How To Reposition Your Business Quickly and Effectively During An Emergency Situation
We are going through unprecedented times these couple of months with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is probably the biggest event of 2020 and because of this crisis it has been a devastating blow on the operations of businesses, with a large number of big brands consolidating their international operations or biting the dust.
Many countries went into lockdown situations, a number have seen a surge of second wave infections when they opened up the country too quickly and went into a second lockdown. Businesses have been very badly impacted and many, many others have lost jobs as the economy has screeched to a halt. Lifestyles are disrupted and people are forced to learn and adapt to a new norm of working from home.
A recession has been triggered and this forced us to shift from our normal routines and lifestyles. The pandemic has made it necessary for business to shift or adapt their business models fast for the current situation. Businesses that don’t embrace this change and pivot for this new norm and the pending recession as Government bailouts and reserves run dry, will be crippled and eventually join the statistics of others that have to “close shop” for good.
Brick-and-mortar retail businesses are what you may see as relics of traditional businesses. Traditionally customers would go to where these businesses are in order to get their products and services. Nowadays, customers prefer the convenience of staying where they are and have the businesses ship the products or services to the customer.
The significance of digital transformations has been discussed for a long time. Many businesses across Singapore have been adopting digital technology and exploiting its power to unlock new growth opportunities and face any challenges.
It is difficult not to notice what is going on with Ecommerce and traditional retail. Other businesses in different industries will start adapting to cater for their customers during this pandemic. The size of the impact of adopting technology in businesses has never been more possible than now.
Examples of business pivots seen recently during COVID-19 in Singapore will be touched on to give you an idea of how you may be able to copy and tweak their methods so that you will have a better chance of coming up with a method for your business. Without doubt, during these times, if you do not take the first step of bringing your business digital (eg: in the form of embracing e-commerce to reach out to your customers), your chances of survival is close to zero.
Possible business pivots observed in Singapore include:
- PHV and Taxi drivers have pivoted to taking on deliveries during the shortage of passengers.
- Personal fitness trainers and yoga studios connect with clients via live-streamed classes, video chats, or premade video fitness tutorial that is catered to a specific client. Some have created home kits and sent them to their clients so they can still do the workouts at home with the guidance of the trainers.
- Financial / Insurance agents have embraced online consultations through platforms like Zoom or Skype. Paperworks with electronic signature or physical forms signed and scanned to agents emails for processing are becoming a norm.
- Ticketing platforms have been pivoted to online streams via platforms like YouTube or even through Zoom.
- Printing shops have adapted and replaced the loss of regular printing jobs to printing essentials that are related to the pandemic, suchs as social distancing signages, food delivery labels, etc
- Real estate agents and property portals offer video tours of properties.
- Tailors have taken on the job to sew a variety of fabric masks that are reusable and functional, and are in demand in these times.
- Tuition centers have pivoted just like our education systems, to home-based learning for schools, from physical classrooms to online classrooms.
- Restaurants / F&B have embraced delivery options, the more creative ones even offer DIY meal kits on top of just delivery of ready-cooked food. Some have even partnered with other drinks or dessert establishments to offer a complete full course meal.
The size and the impact of adopting technology in business has never been more evident now. Even as the Singaporean government begins to ease some of the restrictions in Phase Two of the country’s re-opening, the pace of adopting digital technology should not slow down. In fact, anybody who is dependent on physical retail space should consider different options in delivering your products or services. This will allow your business to expand swiftly away from your geographical region and also allows you to reach potential customers elsewhere.