For Fionna Blackburne, owner of the award-winning Southeast Auto Mechanical in Beenleigh, south of Brisbane, navigating the coronavirus pandemic has been a tough experience.

“It was very scary in the beginning and I am so thankful we were able to be open, but we absolutely had a decline in work,” she said. “The uncertainty has been terrible. It has been up and down with some days being very busy and some very quiet and unfortunately I did have to let someone go, which was very, very hard to do.”

While there have been some very rough days, the lockdown period enabled Fionna to analyse how her business could make changes to adapt and make it through while also delivering a safe environment for staff and customers.

“We made lots of little changes, simple things, to save costs,” she said. “From how often we empty our big bins to the set-up of our phone lines, this situation has really us made us look at every little thing. And that is not such a bad thing.

“People are getting more comfortable with going out now, but some customers do stand right back and wear masks and so on,” she added. “So, we have sanitiser at the desk, we are cleaning with hospital-grade wipes and solutions, all customer vehicles are sanitised, and the boys wear gloves before and after jobs.

“Interacting with other businesses and suppliers has changed too,” said Fionna. “Some of them have had fewer staff which has meant, for example, that we might have to go and get the parts rather than wait for them to be delivered. We’ve used the Uber delivery service, sent our apprentice off to pick up things – you just cope and look for the most economical way to get what you need.

“It is also worth remembering that a business is not just about dealing with and servicing our customers – we are actually the customers of other businesses too and so what affects them has a flow on effect on us.”

With the nation moving out of the lockdown stage of the pandemic, Fionna said she could now say that the response of the federal and state governments, as well as the services provided by MTA Queensland, had been a positive for her as she worked to keep the business going.

“It is a fair to say that we feel that the governments have done quite well,” she said. “This is an unprecedented situation and I think they have done the best they can, and I am happy with the way things have gone.

“The COVID-19 briefings from MTA Queensland have been very useful too,” she added. “They have kept us up to date with what is happening and saved us from having to look around for the information that we need.

“And I do have confidence in where things are heading now. I have some reservations and am a little nervous about a second outbreak, but the pandemic has changed the way we do business in some areas and that could well be for the better. So there is, I think, a silver lining.”

Source: Motor Trader E-magazine (June 2020)

20 May 2020