I-am.am | Ես Հայ Եմ
With the sudden arrival of Covid 19 the world has turned upside down, every process and man-made mechanism has seen a shift of pace, approach, and routine.
Up to now, all of us are in the mindset: ‘we can never tell when the next extraordinary phenomenon is going to emerge and live side by side with us.’ Not only did we notice variations in our mental health, but we also noticed tremendous changes in our professional work environment and social life.
There were challenges businesses had to face, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way helped them to reevaluate their capacity to meet the needs of their markets.
Many companies and business owners have dealt with Covid 19’s impact on the business environment, it required a lot of dedication and agile operational processes involved in the management of the business. Enterprises had to embrace the attitude of adaptability to fast-paced changes and consistent self-management for upcoming emergencies.
First of all, dealing with customers and their changing habits has made businesses realize how vital it is to prioritize digital commerce and all the challenges it entails.
E-commerce’s share of global retail has risen from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020. But there are still countries and governments that have not been able to run down to these results because of ever existing barriers. Some countries need to think about going digital in a more sustainable way, focusing more on data-driven decision-making, and considering all the risks and the requirements to upgrade the skills of their workforce.
The impact of covid-19 on small businesses has been severe because of not only financial fragility but also the reduction of employees. Nearly all the industries have seen losses to business activity and we witnessed a rapid closure of stores, restaurants, small cafés, factories, and other businesses. Some of these closures have been temporary, and some of them – permanent, because of the inability to pay all the charges.
Surveys have shown, that according to some small business owners, in order to see positive changes in the development of their businesses, 3 crucial support measures need to be taken – better credit facility, better marketing support, and adoption of technology.
After witnessing the negative effects of Covid 19, the time has come to build stronger foundations for the post-Covid reality.
Now that we’ve gone through this, it seems normal to us that for a long period of time, our closest companions were technological devices and the internet. Now that we’re somehow able to go out and reconnect with the surrounding environment – looking back, we can see how fast we were able to adapt to digital transformation. The digitalization of society happened quite naturally, as it was the only solution visible for tackling the inconveniences caused since day one of the Covid 19.
Small and middle-sized businesses were actively searching for ways to continue their projects – and the digital world gave them the opportunity to do it remotely.
Automation of some processes which needed little human effort and capability has started to develop even before the Covid 19 pandemic, but especially during and after that, it has become the center of focus for many enterprises. During the pandemic, it was important to have contactless services provided to customers in which automation of processes guaranteed success.
Technology allowed companies to better connect with consumers and modernize their brand’s visibility for potential customers. As a result of this, a unique culture developed among teammates in almost all the organizations, where, to maintain good communication physical presence was not that necessary, as there were thousands of ways to connect via the internet.
As businesses started to greatly trust technology and software for various processes connected with work, investments in cybersecurity and the usage of virtual private networks (VPN) have increased and people started to be aware of all the pros and cons of digital transformation in business.
We can clearly feel the impact of digital transformation on society as we embraced automation and made it an inseparable part of our daily activities. As we move forward, adapting to the rapidly evolving technological advances, we can see all the positive effects of digitalization and how we can use it to our benefit. Technology is holding much power and so do we when we use it cleverly.
Was your business impacted by COVID-19? Do you have a story to share with the community? Share your story in the comments below.
I-AM.AM was founded with the ultimate goal to support the economic growth of Armenia. By connecting Armenian Owned Businesses globally, creating a centralized hub of everything Armenian and implementing numerous projects that will boost the economy of the outer regions of Armenia, I-AM.AM community is creating a self-sufficient economy throughout the country.
Congratulation!