Pandemic and industry outlook in 2021: During the pandemic, I’ve been careful to be focused on the benefits that have come from being locked down. For example, without commuting to the office and attending in-person meeting, my life has become much less rushed. It made me understand that the constant movement of pre-COVID life amplified my anxiety. Now, I feel more relaxed and have more flexibility with my own time. Working from home offers me more quality family time. Also, even though my employees now work remotely from home, we’ve developed stronger personal bonds. Our common concerns and challenges over COVID-19 have facilitated more open, transparent conversations about our feelings.
The short story here is : “focus on the positive parts”. The pandemic created new challenges for everyone, including customers. If you’ve seeing declining sales of existing products and services, think smart about generating revenue by satisfying customers’ emerging needs, needs related and born from the pandemic situation. As you consider possible new revenue sources for your business, I recommend talking with your existing customers. Ask them for their thoughts about how you might modify your services or products to help them solve their new issues and satisfy their new needs. There may be untapped potential that you haven’t yet thought of on your own.
Would you like to know how some CEO’s of major companies viewed the challenges of 2020’s pandemic period ? Lets start with a question that concerns all aspiring entrepreneurs that dream to build the next Amazon: What one piece of advice would you give to a marketplace startup founder today? Here are some answers they gave.
Ethan Diamond, Bandcamp CEO: “Align your business model with the community you’re serving, so that if they succeed, you succeed.”
Lana Elie, Floom CEO: “Always prioritize your unit economics, even if you know marketplaces take time and a lot of traction to fully prove them out. Have a clear path to where they need to be for you to achieve success and how you’ll get there. It’s one of the few things you can rely on in fast-changing times.”
Vishu Gupta, Vice President Engineering, Facebook Marketplace: Pay attention to how your customers are using your product in unexpected ways. For example, Facebook Marketplace was developed after noticing people using Facebook Groups to organize sales. Parents looking to both sell and purchase kids’ items were particularly active in these forums, and we thought we could make community commerce an easier experience. More recently, we saw businesses using Facebook Live to broadcast items for sale, so we’re building tools to make video shopping easier.
Scott Cutler, StockX CEO: For a marketplace to be successful, you have to build trust on both sides. The same goes for your internal teams. Every business faces challenges; some challenges are expected, others you don’t see coming. In order to withstand unforeseen challenges and come out stronger, your team must feel heard and supported by you every day.
And let’s end today’s post with some interesting COVID related news : “$500 bonuses to workers who get a Covid vaccine!” Yes, you read that right, Bolthouse Farms CEO Jeff Dunn announced his plans to give all of his 1,800 full-time hourly employees at the company’s California plant a $500 bonus for getting the Covid-19 vaccine.Bolthouse has vaccinated more than a 1,000 of its 1,800 employees since having its first vaccination clinic on Feb. 26 for employees 65 and older. Since March 12 it has had weekly clinics.
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