Covid-19 has changed the way we do business forever
The other day I was explaining to a friend that life after this whole Covid-19 thing will never be the same. In the history of pandemics, life has always changed as people adopt new ways of life they had never thought of or even thought possible/feasible.
A lot of what we do in life is because that's all we know. That's how it has always been done and very few explore any thing outside the boundaries of their normal/usual until circumstances outside their control push them to change.
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For example many companies have been hiring lots of people they didn't really need. It was until they were left with no option but to downsize that they realized they didn't need some workers.
They could still work effectively with a more lean team. If you had 30 employees and had to cut them down to 15 and realised you were still able to go about your business, the next question would be why have 30 employees?
Then next question would be why rent all this work space if the 15 can some how deliver off site?
Many companies are going to fully adopt telecommuting or working off site going toward.
Then transportation will also change. One of the most affected things has been movement. Many have had to buy bicycles, motorcycles in order to manoeuvre with movement.
In the process many have realised how effective it is. I predict more and more private motorcycles on the roads. If you have been spending 20k daily on a taxi, 100k weekly and 400k monthly on transport and realise fuelling your scooter/motorcycle at 30k takes you a week, that's 120k a month in transport.Why would you keep using taxis so expensively?
The other thing that won't remain the same will be how we do business. In the start it was cast in stone that if you wanted to do business you had to find a shop in one of the kampala arcades.
You wouldn't do business without a shop in CDB. The situation forced people out, they had to find new ways and sure they did moving into the outskirts.
Now most of you are wondering why they would rent a shop at Shs 4-6 million monthly if they can sell their things out of the trunk of their car. If they can start an online shop and do drop offs/deliveries why not? Even if you decided to inject Shs 2 million monthly in online marketing you get to save Shs 2 million on rent.
Shoppers, too, believed for you to get some thing nice you had to personally go to town. Now that they have had no option but allow and trust that what they want will find them at home, few will fancy going out there to get what they want.
This pandemic hasn't just come with a health and financial shocks but also a social-cultural shock. We shall recover from the health and financial shock but our way of life may change for good.
Jaluum Herberts Luwizza is a Speaker,Writer and Business Columnist with the Nile Post.He is also a Business Consultant at YOUNG TREP East Africa's No.1 Business Management and Consultancy firm that helps people start and grow profitable businesses.
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