The 21st century is digital or not at all. That’s how the current decade should have started, and 2020 is bringing, sadly not for the right reasons, an acceleration of digitization and businesses moving online, just as social interaction is slowly moving online. This series of articles will therefore explore, in the new global context, how the private sector is trying to fight both the healthcare crisis and, more importantly, the social and economic crisis. We will first present how companies or entrepreneurs have adapted to this situation and how some of them have adapted to remain relevant.

The business environment is going through a generally bleak period, given the slowdown of some economic sectors or the forced shutdown of certain businesses that directly, addressed the consumer, such as the HoReCa sector.

Many small and medium-sized entrepreneurs have had to reorient themselves during this period (possibly we will see sedimentation of some businesses or lines of a business in the future as well) towards services that both supplement the affected revenue but also meet the needs of captive consumers at home. From restaurants to state institutions, from banks to florists, from specialist or BTL-side advertising agencies to publishers, they have all (if not totally, at least partially) rethought the size of their businesses to stay active and at least afloat.

Thus, we see in the HoReCa industry a reorientation towards home deliveries through partnerships with professional companies or own delivery companies. A notable example is that of Ion Biriș, entrepreneur and owner of the Loft club and restaurant network, who, in collaboration with the BeiCeVrei.ro platform and the alcoholic beverage distributor BDG, has created a special catering area, thus keeping some of the 300 employees of the 12 restaurants to cover orders, the rest being sent on technical unemployment. The turnaround has been swift, as has been the case with other restaurant chains or independent retailers. Another example of best practice is that of the fast-food giants, which have turned their restaurants into either drive-in-only or take-away locations, including partnerships with home delivery companies.

One of the worst affected industries is the events industry. Whether we are talking about companies specializing in family or corporate events, or advertising agencies with a strong BTL orientation, they have had to rethink their business strategy. Thus, while in the case of the former, the blow is felt in the long term because of restrictions on gatherings of more than 8 people (as in the case of weddings, for example), in the case of agencies it has been easier because of the habit of reacting quickly and suggesting new solutions. Thus, offline events have turned into online events where possible, with webinars being one of the most used solutions; some events have been ingeniously transformed and successfully applied online. We highlight here the BAT recruitment project which was moved exclusively online with the involvement of Minio. Event platforms have also been developed, such as the spectacular initiative of Universum, which built into the already existing MyConnector division the Virtual Events platform, transferring virtually any event from offline to online.

Photo source: Wespeakiot.com

– Andreea Brutaru

Account Manager @ Minio Studio