For quite a long time, economies have been racing against each other oblivious of the fact that the world business front still operates as a single finish line. Well, it took Covid-19 to fine tune our psyche to the reality that even the most stable business can crumble. With lockdowns imposed in most places in the world, the fact that consumers would not be able to access business premises became a reality. Apart from businesses whose models were not affected by the Covid-19 restrictions, most other establishments have been on a time bound rush to reinvent themselves. The most interesting thing about the business model innovation is the way in which businesses of various types embraced it.
Keeping the revenue streaming
With so many people looking up to them for livelihoods, most businesses that have managed to remain relevant during the pandemic period have significantly maintained the money they are earning. For restaurants that greatly depended on renting meeting space and serving in-house meals for instance, the revolution has been in promoting takeaway meals and delivery. This calls for a partial overhaul of menus and equipment needed to prepare the food; honestly, not all food is meant for delivery or take away.
How does an establishment remain profitable when its business model have completely changed? For some businesses, restructuring means cutting down on labor while for others this means reducing the seating spaces. It is a tough call regardless of the route taken but businesses owners must be brave if they are to make reasonable profits.
Realigning with customer needs
The marketing phrase, “the customer is always right” gained new life in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. By understanding the nature and rate at which trends are changing, a business owner is better equipped at readapting their business model. Many business leaders in the textile industry will tell you that this sector of the economy has been suffering for a long time – but not with the Covid situation. In the same way that business owners switched operations to produce what the market needed and wanted, it is high time this is replicated past Covid. There is a big difference between what a business is able to offer versus what the customer really wants and the middle ground is quite fulfilling.
Did you know that there are many workers who are not able to work from home due to the possible interruptions in that space? Well, how about hotels taking up this as a business opportunity and renting out rooms per hour to meet this need? Clearly, there is and will always be room to be better for your customers.
Embrace online
The profile of the average consumer reveals a systematic adaptation of technology as it emerges. This means that the consumer is keeping up with new ways to connect and generally make their lives simpler. Did you know that there is no age that is off limits to embracing technology? Apart from personalized services, almost every other service can be conducted online. From education, event organizing, gym instruction, yoga and dance classes, it is becoming cheaper to engage audiences via the internet. Even as the sting of Covid-19 eases up, businesses must re-evaluate the value of face-to-face interactions. Even professions like medicine that required a meet-up with clients could do with this disruption. Actually, people tend to be more open and honest when speaking behind a veil, which is in this case the internet.
Healthy balance between resources and processes
Unless you are up for promotion or are working towards it, many employees tend to be comfortable with the work they do. As a business owner who is looking to grow an evergreen operation, it is important to prepare employees for different eventualities. Any job function that can be given a digital face needs to have ready employees for any emerging role. For businesses that rely on imports, the secret in remaining relevant in a crisis is to plan for the future. Do you need a local supplier? It is necessary to have raw material stock to cover operations for 3, 6, or even 12 months?
Another consideration for cushioning this balance is to have a healthy profit margin that stays unchanged over a long period of time. This way, small misalignments happen and the company still makes profits even though raw material prices have gone up.
There is no fixed strategy for succeeding in business – this is true based on the many traditional models that found their way to the trash bin in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Long after this era is gone, the potential to keep up with digital innovations will remain. The speed with which businesses moved to bridge the gap that threatened to close them down for good is what should be cultivated. This is the force the various economies of the world need as fuel to propel them forward to new heights and better frontiers together.
