Lifestyle continues to reach out to businesspeople all over South Florida to ask three questions: How did COVID-19 and the shutdown impact your business; how did you position the business for success amid reopening; how will experiencing this unprecedented pandemic change the way you conduct business moving forward? Today, we check in with Arturo Heinsen, owner/manager of Profile by Sanford in Coconut Creek. Editor’s note: This interview was conducted prior to Phase 1 reopening for Broward County.
Backstory: This new Coconut Creek business is a location of the national company, which offers personalized weight-loss programs with health coaching, nutrition plans and fitness activities.
The impact: When COVID-19 hit, the members were concerned and fearful to come into the store. Our onboarding of new members significantly dropped, and we had to change how we did business. We implemented a series of safety measures right at the beginning of the shutdown. All employees are wearing masks. We implemented virtual coaching [via phone and video chat], started curbside pick-up and free delivery of food to members’ homes. We scheduled in-store members’ appointments so that at no time we had more than one in the store. We reconfigured our discovery areas so that when a new member was coming, we would be 6 feet to 8 feet apart. We sanitized the store areas after every member so it would be safe for the next member to come in.
The future: We believe that we are going to have to adapt to how we do business going forward and, as the Boy Scout motto says, “Be prepared.” As we go forward it’s important that we realize, understand and act to the possibility of COVID-19 or any other pandemic that can occur in the future.
We are always looking for ways to improve our members’ experiences since that is key to their success. As we move forward, we will provide options, such as virtual coaching and online food ordering, to ensure that the safety of our members and staff is always a priority. We will ensure in-store members’ appointments are scheduled with enough time to sanitize between appointments and provide a clean environment. Being part of the Sanford Health organization has helped us adapt quickly to this unprecedented pandemic and prepared us for the future.
Giving back: We are new to the community and we stayed in communication with the city of Coconut Creek and the Coral Springs Coconut Creek Regional Chamber of Commerce to ensure that we were available to offer any help we could provide during these overwhelming times.
