What a bad timing!

COVID-19 shook our personal lives and the start our new company called Hubu. Indeed, led by my son Gabriel and supported by my daughter Claudelle, we lifted sails for a long journey. We knew the journey would be challenging and that there would be obstacles, but not this rapidly.

We almost lost 100% of our team building events and retreat contracts. The sales for our games dropped to zero.

COVID-19 got us thinking

When you are forced to stop, you can freeze, run away or face the situation. The trap to avoid here is to fall into analysis-paralysis (trying to understand everything). Instead, it’s important to keep moving in the right direction and make simple, quick decisions on a daily basis.

Monday, March 16th, we had to temporarily lay off Claudelle (my daughter who left another job to join us). A decision that brought tears to my eyes, but necessary considering the limited assets of a start-up business.

We are trying to use the current situation as a real opportunity

And here's how :

1. We compiled all the feedback received from past clients to completely review our website (site that was only a few months old). The new bilingual version is now online; thanks to Gabriel’s efforts.

2. We now have a new partner who is working with us to create new games. Our goal was to create 10 new games in 2020, and it looks like we could double that.

3. Our games were designed to be delivered in physical version only. We are now developing some that will be sold in digital version at a lower cost and that could help your team after this crisis.

4. Every day, we look at the situation. We set simple and achievable goals that give us a real sense of progress.

5. At the same time, this is an opportunity to start from a blank canvas, slow down a bit and make sure we are going in the right direction.

Encouraging signs

Yes, because there are always! Since Hubu was created, we have not received one (1) NO. In a few months, we had committed ourselves in several important team building events and retreats.

We have a brand that makes noise!

On the site Behance, since January 17th 2020, our brand has been amongst the most popular brands on the planet in the world of visual and graphic design. To this day, there have been over 50,000 views, 6,209 likes et 225 overly positive comments about Hubu’s branding. Yes, more than 225 branding professionals took the time to comment our brand. A special thanks to our designers Sam Scofy et Saul Osuna.

In conclusion, I would say that we are all experiencing bad timing! No matter what field you are in, we need to be agile. Each day sets up a different challenge. The most important thing is to stay connected with your employees, your colleagues, your leaders by creating spaces to express and listen in a different way.

Hubu : Because We Are.