By: Tomas G. Michel
The production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services changed its modus operandi, as a result of the pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. A public health crisis and a major economic shift event. Federal, state and local government officials were forced by the infection statistics of their constituents, to halt abruptly commercial interactions from firms, and regulate the behavior of their communities, to prevent an overshoot of medical resources and disproportionate deaths. Consequently, whole industries operations crashed, provoking a substantial number of establishments to go out of business.
According to market reports from IBISWorld, In the United States alone, the taxi-transportation service has had a decline of 10.6% in revenue during the year 2020. Similarly, domestics flights have dropped 9.0% and construction 14.6% due to travel bans or regulations limiting gatherings and logistic processes. As a collateral, leaving many unemployed and at risk of having their livelihood disappear.
On the other hand, there were industries that surged such as the hand sanitizer manufacturing which raised from —1.9% to 16.6%— in revenue for the year 2020. Comparably, the guns and ammunition sector increased 6.8%.
We were forced to be long-distance-productive (away from each other) yet remaining connected.
Adjectives like “cloud-based” have reformed their connotation from hip to necessary, signifying entities’ operations being functional in context. An internet connection has never been so important, particularly for the public education system; as for in the fall of 2020 transforming itself into a societal need. Essentially, firms: schools, small-businesses, organizations, municipalities, corporations have been pushed to exist and operate on the digital realm with the expectation to be effective at it.
Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are now fundamental to outreach audiences and promote sales. Religious organizations are not exempt to the pattern, industry that has suffered a 5.1% drop in revenue due to the prohibition of worship services. We are going through a revolution that is disrupting markets and changing consumer behaviors to shop online, hence e-commerce is imperative for many entrepreneurs and business owners.
As we go through this collective transformation that is technical and technology centered, changing the way enterprises compete and communicate, means entrepreneurs need to adjust as well to the new conditions. There’s an imperative need to adjust or change the organizational structures of businesses and organizations to ensure their sustainability.
Considering that COVID-19 vaccines from various health/research institutions are merely being developed or in trial such as the one from Moderna’s which is based in Cambridge. Moreover, that any small gathering is capable to spike an outbreak implies that businesses ought to attempt to redefine their mission, visions, and values, because the world pre-pandemic as we knew it has changed.
Now we have a demand for software solutions like never before. The retail trade sector has had a decrease on revenue of 9.4% and at the same time Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, became the world’s richest person as per Forbes Magazine. Hence, just as there are challenges, there are opportunities that can be taken advantage of in our new economic landscape.
And those opportunities will lie on the eyes of the beholder on whether they are able to identify the needs that demand to be satisfied by creating a product or service that meets it. ◊