We Shall Overcome One Day!
There is no doubt to claim that COVID-19 has been very challenging for the whole world to endure and endlessly fight till today. It has been more than a year now when people are still sitting and thumping over the poor keyword of their laptops or desktops for their tasks. This also includes, tirelessly getting connected with online meetings, churning their brain out to bring something well sustainable during this crisis. And, why not! There have been throttling instances where businesses affected by covid 19 got abruptly nibbed. Be it from the shop or home-run business, people have experienced pangs of the pandemic where the scenario has seen the ultimate coronavirus impact on businesses across the world. But remember, ‘every cloud has a silver lining’.
Keeping the grey days under the table, there have been brighter days for some. Here, you’ll know the best hand-picked people with their success stories who have been Pied Piper for businesses and have been persistent in transforming challenges into opportunities.
Suparshva Swabs
Before answering your question that how has the coronavirus affected businesses. It is wise to state that people have amped up situations to de-affect the shades of coronavirus. Delhi-based Suparshva Swabs took over the charge for extending safe yet economical swab testing accessories. With the ongoing partial lockdown and rising trend of COVID-19 cases. There have been crumbling imports of polyester swab material for testing from other countries. Being Samaritan from the heart. This family business arranged 100% cotton swab products within 10 days.
Rahul Jain, entrepreneur & partner of Suparshva Swabs said, “We are the first Indian company to develop special polyester-spun swabs for COVID-19 testing. We started making two million polyester swabs a week and grew them to five million a week towards the end of May.”
Stitch & Story
Bring the old millennial of knitting and crochet back to life was not easy. But certainly, it was difficult. With a sweet smile on the face, Jennifer Lam co-founder and business partner Jen Hoang started the business to teach the young generation the skill of crochets and knitting. Lam said, “When we started, crafting was seen as really old-fashioned and people just didn’t understand how to do it”.
So, keeping heed with time and therein when businesses affected by covid 19. Stitch & Story got a new horizon with a spur of people keen to learn the native skill. She adds, “It’s just perfect for now. So many people are sick of working in front of a screen all the time. Crafting is seen as a break from that”.
However, since 2020 business days have been tough. Be it globally or pan-India, it is well estimated that coronavirus impact in business would have been huge. As stated by the Hindu Business Line Report, a global survey that got conducted confirmed that 57% of Indian organizations have experienced a slowdown due to data loss in 2020. A torrent of layoffs in the industry related to leisure and hospitality also sank with job losses and pushing the US economy from its thrust.
But, still when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Things will get changed with time. Just have a strong belief to overcome the shadow path which has become darkened.
Bioline India
Indeed, the usage of sanitizer, masks, and other rapid cleansing things have seen a rise in 2020. Earlier this, such things were present in the market but its true usage got started since last year. Getting started from Indore, Bioline India was flagged by Neeta and her late husband Rajeev Goel in 2001 to manufacture and supply affordable medical equipment.
She said, “we have been supplying them to local hospitals for sterilization. This caught eye mainly after coronavirus clasped the nation”. With the hike in usage, people have understood the importance of it. Of course, keeping quick medical supplies handy for any use at any time. Neeta added, “The COVID-19 skyrocketed the demand of this once slow-moving product so much so that the team is now working 24×7 to meet the demand”.
Homescape
Have you got your most easy and comfortable sitting place for your work-from-home? Well, it’s never too late before you find something great for your benefiting productivity. Yeah, the sitting space should be calm and spacious. Also, it should have proper furniture so that you do not doze off while your google meet or zoom meet discussions stay on. So, if you haven’t still got one, Manoj Khandelwal of Homescape will help you to get that. The Bengaluru-based Manoj came up with the initiative named ‘Homescape’ that was coined to provide furniture to people working from home. Keeping up with the dedication and belief to overcome hurdles, Manoj wave off the grey clouds which could let his businesses affected by covid 19.
The main idealization behind this stands to extend comfortable and easy furniture while working. So, be it tables, chairs, and desks Homescape has everything that will give you a safer space at home while you continue working without having a hurdle for sitting.
Additionally, Manoj said, “The ideation of Homescape happened when we saw people are facing issues while setting up offices at home. This was affecting their productivity enormously. Since we foresaw that work from home would become the norm shortly, we decided to provide furniture to these people”.
When Vada-Pav went Online
You can ask that how has coronavirus affected businesses? Keeping an eye on the outbreak in the country, you will say that the effect is poor and heartbreaking. But, try to see the other side of the coin. Savita Dishe hailing from Satara, Maharashtra did not pull herself back after the failure of her first business. She again made herself ready to challenge the times and open new opportunities. Like others, she coined the idea of making nutritional snacks. Now, you must be thinking that what is so extraordinary in it? Well, due to reverse migration, laborers were back from big cities like Mumbai and Pune. All needed earning to make themselves sustainable. Savita chose to provide a helping hand to them by making Mumbai-style vada-pav in the vicinity. This was certainly a ray of light for Savita as well as others as businesses affected by covid 19.
The word got spread from Whatsapp and through the power of word-of-mouth. With days, she got a long list of patrons. Everything got the touch of online- be it billing, receiving orders, and of course payment. It was a pure contactless process and like others, Savita once again smiled with others to help and become sustainable as the crises rose manifold up since the previous year.
PPE kits overthrew the demands of Garments
It can be understood that fashion for time being has taken a backseat so that people could get another chance to enjoy life freely. Enumerable businesses affected by covid-19 have become silent forever but one should find a route to come out as a winner. Then the things will get a 360-degree turn. Noida-based Hula Global founder Karan Bose was left without any choice to make his business sustainable even if he got brilliant ideas for his garment shops. Everything was looking blunt for him before he started manufacturing PPE kits. Sooner with time, he excelled in developing and producing N95s masks, coveralls, surgical gowns, and face shields.
Karan adds, “After the pandemic hit us, the supply chain of our garments category was badly affected as exports were shut down. We couldn’t foresee the demand for the garment in the near future. Coronavirus came as a major threat to our business, and to not to lose the battle, we mulled over the idea of pivoting into PPE kits”.
…. This list is not enough as businesses affected by covid 19 are many. Many other such stories are braving the covid times so that their #NewNormal could bring laurels in their lives. Remember, hard days come and go. But, people bracing hard times become immune to any type of situations and conditions for lifelong.
Stay Cool | Stay Fit | Stay Good | Stay Positive (in your thoughts & work)
Time is due to Change!
