Speaking to presenter Jo Caruana on Episode 10 of The Boardroom, which airied today on WhosWho.mt’s Facebook page, Owner and Aesthetic Physician of People&Skin Dr Joanna Delia revealed how she’s made the most out of the COVID-19 imposed lockdown, and what business has been like since re-opening last week.

“A lot of people told me, ‘thank God for the mask’, because it covered all the things they planned to do but never did,” jokes Dr Delia, speaking one week after the re-opening of her clinic in Sliema. “Last Monday, we bought a week’s supply of something you inject,” she says playfully, “and by Tuesday night it was finished, so I think that explains it all!”  

On a serious note, the physician admits that the measures taken by the company to safeguard clients and employees are not altogether new ones for the People&Skin team. 

“The truth is, with us doctors, most of the measures that are recommended, we already do, although we have put in some protocols and changed some things around in the reception area,” she reveals. “We’re also getting used to working with face shields and masks, but otherwise we’ve mainly stepped up our levels of sterility, but it was not that difficult. It was very exciting getting back and making people happy again.”

Looking back on the closure of the clinic back in March, Dr Delia describes it as difficult at first, but is not one to rest on her laurels. “In the first month, I was pretty sad – I’m a big extrovert, and I really felt the lack of people’s energies. We had some team additions towards the beginning of the year, and we were all very excited to see everyone gain traction and increase their reputation and portfolio – and that slowed down a bit,” she maintains.

But the imposed lockdown also came with a silver lining, in the form of a “secret” project: “It had been shelved for a number of years – I had just been dreaming about it and cooking it up in my head. So I actually had the time to sit down, build a website, get the designer’s juices flowing on the marketing materials, and even registered the trademark and the patent,” she teases, not revealing much.  

“This time reminded me how important it is to diversify business-wise – when I broke my hand a little while ago, I felt completely hopeless – I love what I do, and it’s also my income – so this project came about and its super exciting,” she says, admitting that while there’s still a lot to do, feedback from samples has been positive, and she hopes to reveal it properly later in the year. 

Speaking about COVID’s effects on the business’ bottom line, Dr Delia maintains that her biggest question mark will be whether new clients will take the plunge to visit, citing less spending power and fear of the unknown as possible obstacles. “Other than that, we have a big backlog and are seeing most of our return clients, apart from those who are vulnerable and a number of our expat clients who chose to spend the lockdown in their home country.”

Asserting that business will certainly be affected, Dr Joanna feels that the extent remains unknown, but it should balance out. “I think that for tourism and entertainment, it will take a long time for things to get back to normal, and a lot of us make a direct or indirect income from those industries, so there will be a percentage decrease. We are also personally spending less – travelling less, eating out less – so we have to see it as a balance, you can’t compare your turnover to previous years – as long as we are healthy and comfortable, a small dip is very acceptable,” she maintains.

Finally, speaking of her biggest take-aways from the experience, Dr Delia cites stronger bonds with staff and dedicating time to develop new ideas.  

“The thing which worried me most in the beginning was keeping my staff,” she says, referencing the fact that several businesses have had to let go of staff to keep afloat. “I think we now need to think of ways to make staff more valuable, and diversify staff’s portfolio and skills, so if you do have a period, for some reason or another – an economic downturn or something as surprising as this pandemic – you can not only utilise them, but they can gain from the experience too.” 

Apart from that, the time she has had to dedicate to her ‘shelved’ project is certainly a plus. “Sometimes we all have to stop and think, because I’m sure we all have so many ideas that we don’t have time to materialise. I love the idea of sabbaticals, for example – the idea of taking some time off, re-evaluating and trying new things. The creativity that comes after a period of letting go is phenomenal, so I think businesses should really think about developing stronger bonds with staff and taking the time to develop new things, because you can’t just keep turning on the same wheel forever.”