Across the country, enterprises are adapting and changing the way they do business as the economy awakens from a coma.

“The atmosphere was lovely it was so special to reopen last Saturday [May 2] after six weeks, and people came out in droves to support us,” said Karen Robertson, who co-owns the Bay Island Stand Up Paddle Co in Redlands, 32 kilometres south-east of Brisbane.
The paddle board and kayak hire business includes a coffee cart that had also been shut since March 22. “When we reopened, I went through 27 litres of milk in a matter of hours,” Mrs Robertson said. “That had never happened before we ran out of coffee and milk.”
Ready for business: Rod Hill, general manager of Sirromet Wines, with waiter Jason Sinivuori in the Barrel Hall ahead of the federal government’s announcements to changes in Covid-19 restrictions.  Paul Harris
Mrs Robertson and her business partner, Ashley Scott, had deep -cleaned all their rental equipment, including handwashing all the life jackets. They marked out 1.5 metre spacings in the sand and “everyone was on their best behaviour”, Mrs Robertson said.
When she posted that the businesses was resuming only 48 hours ahead of opening, Mrs Robertson scored 4000 hits on Facebook: “That was a nice welcome back.”
On the Sunday morning, all 30 of the company’s kayaks, and most of its 30 paddle boards had been hired. Given they lost both Easter and Anzac Day the business makes about $3000 a day during the headline holidays reopening was a welcome move.
Mr Morrison’s remarks on Friday about the staging of gradual reopenings have seen many more businesses rush to get up and running again.
The Plant Society’s Paddington store in Sydney’s inner east had already reopened on Saturday, May 2, with strict social distancing measures in place, given its small footprint.
“Keeping people apart remains our greatest nervousness,” says Melbourne-based co-founder Jason Chongue. “So for now, we are only open on weekends in Sydney.”
Jason Chongue, left, and his partner in life and business, Nathan Smith, at their just reopened Sydney store.  
A number of bookstores and fashion boutiques are also cranking back to life, further buoyed by the news you can have 10 people at a gathering, while Mr Morrison also flagged the return of “intrastate recreational travel” in the not too distant future.
Fashion company Neuw Denim, which has five stores across Australia and several in New Zealand, shut its Australian operations on March 23 and had already planned to reopen on Saturday, May 9, ahead of Mr Morrison’s press conference.
“Yes, we’re getting ready to open tomorrow, and I’m 99 per cent sure of that, but with COVID anything can happen,” co-founder and co-owner Richard Bell told AFR Weekend.
The denim company employs 55 people in Australia, 50 of whom were stood down after the first wave of restrictions, along with about 30 retail staff. “We had basically all our major suppliers cancelling Q1 orders. It was horrible.”
Emma Boseley gets the Neuw Denim Brunswick Street store ready for trading again after coronavirus restrictions are eased.
 Arsineh Houspian
What he’s most looking forward to is getting staff back to work. “It’s almost more important than any sales potential,” Mr Bell said. “Standing people down is the most heartbreaking experience. Getting people back to work, opening the stores again … it’ll be good for everyone’s morale and self-esteem.”
Just seven customers will be permitted to enter the Melbourne flagship, as well as up to three staff members. It is envisioned that at least every second change room will be closed to allow for physical distancing and easier cleaning.
“We’ve got floor markers to indicate physical distancing, and of course we’ll be keeping staff informed and engaged in this process,” said Mr Bell. “It’s a tricky situation but we feel confident we can manage it.”
“We started the brand during the GFC and we came out of that,” said Bell. “Failure is not an option. We will find a way through this; we will be stronger on the other side.”
At Mount Cotton in Brisbane’s bayside suburbs, Sirromet Wines general manager Rod Hill is champing at the bit to reopen the three restaurants at Sirromet’s renowned winery and function centre.
Although they used to be able to cater for 1500 to 2000 people a day before the coronavirus pandemic, Mr Hill said they were prepared for trade to be far smaller.
“We’re very fortunate we have a lot of outdoor dining space which will be used when we get the chance to reopen,” he said, adding Sirromet would use the advantage of its 200-hectare property and set up 50 different picnic locations for families.
When the lockdown happened in mid-March, the bulk of Sirromet’s 120 staff were stood down. About 80 staff, who have accessed the federal government’s JobKeeper scheme, have returned to prepare for the potential reopening.
While Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged a reopening of restaurants and cafes in stage one of the economic recovery from the coronavirus, the final decision will be up to Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.