I’ve had a few genuinely transformational moments in my career; I’d love to say that they were all born out of positivity, inspiration and amazing mentorship. Alas, they weren’t, but they were critical all the same.

Shoppers no longer enter a store with the same expectations and needs. This was the case before the pandemic and has now become an inevitable aspect to be considered in business strategy. Retailers’ presence across different channels is no longer a competitive advantage and this is why deploying an effective omnichannel has become a priority.

Ah, “athletes”. What a broad term. Most only see the athletic prowess displayed on the court, field or track. What’s not typically seen is the attributes that lead an athlete to success and dominance on and off the field. These same principles can and should be implemented by entrepreneurs.

The stark reality of the COVID-19 virus is that it has had a devastating impact on lives, economies, businesses and livelihoods. However I’m keen to try and look at this event, and think about what it has uncovered across the world of business and what this can teach us about the pressures businesses are under, our approaches to dealing with them and how we can learn to be more resilient in the longer term.

I started Taster three years ago last Sunday (28th June), so it feels like an especially good time for a look back at what an incredible adventure the past three years has been, and to explain what inspired me to launch our first delivery-only restaurant brand in Paris, back in 2017.

This week a huge step has been made in the UK as the DfT has updated legislation paving the way for cities to trial for e scooter operators and thus legalising e scooters. The last few years we have been proactively pushing for sound legislation at a city level so that micro-mobility can become a safe and sustainable mode of transport in urban areas. We have seen countries and cities reacting differently, with French cities being very tender focused, whereas Germany and the Nordics are not quite there..yet. We believe in the tender approach and we actively support cities should they decide to opt for this approach. From our side, we have worked diligently to improve the lifespan of our e scooters, going from a few weeks to a minimum of a few years, as well as slimming down our operational costs – allowing us to be able to operate the most efficient fleet in our industry.

Let’s be clear: there’s no going back to ‘business as usual’. However, does this mean UK business needs to be at a standstill?

Excepting historic attempts like the Detroit Electric (1907), or the GM EV-1 (1996), the Electric Vehicle (EV) is basically 10 years old – Nissan’s LEAF and Tesla’s Roadster became available to order in the UK around 2010. By 2030 effectively all cars sold in the UK will be full battery electric. Here’s why:

In April 2018, Fiit was born. After almost 1 year of dreaming, prototyping, fundraising, hiring, office squatting and interviewing hundreds of customers — myself, Dan and Sammi’s dream of making exercise a habit for everybody started to become a reality. With the launch of a minimum viable product (MVP) in the App Store, we could finally test the waters — and see if customers agreed that interactive fitness classes would shape the future of fitness.

There is no playbook on how to deal with a global pandemic combined with a shut-down of the economy. There are, however, guiding principles on how to lead through challenges and change regardless of the cause. These principles don’t change based on the circumstances. They steadily guide you and your team to help you overcome your circumstances.