The 10 Best COVID-19 Ideas Your Business Can Learn From

Introduction

Were we to say that the world was ready for the health crisis that dawned along with the turning of the decade, that would be a lie. Businesses big and small were obligated to radically change their habits and operations in the face of this new challenge. 

As it tends to happen, human ingenuity rose in the face of adversity. To not let valuable opportunities go to waste, we have gathered here a series of case studies to analyze the ideas different companies had to beat Coronavirus.

Small Business Mentors, owners and entrepreneurs from all walks of life can benefit from paying attention to these organizations. They say pressure can even destroy you, or can turn coal into a diamond. These companies definitely turned the pandemic into an opportunity to grow. 

1. CDL – Having a business continuity plan.

Our first lesson in innovation comes from the British insurance software provider CDL that had a business continuity plan with contingencies for different scenarios, including a worldwide pandemic. This plan included operating from the cloud, focusing their services on people, and using ServiceNow to monitor their employees’ health. Although now may be a little late to have a coronavirus contingency plan, you never know what tomorrow’s crisis may be. Thus, it’s always good to take this opportunity and start planning for the future now.

2. Paymentsense – Being Agile to act

Paymentsense became one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintech companies by offering small businesses an affordable payment processing service. When Coronavirus struck, the company migrated its services to Google Cloud, giving itself a new agility level.

Much like many other businesses, Payment Sense was not anticipating a worldwide health crisis in 2020, yet they could ask, “what can we do now?” and then do it. 

3. Diginomica- Transparency

A vital element of any company’s COVID-19 response is how effectively and responsibly they empower employees and collaborators.

Diginomica knew this, which is why they spoke to their HR leaders about what was ahead for them and how they intended to deal with it, their priorities, etc.

For a company to appropriately respond to any crisis, all collaborators, from the highest to the lowest ranking, need to be coordinated.

4. The National Film and Television School – Don’t be afraid to go digital

When Coronavirus rose its ugly head over the horizon, the National Film and Television school found a great ally in Facebook Workspace. The Platform allowed students to continue pursuing their education, sharing information, and keeping the school community connected. This kind of digitalization can prove invaluable even outside of the educational sector, and in times of limited locomotion, it can keep all types of the companies alive.

5. TSB – Moving With Your Clients

The shift from physical to digital did not happen only on the side of companies. With more and more people adhering to the lockdown, digital operations grew exponentially. The banking firm TSB was quick to catch on to this shift in habits, leading them to accelerate their journey into a full digital transformation. A similar change can be detected in many industries since before the crisis, yet it’s advent has incentivized many companies to shed their analog dependencies even faster.

6. The City of Seattle – Keeping the importance of your business in mind

No, we are not referring to the “city” of Seattle as a whole, but rather to the local government IT team. The “City of Seattle” has bravely stood its ground during the pandemic, still providing essential services to citizens in a time when demand is at its highest. Knowing the importance of your business to the community, then figuring out ways to still provide despite adversity is just the kind of grit necessary to overcome COVID19.

7. Home Depot and Lowe’s – Exploring New Markets

Home Depot and Lowe’s are well known for practically owning the US’s home improvement market and have been slowly digitizing. As we described above, the pandemic accelerated this process, and they seized this opportunity to expand into the DIY market, selling tools and components online. With the change in habits also comes new habits, and with unique patterns come unexplored markets.

Home Depot also introduced “lockers” very similar to Amazon, where individuals can order online and pick up at the store without having to navigate through the store or wait in line. 

8. Göbecke Bakery – Making a back to work strategy.

Although lockdown has been taking longer than expected, it would be safe to assume we will not be living in this state forever. The Göbecke Bakery, under the management of the fourth generation sister-and-brother team of Christine and Matthias Göbecke, seems aware of this as they have not only managed to maintain operations under smaller work-hours but have been steadily bringing them back to their original scale. The time to go back to how things were may come sooner than you imagine. Make sure you are ready.

9. Bupa – Tracking Employee Engagement from Home

The international healthcare provider Bupa has over 83 thousand employees worldwide, all of which have been working from home ever since the beginning of the pandemic.

To keep track of their employees and ensure they are adapting well to the lockdown and continuous home office conditions, the company has been using technology from LinkedIn’s Glint. This data has been beneficial for Bupa to tend to the needs of their collaborators.

10. Kroger – Coordinating with your staff.

The US grocery giant Kroger found a very creative way to make sure they are, quite literally, on the same page as their employees. The company published a printed playbook internally, sharing advice on identifying high-risk locations, analyzing staff in areas that were hit harder by the virus, and urging a greater focus on speed over tooling.

Conclusion

The human response to great adversity moments has always been to invent new solutions and thrive despite the odds. The fuel for such innovation is often the will to imitate this virtue found in our peers. 

If you need some motivation or inspiration, these examples should be a great start. Some of the largest in the world started or made significant changes that lead to their growth during times of adversity. Why not yours?