The Academic - Turning lockdown into an opportunity The Business of People

An impromptu sit down with Dr. Denise Toussaint, a self-proclaimed recovered academic that started her own business in 2019. In this episode, we reflect on the aftermath of business in a Covid-19 world.   Her business, StadtGold pre lockdown, was a thriving Airbnb operation with 20 clients/properties in the Western Cape. The journey of this startup is a familiar tale of figuring out contracts with clients, employing staff and dealing with that niggly thing called cash-flow. By December 2019 her business was rocking, so much so that she took on additional premises to further streamline the operational side of the business, like laundry.   Then came lock-down and everything stopped. Tourists were leaving Cape Town in their thousands and the government closed the borders. And then the reality sets in, zero income.  Perhaps its her academic background that stepped in at this point, but instead of climbing into a dark hole and hiding, she grabbed this forced period of reflection to start again.   We talk about how a potentially devastating period of lock-down actually provided the perfect opportunity for a reset. This time, from a place of strength and resilience.