Business in 2021 amidst the COVID19 Pandemic

Amidst the bleak doom-and-gloom clouds hovering above us, I remain optimistic that the pandemic has forced humankind to reset itself in ways we may not realise yet.

Businesses formed before the pandemic are, in my opinion, less likely to survive unless they can embody certain qualities of businesses that began as the pandemic raged:

• Agile and lean operations;
• Adaptation of digital transformation and digitisation;
• Ability to collaborate and communicate with stakeholders and customers using digital means;
• Appreciation of the fragility of the economic environment;
• Ability to discard rigid, archaic, and obsolete practices disguised under the name of “corporate governance”, “accountability”, “consistency”, “perfection”, and “stability”;
• Ability to admit, mitigate, and learn from mistakes, threats, and shortfalls while forsaking impossible perfectionism;
• Ability to demonstrate and communicate empathy as corporate citizens;
• Ability to embrace data and balancing it with intuition.

Moving forward, the ability to collaborate despite time zones and distance as well as the ability to research and synthesise are key for professionals.

In 2020, experts predict that a vaccine will be rolled out in 12 to 18 months. Like clockwork, it was made available in late 2020 or early 2021. While the administration logistics is one thing, the availability of vaccines was available within that time frame. What was not publicised – for the lack of data, was how rapidly and frequently the virus would mutate.

Next to take into account is the various forms of lockdowns (e.g. Movement Control Orders, Circuit Breakers etc). I doubt that lockdowns would totally end. My hunch is that it would take two to three years from now before such measures can end.

Let’s return to the purpose of these measures: flattening the curve (Live Science, ABC News). Lockdowns were never meant to end the pandemic. It was there to ensure the various healthcare systems could cope with COVID19 cases. Until a form of global or regional herd immunity, COVID19 will continue to spread around us.

I personally believe that the era of digitally-supported freelancers, small and medium businesses is at hand as many corporations close their doors.

It’s a post-2008 Financial Crisis on a global scale.

Recommended reading:

1. U.S. News. One Year After the Pandemic Struck, Global Economy About to Boom. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/global-economy-set-for-a-post-pandemic-boom.
2. The Economist. What history tells you about post-pandemic booms. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2021/04/29/what-history-tells-you-about-post-pandemic-booms.
3. Wall Street Journal. The Post-Pandemic Boom. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-post-pandemic-boom-11619736069.
4. Fortune. Data-driven companies will get more bang for the post-pandemic boom. https://fortune.com/2021/05/05/post-covid-economic-boom-tech-transformation-data-cybersecurity/.