Pandemic Influenced Business Model”

This article belongs to the Section of Replace  Box Thinking. It is not thinking out of the box but replacing the whole box to think in a new paradigm. The pandemic has changed the model of doing existing business and has invented new business models. There is behavioural change also mixed within the business model change. New leaders and leadership will take birth in this pandemic.  Many old industries will be out of the business and many new business opportunities and revenue enhancement will come forward. The global economy and the Indian economy is going to go through these changes and hence the world is about to witness a new economy.

“Being Healthy” is the new industry which will attract huge inflow as the pandemic has created the biggest fuel called fear. Yes, fear is the new fuel. Being unhealthy is fear and living an unhealthy life is fear. Lockdown has changed our habits and has made us focussed towards Meditation, Yoga, cardio, GYM, healthy eating which translates into a behavioural change. This change is a big opportunity for various industries and much new form of business lines will come forward. Well, I am not accentuating on pharmacy and hospitals. I am focusing on “Being Healthy”. Post lockdown people will not be interested in unhealthy habits since it took almost two months till now to get out of those bad habits. Hence they will focus towards a different lifestyle. Post lockdown we will witness significant people joining our morning wok or Gym routines.

The behavioural aspect has also changed within these 40 days. People have now learnt how much they spend on junk and unnecessary, unhealthy foods and how much it cost their health and wealth. Very soon people will seek healthy foods and a healthy diet. The glamour of maintaining health habit and lifestyle is no longer a treasury of the cash-rich. It now belongs to a common people routine.

Intellectual property rights will find significant jump as new product lines and business models will come up.  The whole global economy will witness a new set of industries and models coming out from the lockdown phase and IP will find significant proof of the same. Indian pharmacy industry will find significant growth as API will be now produced in India and also Drug Parks will come up to push the demand for investments. Digital medicine model and doctor facility will grow in the urban markets now. The lockdown based business models will bring new services and new job opportunities but obviously, it will take time and nothing on an immediate basis.

MSME in this field will chip in with larger player to create economies of scale. Large will sue their capital base and MSME will come forward with the industrial base to leverage and create new opportunities and meet demand. Biotechnology will find significant growth and jump. Bioengineering along with advanced computing will give birth to the prosperity of synthetic biology. Well, India produces 7 times more engineers as compared to the US hence more opportunities are about to come up. Well this MSME and large corporates tie-up business model will now be a trend as a business will look to strengthen through collaborative business models.

Another segment of the industry where many new channels of revenue opened up is the supply chain. Those who were struggling under the previous business model will find new opportunities in the supply chain segment. The lockdown created a huge problem for the supply of essential materials and commodities to the common people. Trucks and other road modes were completely stopped. More importantly, Indian government directed home delivery of essential goods but there was a shortage of mode of offering the same. Zomato, Swigy, Uber type of service providers came up and did some wonderful tie-ups with Flipkart and amazon and took forward the invention of another business and revenue model. If during lockdown they can come up with these business models then post lockdown this will be another game-changer for the Indian supply chain segment. Ola and uber can also join the supply chain logistic segment and can drive a new business model. Apart from passenger delivery, it can look into goods delivery which is a big opportunity and also a big gap in the supply chain business model.

 Technology platforms like Zoom and hangout followed with various type of Home office work culture type of software’s will find significant growth. Online collaborative platforms will change the business model. A company will now have different options for maximising business growth followed with cost optimization. Fixed cost component will now be split into “Work From Home Culture” and hence these software companies and technology companies will find a significant growth in opportunity on a larger scale.

Well, India needs an entrepreneurial mindset and new leaders who will manage these business models. Challenges and opportunities are equally created in this lockdown which will be visible post lockdown as the global economic progress. Easy and less time-consuming production technology of essential supplies which are part of the disaster management will now come up opening gates of opportunity. In the coming days, we will witness the birth of “Pandemic Influenced Business Model”.