Tempe Scooter Business Makes a Phat Pivot During Covid
It’s no secret that COVID-19 has changed the way people are approaching their businesses. For Phat Scooters of Tempe, the pandemic has created an opportunity to pivot from their original plans and find success during a time of economic crisis.
“Phat has absolutely thrived in the past three months. We are close to 20 months ahead of schedule on our financial performance and have seen a 400 percent increase in growth. We have hired so many new faces I feel like I don’t know a fraction of them!”
Phat Scooters sizzle reel — a must see!
Who is Phat Scooters?
Phat Scooters was founded in June of 2017 by friends Peter Johnson, Beau Ralphs and Dan Hankins. They wanted to find a better way to get between their neighborhoods than walking or biking; things that no one wants to do in the Arizona summer heat! After they couldn’t find a suitable solution to purchase, they decided to develop their own electric scooter. In the three years they have been in business, Phat Scooters has expanded their product lineup to six different kinds of totally customizable scooters and have been featured by ESPN.
Pivot: Owning Their Brand, Marketing Their Story
Before COVID-19 hit, Phat Scooters had been working on a 5, 10, 20 disaster plan. This plan focused on a 5 percent reduction of cost by the end of the first week of implementation, a 10 percent reduction by the end of the first month and a 20 percent reduction by the end of the first quarter. When the pandemic hit in earnest, the Phat team pulled out the 20 percent plan and reinvested those savings into their marketing plan. “We had a plan, a detailed outline of how we would respond to whatever catastrophe hit us or the world,” said Mains. “Fortunately, that plan allowed us to pivot hard and we capitalized.”
Not only was their planning important in how they could pivot, but their creativity also boosted them. “We realized that Hollywood wasn’t going to have any new content this fall [due to COVID] - so we produced a sizzle reel and got 3 offers for a reality TV show featuring Phat's entrepreneurial Arizona story.” The show has since been green lighted and production started on June 29th. The show will be a great opportunity to broaden the audience not only for Phat Scooters but for other local Arizona businesses that will be featured in the show through product placements.
How Phat Keeps It Local
In the sizzle reel, you got to see them give the Arizona Cardinals 12 customized scooters for their offense line. Phat Scooters has also begun focusing on keeping their own company local and helping other local businesses along the way. “We have started moving all production of Phat Scooters to North America and I am proud to say this fall we will design, engineer, assemble and hopefully manufacture the majority of our product in Arizona,” said Mains. Phat Scooters also hired a local crew to help film their new TV show and there are plans to feature other local businesses. They also intend to show off the diverse environments Arizona has to offer.
Phat Scooters has supported other local businesses through a donation of several of their “Phleet” Scooters" to those that have started delivery services during the pandemic. A lot of local restaurants can’t afford to use third party delivery services because of the huge percentage of profit they lose with required service fees, but Phat Scooters is helping mom and pop businesses deliver hot meals all across the city with their scooters. There are many benefits to using an all-electric scooter: no need for gas or insurance, increased delivery times by eliminating parking issues and minimizing traffic delays.
COVID-19 has forever changed the landscape for small businesses, but it has also presented an opportunity for business owners to take a second look at how they run their business and ponder if they can build back better. Through their planning and creativity, Phat Scooters has found a way to make an unfortunate situation work for their company. And, in true Arizona fashion, have found ways to share the fruits of that success with those around them.