The Good Old Days And The Brave New World.
By: Aldric Chen
Tags: 2020, Thinking, Future, Technology, Business

The Good Old Days And The Brave New World.

There is no going back. We have been working-from-home for months, with no end in sight. This duration is long enough for new habits to stick. When that happens, the old ways of working will stay in the past. A Whole New World awaits. Aldric Chen Follow Dec 15, 2020 · 4 min read

Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash

2020 marks a watershed year. 2019 to 2020 is a giant leap. 2020 to 2021 will be a quantum leap. Many trends will accelerate, build on the foundations laid this year. While they are necessary for us to progress, many will inevitably struggle. Some will fall behind.

The biggest Trojan Horse this year is Technology. We have to admit that in an era of social-distancing, working-from-home, and workplace shut-down, technology allows us to keep the lights on. As an entrepreneur, I am immensely thankful.

No matter how user-centric or user-friendly technological advancement has come, there will tech laggards (typing this without prejudice) who will struggle with the changes necessary.

Zoom virtual conferences aren’t physical meetings, just as emails aren’t the same as work updates over the desk. Some carve social interaction more. And some need hands-on guidance more, such as interns.

They will not be prioritized for Zoom appointments because of corporate laddering. We invest our time with our bosses because they determine our promotions and clients for our commissions. Interns today can no longer walk to their supervisor’s desk for attention hijack.

Everyone is at home, working-from-home. This is a new model we have to adapt to.

Then, there is contact tracing. In Asia, such as the country that I live in, we started with retail outlets and businesses having to scan our identity cards or Quick Read (QR) code to log our start and end time registered with the store. Frictionless customer experience is sacrificed for pandemic management.

With the options to shop online or in stores, time and convenience will remain key considerations for consumers. Consumers are impatient. I hate to wait, especially when there is a maximum capacity limit on physical space.

There is no certainty when the next in-store customer will come out in exchange for my entry. The person who waited for 30 minutes is no longer to be out in 30 minutes. How long do I want to wait when I could get my groceries within a few taps of my finger?

This is a huge displacement game. Small businesses without an e-commerce presence are going to struggle even more in 2021. As more customers funnel into the online space for purchases, physical stores need to find a way to survive. The elderly will be grounded at home for health safety, and working adults are typing away at home.

Footfall will fall.

Mental health will be a big topic in 2021, way bigger than the climate crisis that we are experiencing. I tie this with the labor market contraction that is driven by a fall in employer demand as well as deflationary pressures caused by technological advancement.

Capital will always be on the move, seeking a higher return on the principal. Businesses and entrepreneurs will leverage on the FOREX advantage of stronger currencies to hire more headcount from the 3rd World, thereby increasing labor productivity per $1 of investment.

More people will be released from their jobs because there are alternatives. Companies in the Sunset industries will struggle in terms of on-going concerns. We see that in Oil & Gas companies. I think banks are “rightsizing” as well.

Industrial age solutions such as aviation can be replaced by social media, Zoom, Teams that runs on 4G which is everywhere.

At the same time, investment in technology reduces the costs of production. Specifically, it transfers the engine of productivity from human resources to technological platforms. Administrative functions will need to compete with maturing Big Data platforms for in-depth reporting. Physical event management companies need to compete with Zoom webinars.

Amidst all these changes that would be accelerated in the Brave New World, one business trend is emerging.

It will be a competition between business models who gets the customers to come or to bring their goods and services to where the customers are.

From this perspective, I think businesses that bring themselves to their customers will win in this decade.

Like how advertisements come to our phones via social media instead of us heading out staring at billboards.

Adapt For Survival!

Aldric