The hit list continues. The corona virus hits both business and personal health. It does not discriminate globally.
The following industries are expected to be hit significantly as factories shut down operations and people reduce travel, practise social distancing and are subject to local government lockdowns or movement control orders (MCO).
- Export-oriented manufacturers
- Leisure
- Tourism
- Hospitality
- Aviation
- Real estate
- Brick & Mortar businesses without an online presence
The question is:
Which businesses will have sufficient cashflow to outlast the pandemic?
Pivot. This is a familiar word to the startup world. Businesses’ whose business model has been impacted by the change in customer behaviour, market environment on top of the already changing customer demands may need to consider pivoting or at least, diversifying to survive the crisis.
Digital usage has peaked in many countries as people get used to the new normal, remote working and social distancing. Companies who have embarked on digital transformation journeys will now be competing with the whole world as everyone is now forced to go digital.
New delivery models.
New payment models.
New value streams.
New sales channels.
New partnerships.
How will businesses and people (forced to change) rebuild their lives?
Technological changes have almost always opened up contradictory possibilities. On the one hand it creates new job opportunities and reduces manual work and on the other hand, it has resulted in redundancies, destruction of local knowledge and health hazards of all kinds. (Byars & Rue, 2003)
Now that the world is forced to change, people are adapting to remote working. Mindsets are changing, skillsets are being augmented. Those who refuse to change will be left behind.
As employees struggle with the issues gig economy workers have been facing for years, companies that have strong competencies in the areas of remote workforce management, collaboration, operational efficiency management, project management and finance will quickly gain a competitive advantage as they move in to business recovery mode.
The days to come will be very interesting.
In order to support our clients during this difficult period, we are levaraging our remote-working experience to jump in as an extra pair of expert hands, working hand-in-hand with our clients to help them through this crisis. We are offering affordable new retainer packages addressing remote team management, crisis communications, staff upskilling/ operational efficiency packages and crisis management brainstorming / action plans. We are also launching a series of online talks addressing business continuity, cashflow management, project management, retrenchment and other commercial and legal issues etc. in collaboration with our related company MahWengKwai & Associates.
Let the innovation games begin.
Meanwhile, our forecasts for the coming days (as delivered in our online seminar) are as follows:
- Social Distancing until nil new Covid-19 cases or vaccine becomes available
- Extensions of Movement Control Orders (MCOs) + Gradual lifting/ tightening of MCOs by locality
- Safety precaution requirements at work sites
- Business model innovation with strong digital strategies
- Cashflow management crucial for SMEs
- Hybrid-Remote working becomes new normal
Whilst the MCOs are ongoing, businesses would do well to review their cashflow positions (for the coming 3-9 months) and seek new opportunities whilst formulating and executing their business continuity plans.
(updated 7/4/2021)
One year ago, we made 6 daring forecasts, all of which have come true in one way or another. We are grateful for the companies that continue to reach out to us amidst the pandemic and are happy to help you adjust to the new norm.
In Malaysia, social distancing is the new norm, with local travel permitted within certain zones/ states.
In India and Singapore, much of life has reverted to the same, with no travel and hybrid-remote working becoming the new norm for many.
Our forecasts for the coming days will be released in a separate post (COMING SOON!).
Get in touch if you would like to discuss how to move forward in your innovation journey.
Schedule a complimentary 30-min chat with our Principal Consultant, Mei Lum here…
Mei Lum is a co-Founder of MWKA Technologies. She is an ASEAN CPA, Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, a strategist, business architect, entrepreneur and alumnus of PwC and UOB with over 15 years of global work experience. She is also a member of Women Who Code, Mensa and supports Teach for Malaysia.
Her superpower is leveraging data and translating tech requirements between the end users and IT talent. Mei designs, codes, likes data, numbers and people. She finds joy in innovation, human-centred design and business transformation strategies. She is also a mum of three and is passionate about continuous learning, mental health, inclusive cultures, remote work, cloud and mobile technologies.
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MWKA Technologies is a remote-friendly agile strategic research consultancy. We empower clients in Europe + Asia Pacific to unlock 10x value by transforming customer experience + facilitating sustainable change + continuous innovation.
We are a diverse team of experienced IT, legal, finance & compliance professionals who have the mindset, skillset and commercial acumen you need to help you succeed.
