The outbreak of Covid-19 has severely affected national and global economies. Enterprises and entrepreneurs are facing various issues with certain degrees of losses.
Medium scale firms are highly dependent on routine business transactions and limited number of customers. As they provide a major section of global employment they cannot be ignored. Unfortunately medium scale business have been hit the hardest.
While a business during a pandemic might not seem like an ideal endeavour, but it actually could be a great entrepreneurial decision as well. There are many ideas sprouting in the business world today.It is the talent of an entrepreneur to understand and adapt to challenges and start a thriving business during the pandemic. While the 'struggle is real' attribute plays a vital role in the life of entrepreneurs.
The pandemic has set new definitions to a lot of things including lifestyle, luxury and in our case, booming business. Fields that once set milestones in trade and business have fallen into the shadows. Practical thinking and business built on geographical understanding have survived and are looking promising.
Setting up medium scale businesses is the current trend. With social media being the promotion platform the cost of launching a business has come down. Today, everybody on that path is an entrepreneur. However, this does not mean that life is easy and jobs are a jolly ride.
A few entrepreneurs came forward with their insight in the struggle to survive in the world of trade in this time of crisis.VrarieCally Balthazar of Cally Reusable Bags: "My business has severely been affected due to the lockdown. Hence, in retailing my product obviously I have to struggle a lot. Tourist hotspots are devoid of tourists. This has made it a lot more difficult to market my products.
As they are reusable bags you need to be able to go out.
“I think the idea of online shopping is so prevalent that only a few people are heading out to buy goods and it's almost like the desire to purchase eco-friendly products has died and it's very sad and tragic. I mean very few people are really considering the environment as a cause, and that conversation on single use plastic, polythene and so on were coming up so nicely but now it died off right after covid-19.
"Business is good for people who have created online platforms, but for me it continues to be a struggle. Businesses that have taken loans find it very difficult. Although I'm trying to increase sales I understand the situation where people think twice before purchasing what they consider as non-essentials," she said. Cally believes that as an entrepreneur of any kind of business, you need to be little emphatic and little more understanding of the people's needs at present.
"The truth is it's really been a struggle and it continues to be a struggle and everyone is trying to do the best they could and it includes me. I think the need is to look online but it is important for me to keep the ethos and values of the brand. So it's really a struggle," said Cally.
"The Covid-19 pandemic has sent the economy into its depression. But, MLM businesses have grown up, and the coronavirus has created more opportunities for them.
MLM marketeer at Best Life Group of Companies, Sri Lanka, Fazeeha said, "We have benefited more during this situation. We use multiple effective strategies for time management. We host virtual MLM meetings. We use this time more to achieve our business goals. We also offer education based training."
"When compared to the other industries or businesses, I wouldn't say, we are heavily impacted. Not that we weren't affected. The impact was around 70%. Shana Haniffa said, "We have tried to deliver our food through Uber Eats as it has a wider audience and reach. We have also tried reducing the price of our food items. We are looking into other home based business ventures to diversify and find another source of income."
The above reports clearly show the unpredictable nature of businesses and the impact of Covid-19 on them. Nothing can be taken for granted. A thorough analysis of pre-setup of businesses looks promising but that too is prone to change. This fluctuation is going to remain with us for a few years. The whole world is undergoing socio-economic hardship. Watchfulness is what is going to hold medium scale business from going bankrupt. Entrepreneurs are trying their best to be innovative and succeed.