How These Philly Startups are Faring (or Pivoting) Amid COVID-19

As much of the city of Philadelphia moves work home, closes non-essential businesses and grapples with how the local (and global) economy will be effected by the spread of COVID-19, startup founders are right there feeling the pressure, too.

Technical.ly reached out to founders of companies in the meal service, business ratings and reviews, skills training and health IT industries about the current and future state of their business.

For some, business is picking up in drastic measures, and for others, entire business models simply do not work amid people staying in their homes for the foreseeable future. Others have since pivoted their business model for the time being.

We wanted to know: How is this pandemic affecting your business, how are you making big decisions and how are you planning for the future?

Their answers, received via email, have been edited for length and clarity:

Jared Cannon, CEO of Simply Good Jars, which sells prepackaged salads in office spaces
Initially business volume was down slightly and we noticed different buyer behavior (such as buying five-plus jars at a time). Once Philly and New York City businesses were told to close, our entire fleet of smart fridges were immediately affected and we have suspended service at this time. We’ve suspended typical operations and focused on trying to help feed Philadelphians (since we have the capacity to produce thousands of products a day).

Read the full article here.