“What will the post-lockdown business be like?” – This thought has loomed over the mind of countless business-owners ever since a mysterious virus entered the country and put everything into a standstill. However, as we all know, every cloud has a silver lining.
While the pandemic halted day-to-day operations, it also opened a new door where people began to think of out-of-the-box solutions. This has led to the business scenario post-lockdownbecoming an innovative one, where organisations are establishing creative solutions to resume normalcy.
Now that authorities are gradually lifting lockdowns and are allowing operations to resume, businesses rely on modern strategies to survive. To take an extensive, in-depth view of thepost-lockdownera for organisation, read ahead.
The evolution of businesses post-lockdown
The initial months of the pandemic crippled operations across the globe, with every sector taking an enormous hit. While lockdowns and social distancing slowly became the norm, organisations started focusing solely on the post-lockdown business strategies. These mainly included resuming operations remotely as employees work from home, conducting virtual meetings, and relying mostly on online services to maintain steady business growth.
Changes in the workplace
Social distancing quickly became paramount in flattening the pandemic’s curve, which meant employees had to work from home. Hence, the organisational operations needed a significant revamp. The first step towards this included several business leaders stepping up to instil workplace efficiency.
Today, we can see this through hands-on involvement by managers and their frequent engagement with employees through video calls and conferences. Effective communication is essential to the post-lockdown business plan, and technology has aided in this to resume normalcy in businesses.
Even traditional companies are now adopting the new-age ways to communicate and conduct business operations through virtual conversations, messaging platforms, and online calling. As a result, these contemporary organisational operation methods are critical to the post-lockdown business ideas, but will also become the norm for years to come.
Working from home
As mentioned earlier, one of the critical post-lockdown business tipsthat most organisational leaders are following today is creating fluidity in the workplace structure. As employees work from home, many factors are taken into account, such as unavailability, distractions, network issues, etc. Hence, employees are being offered tremendous flexibility as businesses resume through virtual platforms.
As employees increasingly work from home, organisations will now incorporate contingent strategies to include execution plans and training programmes. These will train the employees to transition to work from home models in a much easier fashion if a similar crisis arrives in the future.
Additional Read: Check Out the Way Businesses are Evolving in a Post Lockdown Period
The future of business evolution
As the post-lockdown business scenario continues to evolve through the current pandemic, organisations will increasingly depend on modern technology to conduct business properly. Health tech apps will become mandatory to monitor the health metrics of each employee. The demand for AI and VR services will increase as companies are already shifting towards virtual communications to resume operations amidst social distancing.
Business ideas to ace the post-lockdown era
People staying-in led to the rise of creative post-lockdown business tips,not only to resume businesses but to start new ones as well. All of this has led to the emergence of new sectors and immense entrepreneurial potential that had remained untapped for several years. These innovations include:
Healthcare products
The emergence of lockdowns has rapidly created a surge in demand of hand sanitisers and facemasks, as they are the only way to combat the virus today. As a result, numerous companies have started to manufacture these items as an additional line of products to expand their business. Moreover, small-scale or homemade sanitiser production and mask-making have become one of the best post-lockdown business ideas, as the demand for these products is never-ending.
Other healthcare services
Product manufacturers and owners now collaborate directly with retailers, wholesalers, and local shops, to sell the products to local customers, further expanding their businesses. More than just masks and sanitisers, the demand for other healthcare essentials such as gloves, ventilators, oximeters, PPE kits, etc. has drastically risen, making this one of the most profitable post-lockdown business ideas.
Additional Read: Which are the Business Sectors that are expecting a Boost After Lockdown?
Delivery services
The advent of social distancing has led to a massive surge in delivery services, making them a vital part of every post-lockdown business plan.People today refrain from stepping outside frequently, and hence, purchase everything online, from daily essentials to food items. This has created massive business opportunities where owners and manufacturers are collaborating with local vendors and delivery companies to get their products delivered to consumer’s doorsteps.
Since this business spreads across numerous sectors such as groceries, pharmaceutical items, daily-need products, and even tiffin services, the businessopportunities are aplenty.
Online education businesses
Social distancing has affected the academic sector all across the globe, which has led to the rapid rise of online educational services. As virtual platforms continue to remain essential for the business scenario post-lockdown, educational institutions have incorporated them to resume academics. This has been done mainly through virtual classes on platforms like Google Meet, Zoom, etc.
Virtual academics present a great business opportunity, as online education has become the new norm. Numerous educational platforms are now offering discounts and free enrolment, thus increasing their business tenfold.
If you decide to delve into this opportunity, you can utilise a business loan EMI calculator that most lenders offer today, to plan a loan and start your business as soon as possible.
Additional Read: List of Some of the Best Business Ideas you Can use Post Lockdown
How to grow businesses post-lockdown?
Approaching marketing virtually
Marketing is a top priority when it comes to business growth in the post-lockdown era. As people continue to stay at home, it will become increasingly difficult to sell your products or services through offline stores. This is where virtual marketing will help you increase your business’s visibility.
Moreover, robust marketing plans will assist you in capturing the attention of consumers, at a time when they’re solely focusing on purchasing necessities. Incorporating these plans through social media marketing strategies, product discounts, safety protocols, etc., will help you witness rapid business growth.
You can even use a business loan calculator, provided by several lenders, to calculate your loan details and plan ahead. Doing this will help you strategize your marketing plans accordingly if you need the added capital via a loan.
Additional Read: Marketing Ideas to Help You Boost Your Business After Lockdown
Adjusting to the new customer trends
The pandemic has significantly changed how consumers purchase items. Online channels have become the primary preference, as customers can sit at home, browse through their phones, and place orders online. This also means that people are now more attached to virtual platforms than ever before. Hence, ensuring you have an online store is now one of the most effective ways to witness post-lockdown businessgrowth.
Staying connected through social media
The increased usage of social media also presents an excellent opportunity for you to grow your business through constant engagement with consumers. As people continue to browse online for products and necessities, you can stay connected with them through social media posts, emails, personalised messages, etc.
Show your customers that you care, send messages of support, and create posts about how your business is working to provide help during these challenging times. Such engaging content will gauge more attention from consumers, making this one of the best post-lockdown business tipsyou should follow.
Why should you take your business online?
As mentioned above, in the post-lockdown era for business, virtual marketing and selling will go hand-in-hand, to ensure steady growth. The fear of the virus has stopped consumers from visiting offline stores, and hence, they have now turned to online avenues to fulfil their daily requirements. This has opened up a massive window for business owners to retain profits post-lockdown, through e-commerce.
The rise in popularity of e-commerce
Social distancing doesn’t mean that people will stop purchasing products and services. They will simply turn to online platforms, which will lead to massive growth in e-commerce. Taking your business online will help you capitalise on this, as you will discover new customers, start selling in larger quantities, and expand your company’s reach across multiple cities.
With several financial lenders offering a higher business loan eligibility, you can avail a loan hassle-free and capitalise on the post-lockdown market.
Increased virtual footfall in online stores
The facility of shopping from virtual stores is another reason why you should take your business online. More and more companies are now hosting their services or products online since people now prefer to browse and order from their own homes. Be it groceries, health supplies, apparel, food items, or any other product; your business will thrive through an online store, as the ability to reach consumers will increase tenfold.
Moreover, if you decide to avail a loan to capitalise on this opportunity, many lenders now offer a business loan EMI calculatorto help you understand the loan details. This will help you choose a loan that fits your needs and strategize accordingly to open up an online store.
Providing higher supply for higher demand
The numerous lockdowns have also created a crisis in terms of product unavailability. However, as authorities are gradually lifting lockdowns, several businesses are trying to bounce back, but the scarcity of goods is still an issue.
Taking your business online will also help in solving this by providing consumers with scarce products whenever they need them. All they have to do is check your website or online store, choose the products, and order. This will lead to an increasing number of consumers purchasing from your online store, as they don’t have to face the problem of low supply.
With lenders offering a great deal with their business loan interest ratesamidst the lockdown, setting up your online store can be surprisingly easy.
Additional Read: How taking your business Online would Help in a Post Lockdown World
Staying in touch and providing customer care
Given how important social media has become, especially during the pandemic, it is paramount that your business has a networking account on portals like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.
Without it, your company will remain invisible, as you won’t be able to reach and engage a larger audience to scale your business. This gap will negatively impact your sales.
Creating your virtual presence on social media, along with an online store, will help you stay within the consumer’s radar. More importantly, it will instil faith in the customer that they can purchase from you anywhere, anytime.
Choosing the right financial support
In conclusion, the post-lockdown business plan is set to be entirely different than the quint essential one. However, to successfully execute the new-age business requirements during the post-lockdown era, you might need extra financial support, to invest in all the new operatives.
Check out Tata Capital’s business loans, with easy, flexible EMIs, multiple product offerings, and competitive business loan interest rates. These will not only help you resume business but also secure your financial future with successful growth.
Moreover, if you face difficulties estimating the EMI you have to repay, we offer our business loan calculator to help you reach a comfortable instalment number.
Sounds like something you need? Then contact us today to check your business loan eligibility and apply for a hassle-free loan.
11 December 2020
10 mins read
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