Popup Business School looking to guide entrepreneurs through crisis
An events company is looking to help entrepreneurs get through the current crisis despite having its own business model decimated.
Popup Business School said it was offering support through a series of Facebook Live events broadcast to thousands of business owners struggling with the impact of coronavirus. It has also launched an online business survival guide.
Simon Paine, chief executive of Popup Business School, said his firm had been hit hard last month with a slew of cancellations, six-figure losses and no clear way to make money for months. His company makes money through sponsorships of its free, live training courses for business owners.
“We’re an events business and we were facing multiple cancellations, lost over £150,000 and, to top it all off, my business partner was quarantined in New Orleans,” said Paine.
“We had a major event planned with Google in New York, which has been postponed. We also had a clutch of
Uk-based events, which have now been pushed back. Popup’s co-founder, Alan Donegan, was in the US preparing for these events and others, but now he’s on lockdown – it’s been a tough month.”
On 19 March the firm launched the first in a series of Facebook events. Its founders described how they were fighting back and had overcome adversity previously.
Since the launch event, Popup, which was founded in 2011, has been holding more online discussions and has created an online hub to help entrepreneurs through the crisis.
“We are all in the woods, but we are going to find a way out and lead people out with us,” added Paine. We’ve helped many businesses start up and grow and we are going to continue to help them.”