By Pravinkumar Bhandari
The start of 2020 has not been good for the entire world. Though India is circled with the virus, it has well managed to control the outbreak. Now, as the government slowly prepares on a lockdown exit plan, it is time for business owners to strategise their business and plan to stabilise the economy. The strategy should be a balance of both smooth operations and employee or worker’s safety. With no vaccine yet, we will have to live with COVID 19 for quite some time. Hence, social distancing in terms of work and daily operations and adapting contactless business solution, be it accepting payments or day to day transactions for the business would be the best solution. Business have moved their working model from on desk to off desk thanks to cloud based technology and wide remote accessibility options.
Most of the service providers has already opted for different digital solutions and soon others to join this “Digital Transformation India League”. Hence, digital technology and platform are going to be the next big thing for every industry.
Digital contactless payment: Banking services have always been focusing on using more digital banking and less manual banking which has helped people during such crisis. Additionally, every company is introducing cashless modes of making and accepting payments. In the last 10 years, different digital payment options have been introduced which are more device-agnostic and user friendly. This electronic payment will help us to avoid cash exchange which is the key source of virus transmission
Smart Point of Sale solution: POS is helping retailers, SME’s, MME’S to manage their entire business over a single application. A few of the amazing features that POS provides are cloud-based inventory management, online data analysis, sales analysis, and tracking, generate real-time basis reports, digital receipts, etc. But what best would be, is to also offer the services to your customers through a single application. POS solutions would help the business to avoid one to one touch and fasten the process.
Opting for webinars, online workshops, and digital tools: B2B business instead of meeting vendors, partners, clients face to face should have a part of the sales planner. Earlier remote working looked like a challenge but now after the first lockdown, every company is following work from the home policy as it is helping to maintain social distance which is the best precautions going forward. There are many digital platforms with good offers from zoom call to google meet to host meetings, webinars, demos, etc. Along with timesaving, it also helps to maintain the required social distance
Use of online solutions: Industry experts have always factored “digitization” as a key to country success. Due to the lockdown, almost every business revenue has got stalled but business owners continued to support their customers remotely using various digital (online) platforms. People are also preferring to use such platforms for their online purchases, as at this time it is a convenient and safe option. It is very impressive to look at the quick implementation of digital solutions to run the halt system. Another example is how people are using medical applications to book appointments these days. Also at times, it is difficult to reach every patient physically so video chat is a convenient medium to connect. Again, we witness many schools and colleges have developed a simple application for their students to ensure the continuation of their education
Use of Government safety application: During this pandemic digital platform has got its recognition. Few countries are working on developing an application to track coronavirus cases and India is not left behind in doing so. India has developed an android & iOS compatible mobile application to track our safety by mapping COVID -19 cases near us. And every business post lockdown needs to use these apps for the safety of the employees, management, and customers. Because at the end of the day “Health is Wealth”.
Lastly, this pandemic has worsened the economy but if we continue growing digital solutions, it can help us to stabilise the economy faster.
(The author is Chief Executive Officer at ePaisa)