When the new year arrived on 1 January 2020, who would have even dreamt of the situation we are in now. We started hearing new words like social distancing, masks, sanitizers, lockdown and the like.

Diwali is here and has the situation changed? Well may not be in full but we must also admit that it has ushered in new ways of doing business. Those who understand this have come out successful.

But the saying “A successful entrepreneur does not take risks. S/he learns how to manage risks” became true.

There are two shops near my house.  One shop closed down because no one was coming anymore for purchases. But the other one, thrived. How? Simply because the shop owner started home deliveries.

His first target were the senior citizens. When he found that some found it difficult to order things he went one step further, he printed his mobile number in the form of a QR code and pasted it in the houses of his regular customers. Took the extra step to teach the seniors how to scan the QR Code. He added more customers during this COVID period and 24 hours is not enough for him. 

Let me narrate my own experience. I went to USA just before the lockdown and was held up there for four months. In the meantime, I identified the great opportunity for face recognition. Developed a face recognition based attendance system, sold it to a US pharmaceutical giant. Now we have over 10 customers including MNCs. That was just due to a casual chat with the IT director of the pharma company who said he had replaced all biometric terminals because these could spread the virus. I must also thank this company who supported me throughout without even knowing if it will work.

Suddenly the online portals have seen their business improve many folds mainly because people hesitate to go shopping. WhatsApp is now used by business to showcase their products and even accept orders and delivers.

Isn’t it a new trend which will not go away even after the virus goes away.

Businesses who understand this and shape their business accordingly, are sure to succeed.

As the saying goes “When one door closes, another opens” and this has been proved true.

We develop software for the paint industry and one thing I noticed is that the paint industry is still offline. Can you buy paint online? May be yes, but it is very limited. Why not the paint dealers open up their own portals and offer paint online? Yes I can hear doubtful voices. But every problem has a solution.

Think out-of-the-box and not one but several new opportunities will become visible. It is for us to take advantage of these.

Wishing you all a very happy Diwali and more success by ushering a new wave of doing business.

Also read: Do you have a powerful vision for yourself?

To explore business opportunities, link with me by clicking on the 'Connect' button on my eBiz Card.

Image source: shutterstock.com

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.