5 Lockdown Business Success Stories

The Coronavirus lockdown has presented changes (and also a lot of challenges) to nearly every business around the world. For some, it’s meant having to work from home, others it’s meant changing up their routine, and sadly for some its meant loss of earnings or even loss of a business. But which businesses have benefitted during lockdown and seen growth in their sales? 

We’ve listed 5 different businesses who’ve found success during difficult times and discussed what their next steps might be once lockdown is over.
 

1. Mr Lee's Noodles
   Our first example, Bournemouth-based business Mr Lee’s Noodles, hit their £1.75m investment target less than a week after launching and attracted 220 investors from its customer base during lockdown. 
   
   The company specialises in high protein, gluten free, healthy instant noodles in a pot, which have proven to be extremely popular during lockdown as people search for convenient and healthy meals whilst restaurants and cafés have been shut.
   
   Website sales have also rocketed with an increase in customers shopping online during lockdown – overall, Mr Lee’s is more than surviving the Coronavirus lockdown; it’s thriving!
   
   Now available online and in a range of supermarkets, we’re sure Mr Lee’s Noodles are sure to be a household name.
   
    
2. Reckitt Benckiser 
   You might not have heard of British company Reckitt Benckiser, but you’ll have definitely heard of their brands, Lysol and Dettol, especially during the last few months. Since March, we’ve been scrubbing and cleaning extra hard to make sure any potential germs are wiped clean and our houses, cars and workspaces are safe spaces.
   
   With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that Reckitt Benckiser’s first quarter sales rose by 13.5%!
   
   We’re hoping that’s for cleaning surfaces and not for drinking – as Reckitt Benckiser were also in the press during lockdown warning customers that human consumption of disinfectant is dangerous following a trend sparked by comments from former US President, Donald Trump.
   
   Coronavirus has shown us just how important cleanliness is, both at work, at home and in places of leisure. We don’t see this business’s success dwindling any time soon following this trend.
   
    
3. Zoom
   If you haven’t been to or hosted a Zoom quiz over the past few months, have you even been in lockdown? Along with social distanced socialising, with the vast majority of companies across the globe have had their office teams working from home, which has led to a huge increase in the demand for video call software for meetings. For its March quarter, Zoom profits were up a whopping 353.7% year on year.
   
   But what about after lockdown?
   
   D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst Rishi Jaluria wrote in a note to clients that he believes Zoom has cemented itself as the de-facto standard for video conferencing.
   
   And with many major companies talking about permanent working from home positions long after lockdown is over, Zoom may well continue to rise in the future.
   
    
4. Nintendo
   From first-person shooters to setting up an island full of cute critters, video game sales have been booming for companies like Nintendo, EA and Activision Blizzard during lockdown. 
   
   With more time to spend at home, games are one of the go-to ways people have been keeping themselves entertained. In fact, at one point in lockdown, you could not get your hands on a Nintendo Switch – they were like gold dust!
   
   Nintendo said that its annual profit surged 41% - it’s highest in 9 years – and profit in the first three months of 2020 had tripled compared with the previous three months.
   
   The huge success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is accredited with much of the success Nintendo have seen in spring, with the business selling more than 13 million units of the game in its first six weeks.
   
    
5. instantprint

   At instantprint, we’ve been constantly adapting our offering to suit our customers' needs. As specialists in printing, hygiene and safety signs were a must – but we knew there was more we could do to help our small business customers to open back up safely as restrictions on re-opening eased.
   
   We launched our safety range – including tons of free poster, sign and wall and floor sticker designs that are fully customisable online. We also introduced face shields and visors, as well as floor tape, desk dividers and countertop shields.
   
   But our founders, James and Adam, knew there had to be more we could do. We had an empty warehouse we hadn’t gotten around to moving equipment into yet, which then came to house our clean rooms and mask making facilities, making us the first UK manufacturer of surgical standard face masks.
   
   We proudly launched our sister company, Bluetree Mask Box, as a one-stop shop for businesses looking to buy boxes of type IIR face masks to keep their teams safe. 

   You can check out our full safety range here – and if you have any questions about these products, and how best to use them, click on the orange icon in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen to book a free consultation with a member of our team.
   
   Or if you’re feeling inspired by the businesses that have found success during lockdown and want to give it a go yourself, here are the best business ideas to launch during and after lockdown.