A new way of living means different demands. Where should we be investing right now?
The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc all over the industrial, retail, and hospitality sectors. With tourism all but gone, clothing stores missing out on a year of styles, and more than 10,000 inns, bars, and restaurants have fallen on hard times.
With so much uncertainty reaching into every industry, how can we go about moving on? For all those thousands of business owners who suddenly find themselves closing their doors, what comes next?
Where to Invest in 2021
Keeping all of this in the forefront of our minds, we set about to document what we ought to be doing as our next move. After all, not every business is doing poorly. Internet-based services are on the up. Video call and web hosting services are skyrocketing. The success of Zoom and similar cybersecurity-based video applications has been incomparable. While all of the hospitality is fighting to stay open – if you own a takeaway you are in the money.
So, where do you invest? We’ll start with existing businesses and move on to new ventures momentarily.
For Existing Businesses
If you are one of the few businesses doing well in the pandemic and you would like to solidify this with an investment, you should be looking to your staff. If you can keep them working, busy, and happy, during all of this, then you might never need to replace them.
To this end, we suggest existing businesses look at training programmes capable of helping them work from home. Firms like HaysLearning.co.uk provide plenty of educational opportunities for your staff, most of which focus on self-management as we progress into WFH society. If this is the new normal, we might as well accept it.
If you have bricks and mortar premises, now is the time to hire in contractors (if they are working). A refurbishment might not be the easiest thing right now, but it is the best investment of all this closed-door time. When we do re-open again, we can at least give people something new to look forward to.
Which Business Ventures to Invest in Right Now?
If we can go back to the restaurant business first. Those who have been thinking of closing completely might alternatively move into takeaway food. The profits aren’t the same in terms of drinks, but you can whack extra on the food to make up the shortfall. Be prepared for a loss short term, but you should be able to revert to normal once all this is over, with the takeaway a lucrative aside.
Real Estate is another growth market. Thousands of families are trapped at home right now and looking for upgrades in space. If you do have to sell your business, put some of the profit into a long-term rental property that can top up your own income.
Eco-friendly, sustainable comfort – from clothing to bedding, furniture to greetings cards. Whatever you are thinking of manufacturing in 2021, it better be environmentally conscious, or you will lose out.
Technology is the way forward, just as it was before all of this. If you happen to be buying stocks and shares, tech is the one consistent sector that has steadied out, time and again, over the last few years.
Rounding up
Don’t stagnate during this time of solitude. You can still make a profit, even if you have to shift focus. It’s time to think outside the box and find ways to deliver goods and services in ways we never had before. If nothing else, the coronavirus has taught us how to stay on our toes.