THE sudden arrival of coronavirus in Australia and the restrictions that came with it have wrought huge changes on businesses of all stripes, and for many the past few months have been a struggle to survive let alone thrive.

But our Territory businesses are a resilient and creative lot and have gone above and beyond to soldier on through the hard times.

From launching pick-up and delivery services to converting an eatery or pub into something entirely different, here are some of the innovative ways our NT businesses have adapted to the challenges brought on by COVID-19.

RURAL PUB TURNS FROM BEER TO COFFEE – OUT OF A VAN

The rural response to the coronavirus pandemic has seen the Territory at its best, locals supporting their local businesses and some Territory creativity.

Berry Springs Tavern owner Leah Sloan said converting their courtesy bus into a coffee van was a stroke of genius, allowing them to provide a pick-up coffee service to those making the daily commute from Berry Springs and beyond into Darwin.

“We took back seats out of the (courtesy bus) and loaded a full espresso machine in the back,” she said.

“I applied to have that on the verge near Cox Peninsula Rod and Stuart Highway in the mornings between 5.30 and 9am.”

It has proven so popular with locals, that what was meant to be a temporary fix could become a permanent arm to the favourite rural tavern.

“It kept one person employed, that’s all we were looking to do,” Ms Sloan said.

“It has been so popular we’re trying to keep doing it, customers say ‘you can’t take it away now’.”

Berry Springs Tavern started serving takeaway meals via their drive-through bottle shop and used the time to redo their furniture so when restrictions lifted, they would be ready for that first day of trading.

But while restrictions have lifted, several changes are set to remain.

“We’re still running on a different menu, a couple of changes we’ve made we’ll retain,” Ms Sloan said.

“Customers have liked online ordering, we’ll try and keep the coffee van going and the other thing is QR codes – as a patron, you can order meal for yourself from your table with the QR codes.”

Ms Sloan said rural businesses had taken a big hit and would take a long time to fully recover.

REFERRALS HELP JOSH BATTLE ON

Josh Elliott is a sole business operator with two young children aged three and six, his wife is studying to be a nurse and they have a mortgage to pay on one income.

His business EBuild NT specialises in residential and commercial construction and Mr Elliott says surviving the coronavirus has thrown up some serious challenges.

“Coronavirus has definitely hit our household budget with all the monthly costs I have to come up with,” Mr Elliott said.

“As soon as COVID hit and all the restrictions came in my income dropped by 50 per cent.

“I’ve had to adjust the way I do business and find other avenues to get work.

“Thankfully I have been able to get a lot of referrals from people I have done previous work for who have recommended the quality of my work.

“My main work at the moment is coming from people who want work done around the homes now rather than having to wait. This is helping me through this period.”

Mr Elliot’s main worry is what lays ahead post coronavirus.

“I just worry how much worse it is going to get before it gets better,” he said.

LOCKDOWN HELPS RODNEY GROW FLEDGLING DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS

There’s never been a more uncertain time to be a businessman but for Rodney Rock and his new snack distribution business, the lockdowns have helped his business bloom.

Mr Rock said he had lost a few contracts but no actual work since starting the business only recently.

“We’ve been running six months and laying foundations getting ready for the season, one (contract) was Mindil Beach Casino Resort, one with Kakadu Lodge,” he said.

“They all fell over but we didn’t have them to start with, so we didn’t lose anything,” he said.

Mr Rock said he had no regrets about going in to business distributing snacks to convenience stores.

“Supermarkets and bottle shops were the winners and that’s where people have been shopping,” he said.

“We’ve been able to grow quite rapidly with all of this, we’ve already broken the record this month and still have a week to go.

“From what I’ve been told (cafes and restaurants) are running on 10 per cent of what they normally do.

“I wake up every morning and thank god I went into this business and didn’t buy a cafe because it could have been me.”

In six months, Mr Rock has built his customer base to about 45 in the Top End.

BOOKSHOP STARTS A NEW CHAPTER IN CHALLENGING TIMES WITH DELIVERY SERVICE AND PICK-UP STATION

With coronavirus restrictions encouraging Territorians to stay at home, retailers have been looking for ways to move merchandise off their shelves.

For The Bookshop Darwin manager Sean Guy, it has led to a new delivery service and pick-up station for an easy, hygienic sale system.

“We’ve got a pick-up lane people can drive by and collect their books from without having to come into the shop and we’ve been doing deliveries and postage,” he said.

“We’ve had a few people who’ve made use of delivery, some more than once just getting their little care packages … we’ve had a couple worth a couple of hundred bucks, families getting books and games for children usually.

“It’s always nice to see the big ones come through.

“Quite a few used the pick-up zone as well, especially if they had children.”

Mr Guy said helping the community stay clean and healthy had kept them coming back for more.

“We were concerned about staying open while it was all happening but us trying to support the community has really been reflected in the way the community has supported us,” he said.

FLEXIBLE APPROACH PAYS OFF FOR CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN PUB

As one of the busiest pubs in Central Australia, the reopening of Uncles Tavern to the public has been a big factor in restoring a sense of normality in the Alice Springs CBD.

But even before restrictions on pubs were lifted, Uncles Tavern chefs were still working hard behind the scenes to deliver pub grub to keen households around town.

The business was quick to adapt to restrictions by making various menu items available via delivery or pick-up as well as hosting online livestream trivia.

Manager Diana Sams said although the business has been flexible, the easing of restrictions on dine-in eating had been a relief for staff and patrons.

“Everybody was sick of staying at home and eating, they just want to get out and socialise, to see happy faces and laughter out in public,” she said.

“We’ve been patient and it’s fantastic to see people here again.”

ITALIAN RESTAURANT CONVERTS TO POP-UP PASTA FACTORY

With three restaurants owned by Waterfront businessman Darrell Lynch all yet to reopen, the businessman got creative in the kitchen to keep the money flowing.

Mr Lynch converted his Italian restaurant il Lido into a pop-up pasta store, selling fresh meals at the door and via local vendors.

“We’re doing our own pasta manufacturing, so we’ve created a brand called Bella and we’re just at the moment selling that as a retail product at IGA, Parap Fine Foods and other similar stores,” Mr Lynch said. “At il Lido, we’re changing it to Bella Pop-Up and cooking all our own pastas with our Italian chef and staff and selling it at the Waterfront.”

Mr Lynch said the changes had kept five or six employees in a job and given him and head chef Adriano Petrillo a chance to start experimenting with his pasta machine.

Despite his initial success in keeping customers and employees happy, Mr Lynch said it would take time to see if the changes were sustainable.

“I don’t think there’s an answer until we look at it in a month’s time,” he said.

DESPITE SHUTDOWN, FISHING COMPANY REELS IN LOCAL SUPPORT

Yknot Fishing Charters’ owner Charles Vears has pledged to serve locals and hopes he gets the same support in return when he reopens.

Mr Vears, who was forced to close his business in March because of coronavirus, said he was confident local customers would fill his diary and reel in the fish when he reopened.

He said many customers decided to re-book rather than ask for their deposits back when he first closed, adding: “I’m a massive advocate for locals supporting locals, that’s what I want people to think when they think Yknot.

“If you support locals they’ll support you because we’re all in the same boat. We’ve been very fortunate we’ve been able to reschedule a lot of our bookings, a lot of our clients have put the faith in us and they’ll ride the storm with us.”

Coronavirus hasn’t changed the Yknot Fishing Charters business model yet but the downtime has allowed them to improve hygiene on board.

“I’ve taken this time to do a lot of work that needs to be done to the boat to make it better in a lot of ways,” Mr Vears said.

“I personally haven’t changed a thing … we’ve had to go through and do a new game plan management plan, COVID training and are ready to (go).”