Covid-19: Businesses digitise to avoid aKodak moment
View(s):Known mostly for its photography and film, Kodak’s parochial management froze in time with preconceived notions on who took pictures, why and when – totally missing the rise of digital technologies.
Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and is now a corporate bogeyman cautioning firms of the need to arise and counter when disruptive developments intrude on their space.
With the continued transmission of the coronavirus, many are isolated in homes, unsure of when this pandemic will pass. What this crisis means for businesses is to step up, innovate and digitally enable themselves, says Dinesh Saparamadu – Founder and Chairman of hSenid International. The fastest digital expansion happened during the last lockdown, he told the Business Times noting that ‘nice to have a system’ became a ‘must have system’.
“In Sri Lanka, we were caught by surprise. So we need to really explore our digital strategy and invest for the next 4 to 5 years. Each business should have a minimum 30 per cent of their activities in digital form.”
Mr. Saparamadu noted that after the first lockdown the businesses relaxed and didn’t act on the lessons learnt. “For an example food ordering and pick up waned after the lockdown. In fact, after normalising, certain merchants gave clients incentives to come into stores and basically ‘broke the habit’ of online purchasing which was popular during the lockdown.”
He said it is important to use this opportunity of the second lockdown to innovate and create more sustainable and scalable business models. “We may not exist in the next 3 to 5 years if we don’t do this. It is important to use this crisis as an opportunity,” he said recalling the Kodak business case.
He stressed the importance in reinventing part of their businesses to bring value to customers. “Both small and big companies need to innovate business models. They need to evaluate whether their business models are valid in the current context. Many reinvent part of their businesses to bring value to customers. Many small businesses from grocery stores to small accounting firms didn’t have any interaction other than face-to-face with their clients. They need to evaluate whether their business models are valid in the current context. Many reinvent part of their businesses to bring value to customers.”
The biggest limitation is that the complete supply chain isn’t linked, he said noting that the three main important things to consider are the market size a company serves and how best it can serve, the distribution strategy and looking at high margin areas so that distribution is high and enabling the network effect of the business. “We are keen to enable the small to mid-size businesses and we are in the process of launching platforms for these businesses to be in a digital comms landscape. There will be a frictionless experience for these businesses through these platforms,” he added.