What business to start after pandemic?

Diversification is one of the pivotal strategies for organisations to recreate and enlarge their competencies (Ahuja and Lampert, 2001; Hamel and Prahalad, 1994). The existing literature suggests that concentric diversification based on technological capabilities is a relatively low-risk but profitable strategy since it is derived from the reproduction of core competencies that are related to existing products or services. Of whatever understanding I have of concentric and conglomerate diversification, concentric diversification around your core competencies helps companies to expand and succeed relatively well.

Now the discussion today is not of concentric diversification but on what business to startup after the pandemic. Rather than listing a few random industry segments, if I could details some approaches to startup I think that would be better for many people. I will however at the end of the article list out some ideas for starting-up.

Those wanting to startup should focus on their key competencies and get started on the game. For example a sales manager was discussing with me how he can offer his sales consulting expertise to SME’s who not always have a very well structured sales process. For the sales manager, the expertise is in setting-up sales processes and he was right in thinking of starting-up in this segment. This helps to relate to the business quickly and whatever is learnt over a period of time can be implemented as a business set-up. Another example is KPC Healthcare in US of Dr. Kali Pradip Chaudhuri. He is a doctor who setup healthcare institutions and diversified later.

It is to be understood that entrepreneurship requires time and capital. If you have enough capital and try out an idea without worrying about the consequences of failure, you can try out an idea outside of your competency but in most cases capital is limited and draining capital without adequate fallback on the next round of funds can be disastrous. Today, we hear multiple success stories of million dollar funding which are great and gives us lot of optimism but also against each success story there may be many hundred failures. As a middle path, the best option is to startup and start generating revenue almost immediately. If there is any shortfall in revenue you can always fall back on some preserved capital which can be replenished when you have a big customer order. In this model, chances of failure is relatively less. You get to learn as you go along. You can improvise the business and take it to a scale when investors will be ready to fund.

The business that you launch should have the following characteristics:

·         Speed

·         Simplicity

·         Customer autonomy

·         Distinct capabilities that are not part of a bundled service

Another idea that I believe will help entrepreneurs succeed is not to be bound by time and not to co-relate time with business growth. The premise should be that the business is sustainable and can be fundamentally be built into a successful corporate over a period of time. Many a time private funding makes this impossible as private funds are driven by returns over a certain defined period of time.

Given the above premises, if you are looking for startup ideas after pandemic you can look at opportunities in the medical sector. This is something that will always be in the growth phase in the new normal. Second, in the tech sector fintech, insuretech will do good in the coming years. Any app which is based in the healthtech segment can draw attention. Ed Tech looks a bit worn out with some amount of consolidation happening. I am personally very interested in data as this is one area where the opportunities are limitless. I think that Python libraries have made a paradigm shift in the way that data analysis and forecasting can be done. Though the barriers of entry are high in data analytics the opportunities available make it worth a good try. Food business in the cloud with minimal infra investment can be an attractive proposition. Agritech again is showing a lot of promise but till the time the Government has some supportive policies it cannot be taken-up at a mass scale. Agritech view is specifically to the Indian scenario.

While reading on a McKinsey article it was interesting to note that at this stage organizations have an opportunity to do more than just “get through it,” restoring the performance and work life enjoyed before the crisis. Many employees already have a sense that we aren’t likely to simply “bounce back” to how things were before the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic, and our collective responses to it, are likely to result in permanent shifts in consumer preferences and buying behavior, business models, and ways of working. We have to keep every fact in mind while starting-up. We cannot fancy failure at this stage because the stakes are high. So let us plan meticulously, get the data on an excel sheet, measure the month-on-month cash-flows and see what is best suitable for us. As Albert Einstein said, “In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.”

Developing and maturing a fintech idea such as those mentioned above can be a challenge. Connect with us at info@intelligentq.co.in so that we can help you getting things off the ground!