Coronavirus: How to 'pivot' a business during COVID-19

Lockdown challenged many businesses, and some are still struggling for survival - but one local company managed to 'pivot' amid the COVID-19 chaos, swapping screen cases for at-home desks.

Fiasco co-owner Joe Bradford spoke to The AM Show on Thursday about his secret for successfully switching up a business when current events demand change.

In the 10 days before lockdown, Fiasco lost 90 percent of its business selling cases for audio-visual equipment. 

"So we pivoted during that time to make screens and desks for a different market so we could be helpful," Bradford said.

"We mostly sell to office workers who are now working from home."

The desks are shipped to customers for their convenience, weigh roughly 20 kilograms and can be set up easily without the need for tools.

After brainstorming products that would prove useful amid a global pandemic - coffins were one idea - the team made a prototype of a desk and got cracking.

"We got focused pretty fast," Bradford said. 

The dramatic switch has proved successful, meeting an international demand as staff shift to working at home. Roughly 1000 desks have been sold across New Zealand, with a few thousand being shipped to the US.

Watch the video above.