We live in a market where we are heavily influenced by what is happening in other countries, their economies, service and products. Our economies are interconnected. What is happening in one country will also influence our economy. Companies and governments are planning for changes in the economy and have the tools to adapt to those changes.

The recent pandemic Covid-19 has changed that. The whole world is hit at the same time and economies worldwide are hurt by the change. The shutdown of corporations does not only put people out of a job it also influences the supply of goods and so also the consumption.

We live in a market where we are heavily influenced by what is happening in other countries, their economies, service and products. Our economies are interconnected. What is happening in one country will also influence our economy. Companies and governments are planning for changes in the economy and have the tools to adapt to those changes.

The recent pandemic Covid-19 has changed that. The whole world is hit at the same time and economies worldwide are hurt by the change. The shutdown of corporations does not only put people out of a job it also influences the supply of goods and so also the consumption.

We have lived in a market where trade has increased twice the growth of GDP.  We have all benefited from globalization and a large part of the world population has because of this been taken out of poverty. We have been exporting our products and services worldwide and been sourcing raw materials and components. Components and assemblies in the automotive industry are passing the borders between Canada, USA and Mexico 8-9 times before the final assembly and the car is delivered. Open trade is part of our system.

Now with shut down industries and people working from home, we have seen a reduction in the use of transit systems, car travelling has reduced oil consumption considerably. The price has tanked.  

We are buying raw materials from all over the world. Suddenly there is a shortage, and we cannot produce. It hits the manufacturing industry but also the medical supply. Much of the raw materials for our drugs are coming from China and India. China has a problem to deliver and India has closed the border to protect the local population.  Our pharmacies restrict medicine to one month at a time.

All countries need ventilators and protective products.  Not only have prices increased but there is also a lack of supply and in many cases, companies refuse to export based on pressure from their local government. “We need it locally”

The problem is that only part of the products are made locally. When USA is producing medical masks they are depending on raw material from pulp mills in Canada. To shut off the supply of masks from USA to Canada, can result in that the Canadian supplier will supply Canadian manufacturers instead. We depend on each other and open trade.

The recent situation has got countries and companies to reconsider their supply management and looking for reshoring, i.e. bringing home manufacturing. We see increasing nationalism. We used to have rules for the manufacturing of goods to secure delivery during the war. Now we have another war where deliveries are essential.

According to recent information, more than 200 000 companies in China have filed for bankruptcy.  The virus outbreak is certainly a contributing reason but the other is the fast increasing labour costs with increased competition from Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam. China is losing some of its dominance as a low-cost producer.  The same happened to Japan a long time ago when Japan was a low-cost producer.

There is a change in the working environment. Many companies are closed down and some staff members are working from home,

Many of those companies and individuals have realized that remote working is working fine and when the market opens many will continue to work from home. That, in the long run, will result in less demand for office space, other types of offices and influence landlords. On the other hand, people working from home will demand larger space and there will be demand for larger apartments, more service in the buildings, like pick-up and delivery of goods, meeting rooms etc.

One Swedish City, Nyköping, (A town 100 km SW of Stockholm) realized the importance of “remote working” 20 years ago and designed a whole community for those working from home. The homes got fibre optics for fast internet and even had a ”clubhouse” for meetings and conferences and pick up and deliveries. This activity combined with many others attracted more companies and a new airport was established in 1984, Stockholm Skavsta Airport, covering 47 destinations all over Europe, thereby creating a new business center competing with Stockholm.

Slowly people are going back to work, starting in Asia but also in Europe and North America is in the planning stage.

We tend to wait for the day we can go back to work to take action. However, many have not planned for the change in the working environment. It is not going back to as usual. We have to adapt to today’s reality. You have to plan now. Not when the market opens.

If you are a restaurant owner, how do you plan to?

1. Attract your clients back
2. People will be reluctant to go to the restaurant it looked like before. You perhaps have to rebuild your restaurant so each family or party have their room. You need to upgrade your ventilation system to filter the air. You do not want to spread the virus through your HVAC system. Will you have “heat sensors” at the door to check each visitor?
3. How are your kitchens set up? Can you promise a safe environment to work in?
4. How would you compensate for the lower “attendance” to make your place profitable?  Perhaps a combination with on-line seminars, cooking or drink mixing with delivery or pick up.
5. Do you have a database  with contact info including e-mails to your client so you can make them special offers to come back
6. Have you set up a system with tablets so your guests could place the order directly to the kitchen? Even doing so in advance with booking a table for a specific time. You have to adapt to a new reality

If you have not prepared yet, then you are late. It is urgent to prepare.

You are a company making in-store displays for beauty products and displays at auto dealers.

Your clients the automotive dealers/manufacturers and the beauty product manufacturers have been hit by not being able to sell from the stores and auto showrooms.

The way we sell cars will be different. More will be carried out via the internet. The client cannot sit opposite a salesman without protection like Plexiglas. The dealer has to supply tools on the internet or via a tablet to allow the client to interact with information and prices.

Cosmetics are typical products in stores with close contact. That will change. Like in the car dealership there has to be a “wall” between client and salesperson. There is information the beauty industry is working on tablets that even can create a smell of perfume.

In any way, the auto and cosmetics industry has to change and so the products and services from the display suppliers.

When the market is back to “normal” they have to aggressively promote the products in a new environment. Have you adapted your products to that new environment and have you been in touch with those clients to see how you can solve this when the market is open?

Now is the time to make those contacts. Not when the market is open. Then it is too late and perhaps your competition has new solutions.

Adapting to the new reality.

During the crisis, we could see how companies adapted and found new solutions to keep their companies going. Those who stayed open had to adapt to the risks and demands for security.

The gym instructors set up classes on Zoom or similar platforms and could let their clients work out at home with the instructor not only seeing the individuals but being able to give advice and run the sessions.

Some beer and liquor producers turned their plants into sanitizer factories

“After ventilators, Xerox now plans to make hand sanitizers”

Libraries with 3d printers started to make protected gear.

Telehealth, with virtual care, blossomed. People needed to talk to a medical professional without visiting a doctor’s office. Your regular family doctor would use facetime, Skype or phone to give you advice.

Libraries with 3d printers started to make protected gear.

Telehealth, with virtual care, blossomed. People needed to talk to a medical professional without visiting a doctor’s office. Your regular family doctor would use facetime, Skype or phone to give you advice.

People with heart problems could with an attached sensor to their body stay at home, with the sensor connected to their cell phone continually updating the patient, the doctor and even call 911 if severe actions are realized.

Sport equipment manufacturers changed manufacturing to protected gear.

Even car manufacturers (GM) started to make ventilators.

Bike stores offered to sell on-line and deliver it free.

Pharma and medical companies “invented” and produced new fast testing equipment.

Fashion industries are making “Mask Art”

I.e. many companies were open to finding new solutions to keep their business going and to survive.  To prosper and survive you have to take action.

“Charles Darwin. It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.”

Restaurants converted their premises to fast food and drink take-out.

Food stores, drug stores and post offices added protective Plexiglas to protect their staff.  A new potential market for furniture and display companies. They even set up special times for seniors and those in essential services like police and medicals.

If you have the right product/service and the right attitude you will be profitable

Open trade.

With a worldwide shortage or of protective gear, ventilators and medicine countries tend to protect their people first despite the dependence of suppliers from all over the world.

Unfortunately, this virus outbreak will change the open markets. Open trade will be reduced and countries will limit the foreign ownership of important industries. We will see some industries supported and protected and even limit their export.

The world is changing and so is trade, business, education and much more.

This is unfortunate and it will limit supply and increase prices.

The viruses out-brake with the limit to meeting and travel has also shown that we can do more with the help of the technology.

Not only have the service and manufacturing industry changed so has also the educational industry. Schools had to find a way to teach on distance and it is here to stay

Schools are scrambling to make technology available for their students and produce programs on-line. The lockdown of conventional teaching because of the recent crisis, coronavirus, is perhaps a sign that we will have to teach differently way in the future.

Today with all technology we could create live on-line learning, teacher-guided but with students physically living in different countries.

The legal industry is using computers and databases to check their contracts and similar cases in lawsuits.

We are now using the digital “signing” of legal documents, making the signing live by using Facetime, Zoom, Skype and other solutions. Zoom’s daily active users jumped from 10 million to over 200 million in 3 months. A new way of using the technology without having to meet physically.

The time has changed from when I started the travel the world in 1970. You had to travel and meet the clients and distributors No cell phones, fax machines and the phone system did not work. I had to meet and talk to people, I.e. relationship building was very important in International business and still is. The tools have changed and it is easier today

Every crisis changes the way we live and work. The 911 changed drastically the way we travel.

This crisis will have a large impact on our way of living and also how we do business study and socialize.

When you manage a company whether it is a small business or a large corporation you have to plan for what if? There are regular ups and downs, the loss of staff, change in the industry, change in the economy, change of currency exchange and much more. This crisis could have been planned for and should have been so, even if it is impossible to plan for the extent of it.

What we have to do now is to plan for the future. We cannot wait until this is over. We have to do it now.

If you are working in a company, what will change and what do you need to do? You have to work on it now. If you are a teacher or dean of a school how do you plan for the rest of 2020 and even more important to plan for the future?  You cannot wait, you have to start yesterday.

Life after Covid-19 will not be the same, but how it will influence you, your staff members, and your students is up to you,

Future success is based on what you do now. If you don’t, there is no future for you and your company.

The crisis will force and create a new way of thinking. We have to face a new reality and adapt to it. Not tomorrow, but today.

Leif Holmvall 
President