If such a term exists, post-Covid-19 business will be very different to what we were all used to before Corona spread throughout the world.
For company owners, managers and employees, going back to work after a month of lockdown will be quite surreal. There won’t be the luxury of nostalgia, as the ‘good old days’ will be exactly that.
As all South Africans desperately need to get back to work, in whatever shape, form or manner, we are going to have to recalibrate our understanding of what ‘normal’ means.
As I sat with my wife this last weekend to work out which sectors are going to be more heavily impacted upon, and which are going to be more resilient, we arrived at a surprising conclusion.
We asked ourselves whether it would be the construction sector that would be more heavily impacted than tourism.
Or how the restaurant industry may be weakened because of the stringent social distancing requirements.
Would agriculture be a lucky winner because it has been least impacted by the disease, and not subjected to the same stringent lockdown regulations that other sectors have?
All sectors will face an uphill struggle when re-opening, to re-capture markets and begin to return to some level of economic survival.
Indeed the lockdown has provided consumers with an opportunity to reflect, determine their real needs as opposed to wants, and decide whether they are going to step their lifestyles down by a notch or two.
I think the answer is obvious. Of course this is going to happen.
As entrepreneurs, leaders, business owners and managers we are going to have to expect this, plan for it, and re-shape our business models to ensure survival, and longer term sustainability.
It will be less about which sector you are in, as it will be about how agile you are as a leader in your thinking, when re-designing your business model.
The way you are going to do business will be different, that is certain.
However, to what degree are you going to be willing to embrace new technology, explore new markets, and assume risk in moving forward?
In these uncertain times the metal of our leaders is going to be tested.
Whatever the futures holds for us, we cannot wait for the future to come to us, we are going to have to go to the future.
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