Business Challenges & Opportunities With The COVID-19 Pandemic

For several years, I’ve touted that change is the only constant marketers should be comfortable with. Changes in technology, mediums, and additional channels all pressured organizations to adjust to the demands of consumers and businesses.

In recent years, companies have also been forced to be more transparent and human in their efforts. Consumers and businesses have started to do business to align with their philanthropic and ethical beliefs. Organizations used to separate their foundations from their operations. Still, the expectation is that the organization’s purpose is the betterment of our society and the care for our environment.

But the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have forced an unexpected transformation we never expected. Consumers who were once shy about adopting e-commerce flocked to it. Social places like event venues, restaurants, and movie cinemas halted operations—many were forced to close altogether.

COVID-19 Business Disruption

The pandemic is disrupting virtually every industry with social distancing and shifts in consumer and business behavior. I’ve personally witnessed some huge swings with customers and colleagues:

• A colleague in the steel industry saw condominiums and retail halt, and e-commerce warehouses drove all of his order growth.
• A colleague in the school industry had to drive all of their sales directly to consumers as schools shifted to online.
• A colleague in the commercial real estate industry had to scramble to redesign its spaces to accommodate flexible work schedules where employees are now welcome to work from home.
• Several colleagues in the restaurant industry closed their dining rooms and shifted to take-out and delivery sales only.
• A colleague had to redesign her spa for single visitors only by cleaning windows between clients. We developed a full e-commerce and scheduling solution and initiated direct marketing, email marketing, and local search strategies—something she never needed prior because she had so much word-of-mouth business.
• A colleague in the home improvement industry has watched suppliers hike prices and employees require more pay because the demand to improve the home (where we now live and work) is being heavily invested in.

Even my new agency had to revamp its sales and marketing totally. Last year, we worked heavily in helping businesses digitally transform their customer experience. This year, it’s all about internal automation, efficiency, and data accuracy to reduce the workload on the employees who haven’t been laid off.

This infographic details the impact of the pandemic and lockdowns on startups, entrepreneurship, and businesses.

COVID-19’s Negative Economic Impact

• More than 70% of startups have had to terminate full-time employee contracts since the start of the pandemic.
• Over 40% of startups only have enough cash for one to three months of operations.
• The GDP has contracted 5.2% in 2020, making it the deepest global recession in decades.

COVID-19’s Business Opportunities

While many businesses are in dire straits, there are some opportunities. That’s not to make light of the pandemic – which is horrible. However, businesses can’t simply throw in the towel. These dramatic changes to the business landscape haven’t dried up all demand – it’s just that companies must pivot to keep themselves alive.

Some businesses are seeing opportunity in changing how they operate:

• Adopting a charity model to donate needed supplies and profits to needy people.
• Pivoting operations to take advantage of a population working from home that needs delivery of food and supplies.
• Pivoting marketing to shift demand from driving retail visits to digital visits with online scheduling, ecommerce, and delivery options.
• Pivoting manufacturing also provides sanitary supplies and personal protective equipment.
• Transforming open workspaces to spaces with safe-distancing and private, sectioned sections to reduce social contact.

Knowing how to respond to the situation will enable your company to navigate through this pandemic. To get you started, the guide below will discuss the challenges you’ll face or have likely already faced and the opportunities you should consider taking.

Entrepreneurship Amidst COVID-19: Challenges and Opportunities

6 Steps to Pivot Your Business

Businesses must adapt and adopt, or else they’ll be left behind. We won’t ever return to the pre-2020 operations as consumer and behavior businesses have forever changed. Here are six steps that Mobile360 recommends to help you determine what your team can do to keep ahead of the current trends:

1. Research Customer Needs: Take a deep dive into your customer base. Talk to your best customers and send our surveys to identify how you can best assist them.
2. Build a Flexible Workforce: Outsourcing and contractors may be the best opportunity to reduce the payroll demands that may impact your company’s cash flow.
3. Map Out Your Supply Chain: Consider the logistical limitations your business faces. How will you plan to manage and mitigate the impact?
4. Create Shared Value: Beyond your offers, communicate the positive change your organization is bringing to its community and customers.
5. Stay Transparent: Adopt a clear and optimistic communication strategy that ensures everyone upstream, downstream, and in your organization understands the state of your business.
6. Digital Transformation (DX): Maximize your investment in digital platforms, automation, integration, and analytics to optimize your operations. Internal efficiencies through customer experience can help you overcome and even increase profitability as businesses and consumers-alike shift their behavior.