COVID-19 crisis has created one of the unfamiliar circumstances we aren’t used to. Young entrepreneurs and start-ups especially having birth after 1980 doesn’t see any crisis that blocks all world’s trades, businesses and life. No one can control these types of situations but we can learn many things.
Here we are going to explain six business lessons, I have learned from this COVID-19 crisis.
1. New Trend Adoption:
How quickly you can adopt new trend for your business and products will decide where you will be in near future. You may be resting at home watching TV or you will able to survive your business during any crisis or market trend change.
When COVID was growing in India during early march, businesses started feeling this heat and pharmaceutical businesses too. Then few products emerge and give boost to pharmaceutical sector including ayurvedic industry. In very short time, there was shortage of IPA, bottle, cap, pump and other necessary items. Rates were also at high and one major thing, this was a risky market. No one can predict how long these products will go.
This was a risky game and it was upon you to decide whether you want to involve into this or not. Prices were fluctuated at daily basis or we can say at hourly basis. Businesses get few days to decide whether they want to market these products or not. Then lockdown were implemented.
Who those have decided to adopt this trend and started manufacturing, trading or delivering these products, do regular business throughout lockdown and businesses that were undecided remained lock down.
Adopting new trends and taking decisions at right time is very necessary.
2. Prepare for Big opportunities:
COVID-19 is one of the biggest epidemic and challenge for humanity. With spread of covid-19, demand of new essentials like mask, sanitizers was increasing. It was the time to serve and take your business to every corner of country. It’s the big opportunity to boost your pharma business at highest level. But it was not the opportunity for businesses that weren’t prepared for it.
It was like a big game suddenly enforced to players to play well and win. Players who weren’t practicing at regular bases will not perform well and players who had regular habit for practice will definitely win.
You may need to do regular practice and hard work for four years to win a 15 minute game. Same case was here.
Businesses that were ready for sudden change and regularly working on their marketing strategy, involving new trends and updating with time, capture this opportunity and deliver what is supposed to be by a good player.
We don’t know when opportunity comes our way. But we need to keep prepared our self-ready to play a big game any time.
3. Timely Payment Schedule:
After lock down relaxation, businesses have started to open. Hope everything will be normal in coming days. But there will be payment problem in coming few weeks after normalizing. Without money there is very difficult to sustain business. There is chain of credit in business. A manufacturing company purchase raw material at credit basis from raw material supplier. Manufacturing company supplies their products to marketing company or distributor at credit basis and so on. Credit limit or days vary industry to industry or your term and conditions. Every business has some sort of liability towards their vendors.
Credit is normal part of business and money were coming from due amount & new material were sent by vendors. But now there is no business or minimal business from more than month now. Credit limits and days have been exceeded.
Businesses have no money to pay their vendors and vendors have no money for procuring products. In supply chain, if any how one person arranges money and starts supply chain then what. A vendor will prefer to supply products to their royal customers only who have paid regular & timely payments throughout business dealings. Customers having delayed payments and bad record will face trouble to get products.
So it’s good policy to pay due amount timely so you never face any problem during or after such type of crisis.
4. Professional Networking:
One more major lesson that this crisis taught me that alone you are nothing especially if you are small business. Lockdown, all transports are closed. No retail booking, only whole vehicle can be provided by transport for essential goods services like sanitizers, masks etc.
Being a small business, you don’t have much larger distributors or customers who can affort whole vehicle lot in single time.
Here your professional networking and relationship with other players of industry works. You have order from one place for a quantity. You talk to another industry player who has also order from nearby location. By this way two or more person can hire a whole vehicle and divide freight, and deliver goods to customers.
5. Regular interaction with clients (small and big):
You may have many numbers of clients. Some may have good business and some may have very less. Because you don’t know how big a small client may become big with time or depend at product’s trend or circumstances.
We had a normal client having very less purchase before launching sanitizer and hand wash. But he becomes our most purchasing client during this crisis. So you should regularly interact with your clients irrespective of his purchase or sale value.
6. Regular & Royal Customers deserve your products first:
You have adopted new trend and it has huge demand in market. Then you will get demand from all sides. In case of demand, any number of stocks is limited. At that time you have to decide, how you will distribute your stock. First come, first out or your royal customers will be preferred.
At time of unexpected demand, your royal customers deserve your product and services first even if new comers offer to pay advance.
In the End: Business is a learning process. Every tough situation give us some lessons. It’s up to us, how we learn from them.
Hope above information is helpful to you….