The COVID-19 crisis is a globally-declared “pandemic” by the World Health Organization (WHO). The global health crisis has reached an all-new critical phase in which the public health systems of the entire globe needed to act intelligently towards containing the growth in the current epicenters outside China.
The ultimate emphasis of the entire globe is currently containing & mitigating the disease itself. However, there is no denying the fact that the economic implications of the pandemic situation are also highly significant.
As such, most of the companies out there are realizing the fact towards understanding, learning lessons, and reacting from the series of events that are unfolding in the global business scenario. Unanticipated changes are going to be revealed with every new business cycle.
Therefore, it is imperative for you to get an idea of the upcoming challenges and opportunities for global-scale online businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
What are the Challenges Faced by Modern Businesses during COVID-19?
While most of the companies are seeking “work from home” working scenario to contain the deadly viral disease, there are additional challenges that are faced by businesses all across the world.
In most business organizations, the employees are not allowed to resume work until several days in the upcoming months out there.
In such a situation, business owners across the globe are facing double pressures. While on the one hand, the enterprises are needed to recoup the major losses of an elongated shutdown, on the other hand, they are needed to carefully manage the overall staff during the period of the outbreak.
As factories and offices to be public places, even minor infection could result in serious consequences –both legally & economically.
For containing the spread of COVID-19 across organizations, most business organizations out there have, therefore, selected to allow their employees work-from-home and self-isolate themselves.
Some of the major business enterprises out there that are facing adverse outcomes of the COVID-19 include those involved in the restaurant industry, fashion industry, fitness centers, meat market, and the travel industry.
Some of the major challenges to look out for are:
- Finance & funding – hard to come across relevant investors
- Team Building – difficult to build a team
- Resource Limitations – problems with acquiring relevant resources including human resources, hardware, and software-related resources
- Market Demand – decrease in the overall demand for products & services
- Supplier – vendor price increase
- Operational Overtime – more time & efforts needed to complete a project
Even during the time of short-run pressure on the downside, when perceived on the positive side, a rebound can be expected in the consumption of some hard-hit business centers, including catering, retail businesses, entertainment, and so more, until the outbreak is over.
New Business Opportunities Amidst COVID-19 Outbreak
In addition to the challenges faced by the successful businesses out there, the central & state governments of the hit countries across the world continue rolling out policies based on the current business conditions in the particular country.
Amidst all the confusion and fear, COVID-19 has brought forth a lucrative opportunity for the rise of new business opportunities to enter the market by mid-2020.
Based on the leading observations of the world, the coronavirus outbreak is also providing ample opportunities for the industries, as mentioned below:
- Online Health-Related Business: During the pandemic-like situation, online medical portals, like Tencent Healthcare & AliHealth, can be a highly lucrative business opportunity by providing advanced diagnostic & healthcare treatment services for citizens.
This would help in screening out the suspected coronavirus patients from the patients having a common cold, alleviating the shortage of essential medical resources offline, reducing the risks of cross-infection caused due to human contact, and enabling more citizens to experience the advanced form of online medical treatment.
The outbreak is also known to stimulate the growth of the concept of telemedicine. Hospitals all around the world are increasingly willing to benefit from the concept of telemedicine. In the coming months or years, the telemedicine industry is expected to become more frequent and widespread in different corners of the world. The recent COVID-19 outbreak has made people immensely aware of the overall health & life.
Such this is going to promote the demand for the development of medical equipment, medical supplies, and businesses involved in the online pharmaceutical industry. Moreover, it is also estimated that this condition would stimulate the overall domestic demand for advanced healthcare products, medical insurances, and life insurances.
- Online Entertainment: The concept of “home economy” has been indirectly given flame by COVID-19. This concept has not only boosted the modern e-commerce industry for day-to-day essentials, but has also promoted the notion of going for the option of online TV shows, playing online games, and other forms of online entertainment.
- Online Education: As most countries have imposed closure for an indefinite period on schools & colleges, the concept of starting an online education portal or e-learning classes is yet another lucrative option for starting an online business amidst the COVID-19 outbreak. For instance, DingTalk –an online learning initiative by Alibaba Group, is being utilized by schools & colleges in China. Moreover, it has also been installed around 1.1 billion times during the pandemic period.
- Telecommuting-related Industries: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, several business operations have opted for the option of telecommuting to boost overall communication. However, most of the countries out there do not feature ample capacity in terms of supporting multiple telecommuting channels or the vast flow of online data. As such, the advent of telecommuting-related industries can expect a boost in the coming era.
- Of these businesses, ideas might include remote office tools, including those of web-based video conferencing, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), multi-people collaboration platform, and digital services. It could also include the concept of IT staff remote solutions.
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Conclusion
For multinationals featuring global business interests, the impact of COVID-19 might vary. Therefore, it is not certain how significantly a particular industry will be affected in the coming times.
As such, by analyzing the current business trends & challenges globally, you can look forward to leveraging the immense potential of lucrative business prospects in the coming era.
Learn how to start an online business easily.
While COVID-19 is implying a dramatic impact on global trade in several industries, there are certain things that organizations with global supply chains should aim at minimizing the overall in the short term.
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