Guest AuthorThe author of the article is Sainadh Duvvuru, Co-Founder & Chief Business Officer, HappyLocate.com, a one stop relocation startup based out of the Bangalore.
One peculiar thing about this ongoing pandemic is that it is the first modern pandemic in which the word is racing against time to develop vaccine, medicine and other things to contain this pandemic. The technology is emerging as the most potent tools. As Bill gates said: “This pandemic is just like a world war, the difference being that everyone is on the same side. It is well known that dynamics of this pandemic are being comprehensively decoded with the deployment of technology and constant innovation. As John F Kennedy once observed that the word “crisis” in Chinese is composed of two characters- one representing danger and the other opportunity.
According to a survey done by Mckinsey more than 200 organisations across industries, more than 90 percent of executives said that they expect the fallout from Covid-19 to fundamentally change the way they do business over the next five years, with almost as many asserting that the crisis will have a lasting impact on their customers’ needs. However, more than three-quarters also agreed that the crisis will create significant new opportunities for growth, although this varies significantly by Industry.
There are abundance of examples which are showing the resilience of Indian startup ecosystem and resilience of Indian industrial sector as well. During this pandemic the reoriented business strategy of the startups and industries also showed the coping mechanism developed by them to grapple with this unprecedented challenge. For example repurposing sugar mills, distilleries to manufacture hand sanitizers, low coast toaster size ventilators or using scuba diving kits 3D printed valve stands. So drawing inspiration from all these experience shows that if there is any key to survive this pandemic then that is innovation.
As many experts have already said that to survive the crisis, startup will need to pivot their business model, innovate on revenue streams, and transform the organization. And skipping that in these times will be just like skipping the growth phase of your own venture. Even my personal experience reveals that the need of the hour for the founders of the company is to seek innovative ways to close customer’s sales, aim for advances from customers, start consulting in their area of expertise for an alternative revenue stream, and if possible, sell company assets to extend the runway. So this is my first learning out of this pandemic.
So, we have to understand that by the time that rapid technology and developments during Covid-19 have saved lives and kept economies going. As many reports have also concluded that to survive, every business in the world will truly have to be a technology company.
And my own startup HappyLocate have witnessed that how technology can mitigate some adverse impact of this pandemic.
Addressing Customer Grievances
It’s the most important and most crucial in this pandemic. Since everything has made a swift transition to online mode, one thing that cannot be compromised at any cost is the grievance of the customers. During these troubles times people do have many queries, concerns and questions- thus to get them answered in a few minutes we will have to deploy technology smartly and efficiently.
Increasing Transparency and sharing Data
Since everyone is working remotely, thus technology can come to the rescue of company in terms of sharing data and simultaneously increasing the transparency amongst all stakeholders. So, that is where the technology can become savior for startups in India. Thus technology’s has a very crucial role to play in processing data for different uses.
Contact less movement & Covid-19 Culture
Even before this pandemic struck India, we were slowly and steadily moving onto the online modes. But this pandemic has necessitated for us to go completely the online way. Thus to transact businesses and for strictly adhering to Covid-culture, technology is a must and cannot be overlooked in these times. Rather its deployment needs to be ramped up in various aspects of the businesses that can make everything easier and convenient for customers. So with these steps and deployment of technology I am sure that we will come out of this crisis far stronger and will be able to grapple with enormous challenge very swiftly. This crisis will also prepare us for being equipped to confront with any extenuating circumstance.
Photo by Abet Llacer from Pexels
Aravind Sundaram
Guest Author