The year 2020 rolled in and the world quickly changed. What many business owners would have referred to as “business as usual” quickly became a phrase of the past. Words such as social distancing, lockdowns and COVID-19 became the new normal.
The effects of the pandemic could be felt all over the globe – every country, every industry and every business owner was forced to jump into a hyper transition mode, as they responsibly instituted preventative measures to keep themselves, their employees and their customers safe, while at the same time thinking of creative and innovative ways of continuing to operate their business as they waited out the economic storm.
The Tea Industry Was No Exception to These Sudden Changes
Many distributors faced a sudden decrease in business, as retailers struggled to find ways of bringing in sales, while battling disruptions throughout their supply chain and lockdowns that prevented them from opening their shops.
Fast forward to 2021, many countries have begun to tame the spread of the virus and – with vaccines now being distributed around the world – it appears that we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Today, many individuals in the tea industry are asking the golden question:
How Do I Find Post-Pandemic Success with My Tea Business?
In this article, I’ll offer three ideas and perspectives for you to consider, in hopes that it will inspire you to pick yourself up and get back in the race. But remember: It’s not over, we have just begun!
1. Motivate Self and Motivate Staff
Although many tea businesses did experience a heavy hit to their sales, this was not the case for everyone. I’ve had several conversations with tea companies over the last few months (distributers, suppliers and retailers) and eight out of 10 owners have expressed a surprising surge in business over the past year.
The sudden spike seems to be on account of many consumers now taking an interest in tea and what it has to offer, alongside many people using their extra time at home to launch the online tea business they have always dreamed of.
This is a great testament to a quote my dad once shared with me at the beginning of my own tea business venture, one of which I continue to live by today. My dad said, “Our setbacks in life are designed to propel us farther ahead,” and he demonstrated this wise quote with a stone and a slingshot that he made from some small branches from a tree outside our house.
When he placed the stone in the sling and barely pulled it back, he explained that the absence of setbacks and challenges don’t really offer us any momentum or experience to move us forward; it’s just smooth sailing until one day… it’s not. He released the stone and, as expected, it fell right at his feet. Then he asked, “What if we go through a fair amount of setbacks? Financial crisis? Health risk? Business challenges? Adversity?” Global Pandemic? (I added that one in to drive home the point).
For every setback he mentioned, he pulled the stone back in the sling more and more until the elastic sling was fully extended. Then he let it go and the stone went flying!
He then explained, that if we simply changed our mind about setbacks, they would in turn launch us farther ahead. It is this kind of positive outlook that will be very necessary for tea business owners to cultivate; first within themselves and then for their staff and community, to be successful post-pandemic. Before the pandemic, motivation may have been something you simply looked for when you needed it, after the pandemic motivation needs to be a consistent element of growing your business everyday.
Here are a few ways that you may consider implementing motivation into your tea business: Start a blog that highlights things that inspire and motivate you and share it with your customers and tea community. Watch motivational videos/movies with your staff and try to extract similarities or lessons you can implement in your business (I’ve personally done this with my employees, and it is such a positive experience). Share a motivational word of the day or theme for the month; pair it with a tea and use this as a social media marketing strategy. These are simple ways to motivate others while also building awareness for your business/ brand.
2. Health Is the New Wealth
If you’re an avid tea drinker, then you have already been enjoying the wonderful health benefits that drinking tea has to offer. However, these wonderful health benefits have only just begun to surface amongst consumers since the beginning of the pandemic. Articles about “Boosting Your Immune System” started popping up, and the letters EGCG were instantly demystified as consumers began learning about tea’s prized polyphenols and catechins. So yes, health is the new wealth as the popular interest in healthy beverages creates an amazing opportunity for every tea business.
So you may be wondering, is it a good idea to ride the healthy tea wave, even if my company was not branded that way before the pandemic? Absolutely! Now I’m not suggesting you completely rebrand your tea business to appear like a medicinal herbal company, but there is a huge advantage to highlighting teas that can keep your customers healthy and feeling great. A few ways to implement health-focused teas could be: Simply offering a featured wellness collection, creating one signature wellness blend that focuses on boosting immunity, or even finding ways to share health related content with your customers in the form of newsletters, blogs, vlogs and virtual events. We can all benefit by ceasing the opportunity of showing off tea’s health benefits while it remains in the spotlight. Better yet, let’s all help keep it there!
3. Corporate Partnerships
One emerging trend that I’ve personally observed over the last year is how an influx of large corporations have now made it their mandate to show their support for small businesses and smaller companies within their community. It’s not that large corporation haven’t gone through their own financial woes and setbacks over the last year, but with these realities before them, it appears to have caused many companies to consider the effects on the small business sector as they begin to explore various ways in which they can help soften the blows that COVID-19 has delivered to small business owners.
Here are some of the ways corporate companies are partnering with small businesses and the opportunities this may present for you.
Virtual Experiences – Within three months of the pandemic, I had developed a virtual tea testing experience for my business and began offering this to corporate companies for their virtual events, client appreciation events, team meetings and even wellness days. This service took off immediately, bringing in a surge of new customers and an increase of sales – and, in a way, acted as a form of product marketing in which I was actually being paid to have customers try my products and learn about their benefits directly from me. A win-win situation on all fronts!
Staff Incentives – Employers understand how important the well being of their employees are, probably more now than ever. Because of this, employers are constantly looking for cool ways of promoting a healthy workplace (even remotely). Considering offering an employee discount or code to companies in which they can pass on to their staff, to use towards purchasing your tea products. It’s an incentive offering for them and new sales and customers for you. That’s another “steep” in the right direction!
Customized Products – Many tea-preneurs have put their sales hat on and approach corporate companies with the idea of a customized product. Businesses are far more inclined now to entertain the idea of trading the old staff room teas that never get used for a niche, quality product that is ethically sourced, organic or boasts other unique features that give it an edge. Especially if they can have their company name on it. Get creative, get bold and come up with tailored blends that will be impossible for any company to refuse!
I hope these three ideas at the very least kickstart the propellers on your thinking cap and motivate you. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired to come up with creative ways to build a community of tea students around your business, in which you can educate and share the good news about tea. Hopefully you’ll be able to find like-minded companies that can help give your business a sales boost. And, overall, I hope you stay optimistic and remind yourself everyday of that spark you once felt at the idea of starting a business in tea. Good luck and happy sipping!
Daniel Lewis is an award-winning entrepreneur, author and public speaker. His people-focused outlook on entrepreneurship and his experiential business tactics have garnered him and his business nationwide recognition and many awards and honors. Some of his credits include being invited to the ESPY awards in Hollywood to serve tea to celebrities, in addition to serving tea to Prince Charles – The Prince of Wales. Lewis is also a branding strategist, influencer and Certified Tea Master that offers tea tastings for corporate experiences, work celebrations and customer incentives, among other gatherings. Some of his past clients include ADP Financial, Deloitte, Edward Jones Financial, The Wynford Group and The MS Society of Canada. To learn more, visit IamDaniel.ca.