Chapter 21 ( Post Covid-19 )
Just like a thief in the night, we were attacked. So sudden and the attack has been MASSIVE.
So what happens next? What does the future hold? Are we safe? Our businesses, our health, our finances, basically our SANITY.
I cannot remember any time recently where we experienced an attack an eighth close to this one. The Covid-19 pandemic has hit global trade and investment at an unprecedented speed and scale.
On the other hand, going online and remote working is creating opportunities for some business and forcing reflection on the worlds usual 8-5 working hours.
Everyone has been affected. The measures are what is different. Interestingly it is working positively for some businesses, the online businesses for example, the telecoms and so forth. But to the majority of US, we are defeated.
I had 2 IG live sessions with service providers in our line of work a couple of weeks ago. The first Sunday I spoke to my fellow Tanzanian service providers in our industry of weddings and events. Everyone said what they thought, what they felt and what they wish to see happen with regards to our government, finding ways in their power to help us. The following Sunday I spoke to my fellow event planners and decorators from other African countries. There was a slight difference in how some of their governments were offering some assistance to them which personally wowed me. But generally everyone now has to go back to the drawing board to see how we can take it from here.
During this period of uncertainty, a lot of hidden talents are being nurtured and some grown, an air of positivity is emerging. As entrepreneurs we need to know what we shall be doing in the next 3 months or so, planning ahead, are we going to be able to pay salaries? We no longer have events hence no income, what will be our new source of income to be able to survive? Pay rent? Buy food? Upkeep? Is there a way for us to get short term payday till we are able to create new sources of income as the world goes back to normal.
There are so many other things that will come out of this apart from the economic issue, a lot of mental and emotional issues as well. We now need to look out for other opportunities out there, as much as it will be difficult for some people who have attached their lives to their current businesses, unfortunately we may have to let go or restructure in a way that is literally Novel.
For instance, us, the wedding planners, the world is now going MORE digital which means even the weddings are going to be virtual. We have seen some couples already doing that, they no longer want to wait till this pandemic comes to an end, which we can’t predict. What does this mean? Do we now have to do away with some of our decor items? Since weddings are now going to be smaller hence people don’t need a lot of stuff in their warehouses? Are we going to take online classes to have better tech skills in knowing how to handle the virtual weddings? Are we going to let our offices go and only plan to have virtual meetings with our potential future clients? Because the truth is, all these meetings and negotiations can actually be done online.
Everyone has a personal goal, as much as our problem is the same, we all need to know how we shall get over this and wake up and walk again. This has come as a lesson, we need to learn to always have financial plan B’s , have more than one skill that can generate an income, but also accept mentally the change that this pandemic has brought .
We had about 3 months to prepare ourselves before COVID-19 would get to Africa, but we didn’t. Because we never saw it coming here, which was not so smart of us because planes were still flying and the virus travels with US humans, so YES we should have seen this coming and probably handled our finances better 5 months ago.
So to wind up this post, what do we see 3 months from now in our line of business?
Price change – this is a must. As much as a client thinks prices will go down, I don’t see that happening because for instance the flower farms worldwide are going through so much of a loss right now by having to burn and throw away flowers rotting in the farms. When we have to resume purchasing flowers, they will for sure hike the prices up to cover up for this current loss, at the same time we also cannot compromise on the quality of the work no matter the current financial situation.
Small crowds– as much as people must still get married, we will have to ensure our clients are safe by considering all the safety measures, i.e we may need to have the full body sanitization machines to ensure maximum protection for all guests.
Loss of Jobs – unfortunately we will have to do away with some of our staff because we will no longer need a lot of people since the work will not be big, at the same time some people will have added more skills to what they already know hence making them more ideal and fit for a smaller team.
MCs being needed less – Unfortunately for them they will lose out on a lot of gigs even after we resume having non virtual weddings. The celebrations being smaller makes it easier for clients to just use a family member to give the few instructions needed at a wedding or to help out with the flow of the reception. I mean I don’t think it will be of much need having an MC at a wedding of 20 people or so. That is more like a dinner and less formalities. Even the couples who would need MCs will definitely ask for a lower price since the crowd being catered to is very small.
Venue hires – Events reduced in size means many people will opt to use their home compounds to celebrate their weddings or those with very small compounds may decide to hire smaller venues or use hotel spaces like the gardens for the small gathering celebrations.
In the long run, eventually the virus will end, but the world will never be the same because of the effect Covid-19 would have left.
Thousands of companies will have to let go of their office spaces because we can see currently how people are remote working and things are still moving, employees are still meeting deadlines at the comfort of their houses, thus making companies rethink whether big office spaces are actually needed.
Facebook and Google have closed their offices until 2021 so all their employees are working from home… Noticed any changes with regards to the services they offer us? NO. And that means companies saving millions on rent.
The internet is by far one of the best things to ever happen to this world. When we get to chapter 21, so many job opportunities shall be created online, which means people can now get hired across the continents and not having to migrate. Do the interview online, deliver your tasks online, get your payment wired to you online at the end of month. This is actually one positive thing that will come out of this pandemic. A lot of time and money will also be saved, people will not need to go for interviews physically, people will not need to stay in traffic for hours daily, yearly just to go to work because working remotely will be the new life.
Cities will no longer be as crowded, less people on the road hence less pollution in the long run. Something our dear Earth has been craving for years.
To the health and fitness people, there are so many applications being used currently because people can no longer go to the gym, with very little, improvised or no equipment at all, and still manage to burn calories and keep fit, STILL at the comfort of our homes. Once we make this a habit, very few times would one need to spend money paying the gym. We also can’t go to our fave restaurants currently, a lot of our hidden cooking skills are now surfacing and we can make the most delicious meals on our own, with the help of ‘google’ to get all sorts of recipes, and cater to that craving. In the long run, we shall learn to just make most special meals on our own and just dine indoors while saving a lot of money at the same time. Covid-19 will install money saving skills and habits to us, which we actually need because we are currently not making the money we use to.
Covid-19 is a global tragedy but one we shall live to tell and shall live to be told generations to come.
Aspiring entrepreneurs, now is the time to START, you don’t need to wait to have capital so that you can get an office, you don’t need to save a lot of money to go to school, you can get all the knowledge you need to jumpstart your career online for a very affordable rate, and some actually free, you simply need the internet and the comfort of your home and use this opportunity that the world is changing to a direction we all never saw, to actually create and nurture something of your own, keeping in mind to always be prepared for CHANGE.
It has been 2 years or so since I last blogged, yet I was extremely hooked on this “hobby”
Some of the personal POSITIVE things that have come out of this CORONA tragedy. Let’s see how consistent we shall try to be.
Keep staying safe guys, and lets not forget to PRAY,
-G.S