COVID19: Who Will Survive – Six months ago to the date, I was sitting in this very chair in early January and thinking about the year to come.
by Kevin James Culp
Photo by Dan Burton on Unsplash
It was also a Sunday and I was catching up on work that is best suited for quiet, early mornings when writing seems to come easier. I have to be honest that I didn’t sleep much that night and for good reason. Let me explain.
I was uploading an interview video to our new YouTube Channel and another new video popped in that was trending. So, I gave it a click to see what it was all about and I was transfixed to the screen. That day I watched a video from a massive tech-rich, modern city in China populated by over 11 million that I’d never heard of and it made me think very quickly how what was going on there could possibly play out here.
Large high-density populations with businesses all built on the survival of one another was my thought process at the start. Who would win, who would lose, who would thrive, who would die out and who would take their place with the possible births of new industries?
In our darkest hour, we find solutions and many find means to sell the same product or service in new ways or to new buyers.
Okay, so back to the news and now I have turned on the major news networks and not much on this topic. I did some Google searches and most of the information seemed to be YouTube. This new *coronavirus information that was spreading fast throughout their business world; this was especially true in the medical small business world that described something very bad coming.
COVID19: Who Will Survive: What Is The Percentage of Small Businesses in America?
99.9%! I bet you didn’t know that statistic. *A small business is defined as a business (corporation, limited liability company or proprietorship) with 500 employees or less. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration ( SBA ), small businesses represent 99.9% of all U.S. businesses. Mom and Pop Business Owners Day: March 29, 2020 In 2017, Nonemployer Statistics for the U.S. estimated 25.7 million nonemployer establishments with $1.2 trillion in sales, value of shipments or revenue.
The reason you ask?
Like 2008/2009, I saw a huge dip in sales in late 2019 right around and after the Superbowl that I could not account for that started to bleed into 2020. Something big was happening and it was global. In 2008, I saw a dip just like this a few months prior but nothing like what was to come this time.
I witnessed more people entering the home-based business market than I had ever known existed or was possible. Real Estate salespeople to high-finance folks who wouldn’t give you the time for coffee in 2007 would suddenly be your best buddy for a deal on an ad in late 2008. It was a strange time to be sure. It was however, a very different time and that got me to thinking about how this would impact entrepreneurs who owned home-based businesses, distributorships, businesses-in-a-box, low-cost businesses and the industry as a whole now in 2020/2021.
This was not snowflakes falling on cedar. No, this was real and something is amiss and warning signs started early on yet not many worried for some reason in those early days.
However, unlike 2008/2009 the crash this time would be much different and much more pronounced in many new ways that we didn’t see in the prior financial crisis. Let me explain this from the perspective of someone who sells advertising and business opportunities and the opportunities themselves so I see both sides of the business.
Both six months later are still hurting very badly with some bars and entertainment venues now looking at what their 2021 schedules will look like.
COVID19: Who Will Survive: What Was the First Tangible Sign Here The Economy Was Stalled?
The first sign something was really off was when business opportunities that relied almost solely on their products who being manufactured in China couldn’t get renewal stock or orders field and when they did it took much longer than usual. I could see some business opportunities that are usually run from home starting to struggle to fill orders. Some opportunities started to see a drop in interest and leads then fell off the cliff for almost two-thirds of all opportunities for weeks in January/February as many had no idea what to do.
What was the root cause of the general slowdown? Also, what was really going on in China and there were so many years from a few business opportunities delaying their orders all of the sudden? This is not a good sign for an opportunity owner. If the root cause if not horrible sales or mismanagement than the root cause might be much deeper and require a closer look.
I thought to myself is anyone looking to open a Subway Franchise right now? Answer no. Love me some Subway! So, I’m a lover of their food but I’m but I did think straight away that many franchises will be hurt the most, the deepest and for the longest period of time in many cases. Why? Much of the expansion in this sector has been into the service sector or entertainment sector and both took a serious hit.
Other medical supply distributors I know or service as clients hit unseen marks in their sales last Holiday season and for some that grew even into late January. What many had reported as record profits of PPE sales realized they had just sold most of their PPE stock to foreign buyers. Same was true for some medical tech and other services.
Some smaller companies thought that they were just having a great quarter or a string of bonus-quarters of what has been an incredible run in our economy in almost all respects for years. No warning bells went off at that stage and this was just as we hit the third week in January as the news started to turn.
COVID19: Who Will Survive: Some companies early on knew they were more prepared than others. They were willing, like-minded, able, ready, inclined, disposed and most of all organized for a shutdown. Some who had been giving away free Wi-Fi for instance and gathering emails and phone number of their core customer base and who knew who made up their prime online ordering were obviously ahead of the transition to curbside pick-up when that became allowed.
“The world seems a lot different today than just 30 days ago. Global markets have taken a massive plunge, schools have shut down globally, shopping malls have closed, the NBA has suspended its season, the Tokyo Olympics have been moved 2021, almost everybody who can manage it is working from home (that’s if they haven’t been let go), and public gatherings have been outlawed — it’s like nothing we’ve seen since perhaps World War 2,” said Steve Glaveski in a piece I was reading earlier that sparked this blog post today.
Now, if this shift to working from home is what everyone wanted in the home-based industry that they got a huge dose of reality recently in many cases. Some business opportunities became obsolete while others gained popularity because of quarantine.
Those that employed tech in varied degrees tended to be able to make the shift much faster. Take online ordering for instance. Those looking to employ this tech should look into iPushSales Master Reseller as one option if you’re reading this and own an establishment that can benefit from this service. If you want a solid business opportunity that can be worked from home and that you can earn from home with iPushSales can be a solid solution to your long-term growth goals in multiple ways.
While other companies were slow to shut down as they are to reopen. Some are caught up in a mixture of local, state and national rules that are either difficult to understand, impossible to follow or they just can’t report because of the type of licensee they have. Bars for example or establishments that service more alcohol than food in some sort of percentage. It seems to vary from state-to-state so for the purpose of this article it suffices to say that I’ll focus on the optimistic possibilities for grwoth.
Now, does this translate into more people flooding the market looking for quick money? Yes. Will this flood translate into long-term sales success? No. The reason for my one-word answer is simple. The same millions of people currently out of work will one day return. I’m not a statistician so I’m not sure of the numbers. It will be quite a bit and then what is left when unemployment runs out will start to open businesses or work ones they purchased.
COVID19: Who Will Survive: Who Will Thrive?
I choose to focus on the optimistic side of the balance and look for ways to identify new business opportunities or opportunities that might been obsolete and are now hot once again.
- Work-from-Home – No-touch, business opportunities like Be The Boss
- Super hot will be online businesses like The Home Franchise System
- Free Wi-Fi systems to build that critical core base that many missed like iPushSales
- Online tax processing business opportunities like 1040TaxBiz
- Dropshipping opportunities like Dropshipping Business Shortcut
- Food delivery apps and ordering systems
- Wellness-related opportunities like rNetwork
- e-Learning Platforms
- Online media and entertainment
- Supplement-related business opportunities like RegenaLife
- Gaming consoles and platforms like Surf-Party-in-Box
- Online stores like Dollar Store
What Will Be New?
- The rebirth of QR Code will grow in a massive way like Account Medical
- New uses for LED tech like Smart Benches
COVID19: Who Will Survive: How Will We Grow & When?
When it comes to identifying opportunities that will fall into the winner category you need to ask yourself some serious questions not only about the opportunity but about yourself. Now, why is this growth very different than the 2008 growth the home-based industry saw? The simple answer is the side-gig industry grew massively in the last decade and since that time hundreds of thousands have not only gone home but stayed home.
Most who did are more productive working from home and most spend less than they did on items like transportation and clothing. Employers spend less on commercial space and related items so it ends up as a win for both parties usually. Homeworkers end up with more time for things they love like reading a book, playing a sport, hangin’ with friends or just getting some extra rest we all need.
The other huge factor is the limitations to benefits that many are getting with an added bonus of say $600 per week. If you are getting roughly $850 a week from the government for up to however many weeks this will last many who would have been paid off permanently are in limbo and need the benefits. Many of these furloughed workers would have gone with a fast-money maker, side-gig or many made a smarter choice and bought into a real opportunity that matches the needs that can grow with them.
In any case, the point of this is that the times have changed and so have the rules. If you want your benefits you have to answer honestly under penalty of fraud that you are not making any money from any additional sources. If you do answer ‘Yes’ it appears that most are not getting any benefits or less than they would have. Heck, some are still not even getting benefits and I feel for each and every person out there.
Some advertisers (COVID19: Who Will Survive) have wondered why some have not flocked to their opportunity. I say, patience is needed and the flood will come when the free money runs out and people who are not hired back, who are not asked to work somewhere else and can’t find traditional employment will seek to open their own business and join the millions of small business owners who will thrive in this new economy. Why will they thrive in my opinion over all? Because of the rise of the home worker is upon us!
It is here to stay for many of us and the people who have been in this field for decades understand how freeing it can be to make your own hours, own your own business and make it your way.
Thanks for Reading and Carpe Diem My Friends!
SOURCES: Wikipedia, United States Census Bureau, U.S. Small Business Administration ( SBA ), COVID19: Who Will Survive
*The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China in December 2019.
