Business Ideas in 2020 After The Coronavirus Impact (Updated)

COVID 19 is impacting the world, not just in terms of health, but also in terms of the global economy. Much of the world’s supply chain depends on China to convert raw materials into manufactured products. Global travel has seen sharp rises in cancellations of flights, and hotel bookings. Yet, amid all the negative outlook, the digital economy is taking off due to the same reason.

In this article, We’ll be looking into which industries to avoid and which industries are expected to flourish in 2020. We also like to draw your attention to 2 new articles that we just finish written as a continuation How To Start A New Business During A Pandemic Lockdown and How To Market Your Small Business Online During A Financial Crisis

Industries Impacted by The Coronavirus

According to Bloomberg, Wuhan, the center of the epidemic, has over 384 production sites, with the main industries being automative (146 sites), hardware (68 sites), electrical equipment (48 sites), consumables (32 sites) and others. These sites have been shut down due to the lockdown on the city.

The travel and tourism industry is also badly affected, and this will impact the global tourism industry too. According to The Guardian, tourists and travelers from China were at 173 million people, with spending of over USD250 million last year alone.

Other industries expected to be impacted are the retail and consumer goods industry where goods are manufactured in China.

Another industry impacted by this epidemic is the events and conference industry. For instance, the world’s biggest mobile tradeshow, Mobile World Congress which is scheduled on February 24-27 in Spain this year, is seeing cancellations from participants from major corporations such as Facebook, Sprint and Intel.

Business Ideas Based On Digital Industry

Not just in China, but countries such as Singapore, and parts of the US are offering its staff to work from home. Where previously, work from home or remote work, is only for the moms or those without a serious career position, remote work is now on the rise due to this virus.

1- Sell your physical product online – Whatever physical products that you have, now it is time for you to offer them online. Don’t reinvent the wheel, by creating your own website, just go to the most common online marketplace in your country, here in Malaysia it might be shopee. In the Arab regions, it might be noon.com. You can find out how to do this here HOW TO MARKET YOUR SMALL BUSINESS ONLINE DURING A FINANCIAL CRISIS.

2- Sell your services online– If you are your fitness coach, you should start to offer your course via video conferencing software. In fact, many fitness coaches are already doing it with their existing clients. Some are forced to do it because they accepted payment from clients and can’t be there physically in the midst of a lockdown. Even established celebrities like Suhaimi Sulaiman is offering their expertise online.

3- Solve current pain points – Right now there is a surge of people who need to stay home. So there is a shortage of grocery delivery services. If your locality is experiencing the same problem. We have advanced so much that you don’t really need technical knowledge to come up with an app that brings together physical retailers such as mom and pop shops to offer home deliveries by local riders. You can find out just exactly how to do that here HOW TO START YOUR DELIVERY BUSINESS DURING A PANDEMIC

4- Zoom Video Communications – saw a sharp rise in the downloads and use of its app. Zoom provides the ability for remote work or teleworking via its online video conferencing app and desktop app. Since the date of writing, we like to inform that Zoom has been hacked, so if you are looking to have a meeting we would suggest other alternatives at least until the issue is completely resolved.

5 – Apps and software for remote work. To get an idea of what to develop for remote work, consider productivity-based tools and project management tools. For instance, a software developer could easily create a time-based focus app, that enables a worker to focus on his task, instead of surfing the internet or create a time-tracking tool. Project management tools are also much needed for online collaboration.

6 – Health-based apps – health-based apps that can help reduce the need for patients to wait in clinics and hospitals before being diagnosed. Whether the apps work through video-conferencing between patients and doctors, or through AI chatbots, medical apps that reduce the need for patients to travel for simple diagnosis are becoming more popular.

7 – Beauty filter apps – When people work from home, they also tend to dress down instead of dress up. Giving them lighthearted tools to improve their looks on a videoconference, is also something worth looking into.

5 – Livestream videos – When people are stuck indoors, they still need to feel connected. By having live stream videos, whether in keep fit classes, or even video games, the need for humans to connect in real-time is still very much innate in all of us.

Going Digital Is Easier Than You Think

In summary, what the coronavirus is doing is making more people dependent on digital technology to connect and communicate with each other, as the need to refrain from travel becomes more.

If anything this pandemic is wake up call and ushering everyone from homemaker to decision-maker to adopt digital technology, in order to survive and stay relevant. Even street cobblers are now taking orders digitally. Anybody can offer their service online these days the only question is are you addressing the right problem that people are facing

Farah I, Writer & Researcher

Farah Ishak is a Content Writer at Halalop. She grew up in the United Kingdom where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Management. Later, she completed her MBA and held senior-level positions in Malaysian based MNC. She left the corporate world to be with her young kids. She is passionate about issues concerning Muslim women, Startups and Muslim businesses in general.