Opportunities in the new reality

 I remember a famous quote by Albert Einstein —

“In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.”

His statement nudged me to reflect on the prospects of businesses surviving a recession as a result of COVID-19 health measures.

I have read many articles and papers on what the global business environment may look like on the other side of this crisis.

One thing is certain, we must learn to embrace change and accept a level of disruption to our business operations on a scale many have never previously contemplated in order to remain relevant in the long haul. I was of this view before this crisis, but this is now vital given the magnitude of the past year’s financial hemorrhage.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended nearly every aspect of life, from the personal such as how people live and work to the professional such as how companies interact with their customers, how customers purchase products and services, how supply chains deliver them.

In our recent survey of local businesses, they expect the fallout from COVID-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next few years, with almost as many asserting that drastic changes occuring today will have a lasting impact on all aspects of life.

It is clear that many businesses simply cannot operate as they have in the past. What made a company successful historically may no longer be possible during or after this crisis. The assumptions that supported years of stable, predictable growth may no longer be valid.

Competitive advantages shift dynamically as business models adapt to new market realities, and the core capabilities that made an organization distinctive may suddenly be less differentiating. While the rise of digital has been mounting similar pressures for more than a decade, the current crisis has significantly accelerated its disruptive force.

Sudden pivots observed during the COVID-19 pandemic include :

CHANGES TO SALES MODELS. An overwhelming majority of sales persons have turned to multiple forms of digital engagement with customers. Sales coverage has been completely redefined as companies discover that virtual technology allows them to do things that were nearly impossible previously, such as assembling the “perfect team” of experts for every sales pitch. In this digital sales sphere, smaller firms can often “match up” to even their biggest competitors.

NEED FOR NEW OFFERINGS. Food distributors that traditionally supplied restaurants are setting up digital direct-to-consumer channels as the crisis decimated their core restaurant sales. 

RAPID CHANGES IN CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR.
For years, videoconferencing providers enjoyed steady growth by focusing on corporate customers. This market typically required expensive deployments, often involving the physical installation of specialized equipment and training to ensure high-quality connections. Practically overnight, Zoom has become the go to app. The world has grown accustomed to “zooming” for myriad purposes, including religion, fitness, art and social connections with friends, and family.

Businesses can gain long-term advantages by understanding such shifts and the opportunities they present. In past crises, companies that invested in innovation delivered superior growth and performance postcrisis.

DRAMATIC RISE IN DIGITAL SKILLS DEMAND

The coronavirus pandemic have accelerated digital skills demand in many occupations, especially non-ICT ones. Effective use of digital skills has proven to be a driver of resilience, helping workers and entire organizations to adapt to the new realities shaped by the pandemic. In the retail and service sectors, where it is difficult to deliver products and services remotely, digital skills can spur the transformation of business models and help avoid lay-offs and bankruptcies. Digital skills also enabled continued provision of public and private services. They helped many workers for whom digital skills were not critical before the pandemic , such as teachers and office workers , to shift to remote working virtually overnight.

In tourism, remote provision of services, such as hotel check-ins, food ordering or ticket sales, is expanding. The rapid digitalization in retail led to an expansion of e-commerce in a few months. Skills demand changed in response, as the new normal suddenly required more back office staff dealing with online orders and more people in packaging and delivery services.

These changes, once ingrained into an organization’s business model and customer behaviour, may become permanent, well beyond the pandemic period. And while some jobs will remain unaffected by digital technologies, digitalization will increasingly continue shaping tasks and jobs.

Indeed, rapid digitization through COVID-19 has overhauled the way we work, deliver financial services, acquire knowledge, and forge networks.

TURNING THREATS INTO OPPORTUNITIES

It is true that manufacturing and services sectors have been rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, yet this has provided some companies opportunities for innovation.

COVID-19 shutdowns have enabled firms to adapt and transform their offerings in order to make customers and employees feel safe.

It has been observed that businesses that respond to challenges in innovative ways are surviving and will likely still be operating in a post-pandemic world.

To help more businesses thrive during the pandemic, the RISE (Resilient, Innovative, Sustainable Entrepreneurs) program was conceived. This program is basically a business recovery plan preparation where participating msmes are each paired with a coach from the academe and also from business. 

The RISE intends to come up with compact yet innovative strategic plans of action with the help of the identified academe experts, which the businesses can adopt in their operations to maximize chances of not just survival but also finding opportunities in the new normal.

The project is expected to pinpoint the MSMEs’ needs and provide innovative solutions to their problems with the help of subject matter experts from the academe.

Launched last year, RISE is handled by the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Commission on Higher Education, Department of Information and Communications Technology.

The anchor private sector organizations, on the other hand, are the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cebu Insitute of Technology and Southwestern University. The project partner is the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

DREAM PROGRAM
As more digital opportunities arise worldwide, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Central Visayas (DTI 7) thought of offering free business coaching and mentoring specifically for digital services entrepreneurs.

In partnership with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), DTI7 will launch the Digital Services Entrepreneurs Advancement Mentoring (DREAM) Program on August 4, 2021.

DREAM program will feature mentorship modules to be used to propel digital services entrepreneurs to thrive in spite of the unprecedented setbacks that now confront businesses of all types and sizes.

The modules will cover:
• Entrepreneurial Mind-setting and Values Formation
• Overview of the Market
• Developing the Business
• Finance and Operations Management
• People Management
• Contract Management
• Client Management
• Legalizing your Business
• Business Model Canvass
• One on one mentoring:
(After the course / graduation, to accomplish specific milestones)

The program aims to produce confident local entrepreneurs with the right mindset & basic management skills which will enable them to sustain their enterprises amidst the challenges of the pandemic and new normal conditions.

In a post COVID world, technology will continue to drive innovation across business models in various industries, allowing new businesses to enter the market and disrupt incumbents in serious ways. In order to drive business growth, entrepreneurs need to stay relevant in changing times, business leaders must be able to think creatively and embrace innovation to create break-through value for their customers. 

No doubt, COVID-19 is challenging the status quo and conventional thinking across all industries but recognizing some of the opportunities mentioned and taking timely action will help companies gain an advantage in this world of disruption. #