COVID-19 pushed Canada into the first recession since the mass adoption of smartphones. Entering 2020, Canada had more than 500,000 businesses that were predominantly analog. The crisis has served as a catalyst for small businesses including traditional businesses to pivot to digital as they closed their doors due to COVID-19. Businesses that will emerge from this crisis stronger, are the ones that changed their strategies through the crisis to reach customers in new ways. In this episode, John Stackhouse is joined by Lori Darlington, VP, Small Business & Strategic Partnerships at RBC and together they examine a series of case studies on small businesses who have pivoted to new strategies to grow through the pandemic. In this episode we discuss:

• How small businesses can scale coming out of the crisis
• How have they used digital to improve the customer experience and reach new customers?
• What do small businesses need to thrive beyond the pandemic, in terms of capital, support, public policy and consumer behaviour?