054: Positioning PIVOT Like a PRO
Today’s episode is a true story about my business, Wild Bill’s Craft Beverage Co. My current role at the company is Chief Marketing Officer. Wild Bill’s has been in business since 2002. For the longest time, Wild Bill’s was regionally focused in the Northeast, servicing traditional, outdoor fairs and festivals with our western themed soda saloon activation. The concept is super simple: buy a stainless-steel mug, drink unlimited olde fashioned soda pop ALL DAY. We produce WILDY unique flavors like Sarsaparilla, Birch Beer, Root Beer, Vanilla Cream, Orange, Grape, Butterscotch and beyond. My business partner, who’s a Navy Veteran, and I became involved in 2017. It was our mission to use Wild Bill’s as a platform to provide meaningful employment opportunity to America’s Heroes, our Veteran’s, who all too often face serious unemployment and under-employment issues. At the height of our operation, in 2019, we had 50 full time and part time employees, with about half of them being Veterans. FAST FORWARD TO 2020, we were on a run-rate to service 400 events and $10 MM in revenue. Then, COVID happened. Quote: “But in practice master plans fail – because they create totalitarian order, not organic order. They are too rigid; they cannot easily adapt to the natural and unpredictable changes that inevitably arise in the life of a community.” – Christopher Alexander The natural and unpredictable changes that inevitably arise; talk about perfectly summing up the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020. We always had contingency plans in place, but no one in their right mind could have expected a situation like we’re currently experiencing. Small, medium, and especially LARGE gatherings were cancelled nationwide. Our core business at Wild Bill’s came to an abrupt, grinding halt. We were ABSOLUTELY DEVISTATED. We had to figure something out, and figure it out FAST. Pivoting from being an event-based business, to an e-commerce business has NOT been easy. Our expertise was in experiential, not digital. The options we had were clear, GO DARK and hope for the best, or take action, and adapt to the current predicament. We opted for the latter. WildBillsSoda.com #GetYourMugOn @WildBillsSoda https://mRuddo.com #TheMotivationMovement @mRuddo wxf4ichj