Hot Business Ideas: How to Make Money Despite the Pandemic

by: Nico Belasco, Thames International Undergraduate Student

On July 7, 2021, Thames International officially kicked off the “Setback to Comeback” webinar series.  The first episode was moderated by Joel Santos, President of Thames International, who was joined by Joshua Aragon, Founder & CEO of Zagana, Nicolo Luccini, Founder and Managing Director of Learn Talk, and Chryso Morales, Executive Chief and Owner of Slow Burn Manila. The episode was titled “Hot Business Ideas: How to Make Money Despite the Pandemic”.

The three budding entrepreneurs went into depth about their journeys in their respective ventures during the pandemic period.  With the lockdown implemented, all of them had to pivot and find ways to adapt to the situation at hand.  

“We had a month to pivot, so we regrouped, reprocessed, and decided to focus on how we will survive. We had to adapt, so we had to be adaptive leaders in a way that we were flexible if something happens. We had to make sure that our company survives and that people around us would benefit as well,” shared Joshua Aragon, whose company was originally a B2B business.  Due to circumstances, he had to navigate through the challenges that came with his then business plan and adapt to one that would benefit better. After some rearranging, he pivoted to a B2C business.  His company, Zagana, is a farm-to-kitchen platform that bridges the gap between food producers and customers.  They now have the capacity to deliver fresh produce in as little as 30 minutes.  

 Joshua went on to mention, “Everytime you fall you have to get up. So you have to work your way up. It doesn’t matter how hard you fall but you have to make sure that you always get back up on your feet and work on your passion. You always need to have a support system, so you need to have mentors in place that will help you reach your goals.”

“We had to make some hard decisions, we cut like 90% of the team and went B2B,” shared Nicolo Luccini, whose company Learn Talk provides software tools to physical tutorial centers all over the world. In addition to this, he runs an effective free tutorial marketplace wherein he gives back to teachers.  The pandemic has brought them a lot of attention to and has also shed light on the problem that he is currently trying to solve: the difficulty of finding good tutors. 

Nicolo shared these lessons he learned during this pandemic, “It’s really about how good your product is. You’ve got to double down on making the absolute world’s best product in whatever you’re in. Make the world’s best platform and the distribution will follow. Also, just because you do not have 100 stores doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.”

Chef Chryso Morales, who runs Slow Burn Manila, went on to stress how being resourceful can help kickstart businesses in more ways than one.  Only using his home kitchen supplies and equipment, he had no idea how far it would take him.  Little did he know that his simple idea would become a hit.

“I thought I had nothing to lose, so why not try,” shared Chef Chryso.  After less than a month of business, his sales skyrocketed and demand grew rapidly.  Despite his inexperience as an entrepreneur, Chryso continued on and implemented his hotel expertise to ensure quality to his customers.  He now has an avid fan base and continues to satisfy the stomachs of Filipinos on a daily basis. 

Upon being asked what the greatest lessons learned during the pandemic was, Chef Chryso shared, “Believe in yourself. I wasn’t really entrepreneur minded before. But when I gave it a shot I was surprised that I could do it pala.” He also added: ““In online business, the number one important thing is the quality because that is how you can win your customers and that is how they will endorse your product to others. Your products must always have a good quality and most importantly you should know the basics of sanitation. Train your partners with the standards.”

The participants appreciated the casual vibe of the discussion which focused on the sharing of success stories in different fields, and they also liked how they were able to also exchange business ideas and contact info with the panelists and their fellow participants in order to help each other out.

Despite the hardships they all went through, these three game-changing entrepreneurs have proven that success can be found as long as you are able to adapt and pivot.  With the right systems and business plans in motion, there is no limit to how far you can take your business.  You simply have to start. 

Join us for our third and final episode, E-Commerce Tool Kit: How To Grow Your Business Online on July 21, 10am-12nn. Register at bit.ly/Thames0721. 

Thames International is committed to building a new order for the world by giving talented students and entrepreneurs the tools to thrive and lead the way in a world beset by rapid change. If you’re interested in augmenting your skills and making connections with some of the brightest minds in business education today, please take a look at our future-proof undergraduate and postgraduate programs.