Challenges, Changes and Opportunities in New Normal Post Covid19
It is definitely not going to be easy finding long-term winners — YET — businesses and people are going to identify them AND they would be the trailblazers and new economy drivers.
During this current mammoth crises — it is very easy to predict failures, losses and write-offs [although that is happening at a greater rate too than anyone could ever have imagined] .
YET opportunities of immense proportions exist too within.
Reopening economy after almost complete shut-down is something that has never before attempted — much less reopen it in the setting of an ongoing pandemic.
There is no returning to earlier-normal — But certainly we have to discover and create a new way-forward.
Most of us can’t be expected to have proven strategies and action-plans which could handle this type of complex uncertainties and chaos.
The best outcomes will come from common sense, presence of mind and agility to spot the changes, trends and find opportunities within AND from acting on them immediately — without waiting for the perfect moment.
If we fail to take actions fast — chances of getting run over from our competitors who could be responding faster — is very high.
We also have to disrupt the existing business and revenue models, marketing channels, products, services and current-value-offerings by changing strategies and assumptions — while maintaining the momentum.
We are in the midst of the largest decline in demand and fall in consumption — in the history of mankind.
And this pendulum of consumption and demand might not swing back fully once the outbreak has been managed effectively.
All our consumers are recalibrating their spending behaviors and mindsets — having been jolted by such unprecedented shocking, upsetting and uncertain changes.
Unless our consumers decide to accept sickness and death as acceptable byproducts of their interactions — it is unlikely the economy will fully recover.
This crisis has also unlocked a lot of creativity in people — and in all professions people at every levels are experimenting and developing new concepts — but- not every concept will be widely adopted or would become a long-term opportunity.
29+ CORE Sectors — where Changes, Disruptions, Disasters, Challenges, Opportunities Exists — kindly add whatever sector, field, areas I have missed
Many of these changes are paradoxical — that is why there are opportunities hidden within them
I. OUR SOCIAL Needs
1. MAN IS BY NATURE SOCIAL — OUR SOCIAL-NEED — to relax, to entertain, to travel, to party, to have large gatherings and interactions -like big weddings, sales-events etc. etc.
2. Earlier people could leave their houses to go to movie theatres, go shopping, buy anything that pleased them irrespective of its value-life, purchase non-essential goods and used to travel domestically and internationally more or less freely.
3. Will these come back to those standards and levels — we had become used to — DIFFICULT to SAY — it may come back to more relaxed situation. BUT WILL IT come back exactly to the SAME level BEFORE SAY JUNE 2019 — DOES NOT LOOK LIKELY
II. Need for Extensive Activity monitoring Tools
1. Remote learning (training centers and
2. universities) will have to have tools to identify and track students to prevent cheating say during examinations etc.
3. Working from home also may need similar tools
4. Many employers want to see track what heir employees are doing during official working hours — are they delivering the value and tasks they are supposed to
5. Our customers would definitely want to feel reassured about the health-safety aspect in the supply chain — like whether these employees are safe
III. BELIEF IN GOD — even this is an opportunity for the creatives to encash
1. For many people their belief in God would be completely shattered
2. On the other hand, many will embrace GOD and religion with more
IV. Mental Health
1. Mental Emotional Issues getting created because of Job and livelihood loss
2. Losing the savings OR dipping into the next build for retirement or special events
3. Frustrating job searches
4. Relationship issues
5. Children welfare issues
6. Inability to adjust with newer realities, shocks, upsets and chaos
V. Our Relationships
1. Especially parental, marital — Due to staying together in close proximity for extended period
VI. Dating, Courtship, Love-birds
1. This category gets impacted very badly — with the hotel, gyms, movie-halls, shopping-malls getting impacted
2. All these would make love exorbitantly expensive
3. Newer ways and spaces to meet has to be invented
VII. New technologies in Health Monitoring
1. Telemedicine and Tele-medical-Consulting
2. Strangely the private-hospital revenues have seen drastic reductions — as people are afraid going to a clinic/hospital where there could be a high chance of getting infected
3. Elective procedures have been postponed
4. Some types of OPD Patients may prefer online consultations with doctors
VIII. Legal Scenario
1. This industry was never considered as something for online/remote
2. The benefits of introducing remote and digital tools in this fields are unimaginable
3. But then the challenges too in authentication, fairness, accessibility, privacy etc. etc.
IX. More effective Remote work tools
1. All of us know how ZOOM became number one in matter of days during lockdowns
2. Most of the work conferences will happen remote and online
X. Our Jobs
1. We were used to going to work, commuting daily, having a break from home-atmosphere
2. For many of us — the home was a place to come back to — to relax — to leave all worries of our outer world OUTSIDE
3. Now with — many organizations discovering the huge-cost-savings of WFM — working from home
4. Many jobs would either be redundant or made strictly in WFM mode
5. So the types of dynamics at home would undergo tremendous change — some positive and some definitely stressful
6. Now if your organization allows — going to work may feel like going for vacations
7. With many jobs not being needed — all of us get ourselves re-skilled into something that can make us earn money to survive
XI. Education and qualifications
1. With global recession, mass-lay-offs, businesses and industries closing down as well as collapsing — the opportunities for many of the standard courses would vanish
2. Universities and institutes will have to come up with new skills-based courses which are needed right now
3. Certificates, diplomas and degrees may have value if only you have come out the top ones
XII. School, Colleges and Universities
1. We have to get used to children, student and teachers — doing studies through various channels, medium and spaces
2. The way things are taught and learned is going to be different
3. Newer and newer methods and tools are going to invented and used
XIII. Commuting
1. Earlier many of us used public transport to commute — busses, cabs, metros etc.
2. With WFM culture that public transport usages would get limited to people who don’t have any other choice
3. Paradoxically — there would be many more private cars, motorbikes etc. on the road — because of the mis-trust on the others to maintain the hygiene
XIV. Travel
1. We were used to travel for leisure, pleasure, work, social, and religious purposes as well as on emergency reasons
2. Now with organizations restricting the travel to only most essential — the travel for work would see a sharp-fall
3. Because for airlines — corporate-travelers are major chunk of business — when this shrink — their profitability and growth too will get impacted very badly
4. So the airlines would become very expensive as some cost can’t be reduced even if less people are travelling — many airlines will go bankrupt
5. Travel for leisure and pleasure would also see decline — as leave-travel benefit would almost be the one that corporates cut PLUS due to massive lay-offs and business closers — people may not have enough money to be spent on these
6. If all these happens what happens to the HOTEL industry — many would either closed down permanently or temporarily — many will go bust
XV. Hotels
1. When people travel — they have to stay some place — hotels, guest-houses, studio-apartments and AIRbnb types of accommodation met this need very effectively
2. When people travel less — the cost of maintaining a large property and hotels would still be same — but no profitability — how many can sustain that for how long is the question
3. Yes the properties with decent facilities and less overheads may survive and encash — if they market themselves well
4. Many-many different producers, suppliers and manufacturers depend on Hotels — their livelihood too come under attack
5. Considering all these and many other factors — the cost is bound to go up
6. But the income for both the individuals as well as businesses [barring few sectors and industries] — will not be increasing in near future soon
7. So the spending will go down and impact all these business negatively
8. Yes hotels would be better-off in converting their properties into hospitals — if they market themselves well and provide high-quality healthcare — they may actually get profitable within few years
XVI. Dining/Eating out
1. This is one of the luxuries as well as our entertainment and relaxation needs
2. Now with restaurants putting plexiglass and similar contraptions — would the pleasure of dining-out will be same — you ask yourself
3. Then could restaurants afford the cost of these add-ons — if they do invest — from where and by when they can recover the cost
4. If they do — it would be from the customers only — which would make the cost so high — that a miniscule percentage of people only would be able to actually go out and dine
5. Many restaurants and eating joints EITHER have to turn into delivering what is their niche-specialties through innovative ways to get their loyal customers still loyal to them
6. Most restaurants will fold — as their need to be there in the high-rent areas will not be there if all that they are doing is cooking and delivering
XVII. Leisure Choices
1. The earlier choices of theatre, movie-halls, larger-event spaces etc. will definitely see a decline in user-base
2. Some innovative ways people may find up to an extent satisfaction through drive-throughs, drive-ins types of dinning, movies etc.
3. Newer more innovative leisure choices will come-up and vanish
4. Unless we get used to low-touch, no-touch, very different social mingling — OUR THIS NEED — may force people to choose this pleasure over the safety after they get tired of ONLINE offerings
XVIII. Shopping-malls
1. This again has similarities with hotel industry challenges post covid19
2. High-cost BUT doubtful realization or income
3. Some of them will have to shift to entirely new paradigm — if they want to utilize their spaces better
XIX. Corporate-Real-estate
1. With WFM culture, hotels, offices, shopping-malls, businesses not having the need for that large spaces — this area will see a massive fall in the need
2. As a result — the rentals will go down sharply especially for the prime properties and in hitherto upmarket business-districts
3. It will be a boon for the new businesses launching startups — should their model have a need for the real-estate
XX. Changing Logistics Field
1. Contact-less delivery processes
XXI. Entertainment
2. Massive Varieties of Online Entertainment (OTTs) — because most of us would not be going to cinema halls, theatres and musicals
XXII. ONLINE GAMING
1. Kids who have restrictions in playing outside — maybe the physical playtime may get exchanged for to online playtime
XXIII. Gyms and Health AND Online Fitness
1. Like movie halls — gyms too will be shut for a long time too — thereby the opportunities in online fitness training, relaxing and meditation guidance
XXIV. Insurance
1. Increase in Insurance Premiums and wider base opting for Insurances of various types and kinds
XXV. Reskilling into health care worker
1. Many skills that made people employable might not be usable now — like we may not need as many retail salesmen or waiters for a long time.
2. People would need to reskill and upskill themselves to find new jobs and a shift in job pattern would happen
XXVI. Retail
1. The most impacted offline sectors in the market are Supermarkets, Restaurants and Traditional Retail.
XXVII. Grocery delivery
1. This has peaked during lockdown — it would continue to have takers continue because many people would prefer not to go out to supermarkets to buy
1. Fashion retail
2. Live streaming of fashion using models
XXVIII. Fully autonomous drones
1. Although difficult to scale up because of high cost elements — their usage would become higher
XXIX. Robots to manage high-risk — with the potential to gain momentum in
1. Healthcare
2. Manufacturing
3. All places where high levels of contacts are there
38 Key Focus Areas — You are the chief of your business
[This part of article deals with 3 major aspects of leadership] — — for full read “Changes, Disruptions, Disasters, Challenges, Opportunities, Way-forward and Road-maps NOW” in Success Unlimited Mantra’s DIY blog section “From the Heart of Subhashis”
