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A post shared by Bea Soriano Dee (@beibeidee) on May 6, 2020 at 8:35pm PDT

MANILA -- Bea Soriano Dee reminded her fellow entrepreneurs to not be "paralyzed by perfection" in finding ways to adapt to the "new normal" caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dee, co-founder of the homegrown eyewear brand Sunnies, was one of the speakers in a webinar organized by the Philippine Franchise Association on Thursday.

In the discussion streamed live on Facebook, the model-entrepreneur shared how she and her partners decided to put up an online store despite not being fully prepared so they can reach their customers during the quarantine.

"If this (quarantine) was going to go on for six months, we have to find a way to reach our customers. So we said, let's just bite the bullet, let's go ahead, build that website, and learn things along the way. If it doesn't get sales, at least we tried," Dee recalled.

"All businesses will have a barrier to selling," she added. "But it's not impossible to find a way around it. Ours is optical, which is probably one of the toughest to sell online, but we just got in there and learned along the way. It didn't have to be perfect, it just had to be timely."

Dee said it took them six weeks -- as opposed to the average 14 -- to set up a "no frills" website that covers the "essentials."

She cited "convenience" and "personalization" as two guiding principles in their online venture.

"While we were building it (website), they actually found a way to migrate 500,000 unique prescriptions gathered from our stores last year alone. So not only do our customers get a copy of their prescription, they actually can order their glasses online without even having to type in their grade. I think that's convenience. Make it easy for people to buy you," she said.

Dee went on: "We focused on a very specific target market. 'People' meant to us existing customers -- loyal ones who love us for our designs. We have to serve them. I'm sure from those 500,000, a good number need to repurchase specs."

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A post shared by Sunnies Specs Optical (@sunniesspecs) on May 19, 2020 at 8:13pm PDT

Sunnies launched its website last May 15, boasting of 30,000 unique visitors in a span of one week, according to Dee.

To encourage more customers to buy their products, the brand shifted its marketing spend on billboards and mall ads to free shipping.

On top of these, Sunnies is also providing virtual consultations with its doctors.

"We just have to keep rewarding our existing customers," Dee said. "To be honest, it hasn't replaced the volume of what we get in our stores, but it's a start... Don't be afraid to start new things and find different ways of selling."

Sunnies will re-open some of its physical stores on Friday, and Dee admitted that she is partly "scared" of what lies ahead.

But this does not stop her from trying her best: "The hope that's getting me through this all is when I see my team, I see my partners during this pandemic. They're fast, they're agile, they're passionate, they're willing to adapt. And most importantly, they care. So I believe we will get through this."