Yanina Ovchinnikova
June 03, 2020
Business is now suffering an economic crisis caused by COVID-19. Well-known companies, as well as Startups, have lost funding and a lot of them are now at a risk. Just think for a minute:
- airlines have reduced flights by 50%;
- cinemas are empty;
- travel agencies are taking enormous losses;
- offline education is closed within quarantine measures;
- restaurants are empty, some of them working on delivery;
- even the world-famous Booking and Airbnb are out because of the falling of the tourist flow.
And these are the corporate giants — it’s much harder for them to adapt to the situation than for small businesses. Their companies’ shares are devalued and are being sold. In view of the situation, billions of users will join online services, which provide a great variety of opportunities. It’s an excellent chance for you to realize your idea and improve your business! Let’s look through some cases of what improvements have large companies introduced in order to raise their profit:
1. Education: Coursera’s free online courses
At the end of March, the world’s largest Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) provider Coursera announced that they are offering 100 free online courses in response to Covid-19 till the end of May. But recently Coursera expanded both the number of courses as well as the length of the offer till the end of July.
2. Medicine: KRY treating via App
KRY Swedish company provides telemedicine services in Sweden, Spain, Norway, and France and is the busiest medical application in Europe. The App works as follows. First, a patient enters the information about himself and the symptoms he is experiencing. Then KRY connects the patient with a doctor via video call.
During the pandemic time, the amount of consultations has grown up by 80%.
3. Robotics: new bacteria killers
Robots can’t get sick. This fact makes them ideal for doing work in hospitals and for those who are locked up in isolation.
Dutch company Blue Ocean Robotics develops UVD-robots, which help to kill bacteria and viruses in hospitals through the use of ultraviolet light. Since the launch 2 years ago the production increased by 400% a year.
4. Communication: Microsoft coped with extra noise
Due to the fact that all live meetings are canceled, online meeting platforms, such as London Hopin, flourish.
Microsoft has suggested a new technology that lowers noise during video conferencing. Now nobody will hear the baby crying or a dog barking in the background.
5. Shopping: a relevant selection of goods
UBUY Marketplace has developed a special set of goods relevant nowadays and has made a rapid redirection to the section with sanitizers on sale.
6. Tourism: travel online
Airbnb platform has announced a startup of “Online Experiences” service which allows traveling while staying at home.
7. Leisure: free access for bookworms
ImageComics publishing house has opened a web page with its first editions available for free.
8. Sport: work out and stay in
Now, after temporarily shutting its doors (as per the government’s new rules), FLY LDN has pledged to stream multiple classes via Instagram Live (and later post them on YouTube). All sessions last for 45 minutes and are free.
Crisis is time for opportunities
Crisis — is not that bad as we may consider, it’s time of opportunity! For the small business, for startups, for everybody. Take a look at the situation from the other side. It’s time to introduce something new into your business, change its course and be able to adjust to the situation which, in turn, has shown how digitalization is enormously important.
“If your business is not on the Internet, then your business will be out of business.” Bill Gates
What business improvements have you or your company already made to keep afloat or even get ahead?
