Viktor Calabro, Founder of Coople, About the Impact of the Coronavirus

18.03.2020 16:19, Guillaume Tinsel

As the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic spreads, in Switzerland and elsewhere, remote work is now getting a norm. More than ever, there is a growing need to inform, connect and debate about best decisions to be taken. To continue supporting founders and entrepreneurs in this challenging period, Venturelab launches a "Corona Survival Startup Interview Series" and online webinars to enable exchanges and inspire new alternatives.

The first Interview portraits Viktor Calabro, founder of Coople, operating the largest on-demand staffing platform in the world, for the efficient management of short notice and short-term work assignments. Back in 2012, Coople participated in the Venture Leaders roadshow and made it several times to the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award, from 2012 till 2014. Viktor Calabro is now a regular trainer for the Innosuisse Start-up Training where he is sharing his lessons learned. 

What is the impact of the coronavirus on your business?
We are even busier than usual. The advantage of a "multidisciplinary" platform such as ours is that our flexible staff can easily change jobs when there is a decline in demand in a particular sector. The coronavirus obviously has a very negative effect on our hospitality and events business. We saw cancellations of nearly 100% of the events jobs that had been scheduled on our platform for the 2 weeks following the ban of large events. However, following the lockdown, we have seen an increase in demand for flexible staff in the retail and logistics sectors that more than outweighs these previous cancellations. For example, supermarkets are critical to the supply of food, medicines and other essential goods. They are facing an unprecedented level of demand and rely on flexible workers to cope. We expect that this crisis will keep us busy with demand shifting between sectors and businesses struggling, requiring us to react fast to support our clients and flexible workers. 

What measures have you taken to make your startup survive?
Like many companies in Switzerland, we have applied for reduced working hours to be able to react if and when we have less business. We obviously continue to be reachable for all our clients and Cooplers as usual. To achieve that, we created contingency plans to ensure that we can support our clients and flexible staff at all times. To do our bit and reduce the further spread of this virus, we have communicated very clear guidelines to our flexible workers about when they can or cannot go to work. And we suspended all non-essential business travel, including commutes. Lastly, we are busy preparing for the time when the business comes back. We expect that a lot of flexible staff will be needed as businesses and people go back to normal.

What is your advice for your other startup entrepreneurs?
Focus on your opportunities, both for business and also for helping in the current situation. And be prepared for the recovery phase. The question we have been asking ourselves is: How do we ensure that we are well prepared for the moment when conditions improve again?

Do you want to know how to best prepare for the upcoming year, and manage the impact of coronavirus? Register now to our webinars to take the opportunity to learn from experts and other entrepreneurs.