She suggests even smaller side offerings can help offset any single decline.
Adequate Reserves – “With all my businesses, I make sure I’ve got three months of expenses put away,” she explains. This cash buffer enabled her to weather the initial pandemic months.
Operations Monitoring – By closely tracking her business metrics, Michelle says she can quickly identify any emerging issues and change course as needed.
Marketing Adaptation – Per Michelle, marketing outreach shifted online during the pandemic. Maintaining an awareness of trends allows her to meet customers however makes sense at the moment.
Mental Resilience – As much as financial readiness, Michelle credits her perseverance during the pandemic to her mindset. By focusing on solutions rather than setbacks, she maintained momentum.

Expanding into Property Development

To further gird her businesses against potential shocks, Michelle has recently begun investing in property development. Though new to her, it’s a long-held interest now being put into action.

Michelle sees rental income from properties as a form of insurance should her businesses face another sudden shortfall. At the same time, financial growth can be reinvested to grow her current companies once the next crisis passes.

With the right mindset and contingency measures, Michelle believes businesses can develop the resilience to survive the next unprecedented shock when it inevitably arrives. By following her lead, companies can transform trying times into opportunities for reinvention and growth.

To learn more about Michelle Nohotima, you can visit her LinkedIn profile.