2020 was supposed to be the biggest year ever for businessman Sir Ian Taylor - but in 24 hours it all changed. 

Sir Ian Taylor is the founder of Animation Research Ltd - which provides virtual graphics for sports competitions. 

As Covid-19 began shutting down the world, he says all sports games the company had contracts with were cancelled - including 3500 games of US baseball.

“I got on the phone [to my team] and said our first priority is no one loses their jobs,” Taylor told Petra Bagust on her Good Friday show. 

Taylor says his team rewrote job descriptions by changing the priorities so staff could focus on looking after themselves and their families - even if it took five days a week. 

“The team decided anyone on a salary under $65K would stay where they were and the 50 per cent cut would stay with the top end.”

The company made a business plan to survive to the end of the year with no income, which Taylor says led to great productivity and plans for once they came out of lockdown. 

Sir Ian Taylor also features on Newstalk ZB’s HP Business Class podcast. To listen to his business success story click here.