What Entrepreneurs Should Be Doing Right Now in Response to the Global Pandemic

Who is an Entrepreneur?

Entrepreneurs are one of the most prominent people in the business world, they bear the risk of starting a business even when others pull back at the thought of investing in such a business. The word entrepreneurship is a general term that can mean a lot of things to different people. An entrepreneur is an individual who sets up business or businesses, identifies and solves problems, creative, innovative, opportunist, risk-taker, self-starter and open-minded with the hope of making a profit from the enterprise.

Different Types of Entrepreneurs

There are different types of entrepreneurs; the major types of entrepreneurs include; social entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs and lifestyle entrepreneurs.

1. Social entrepreneur: This is an individual who pursues innovative solutions to social problems. A social entrepreneur adopts a style of which he/she can use to create and sustain social values. Social entrepreneurs are problem solvers, they identify problems in the community in an attempt to provide a novel solution to it. These individuals are willing to take on the risk and effort to create positive changes in society through their initiatives. They develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues.
   
2. Serial entrepreneur: A serial entrepreneur takes on new challenge repeatedly. This type of entrepreneur thinks of new ideas and take on the risk of starting a new business. Once a particular business is established, they delegate the responsibility of running it over and over again. Start a business, grow it until you can sell and then do it all over again; Serial entrepreneurship is fast becoming a new model lately.
   
3. Lifestyle Entrepreneur: They are long-term entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their business based on their innate passionate. Other than selling off a business when it becomes profitable, they tend to work more to grow the business regardless of the business net worth. They are more of a business motivated and idea-driven entrepreneurs. In fact, some people refer to them as addicts, they are highly committed to the continuous growth of their business.  Example of a lifestyle entrepreneur includes Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook.

What Entrepreneurs Should be Doing in Response to COVID – 19

1. Protect Themselves as Well as Their Employees: as the saying goes, health is wealth, therefore, it is imperative to put all measures in place to protect the lives of every member of the business. Entrepreneurs should consider the measures put in place by WHO and centre for disease control in order to ensure the safety of every member.
   
2. Stabilize the Supply Chain: business owners at this time should consider how to make their supply chain more resilient enough to meet the demand of goods. Although it may be a little bit challenging owing to the movement restriction, entrepreneurs need to figure out how to continue meeting the demands of the consumers.
   
3. Offer Customers Incentives:  In a bit to keep customers abreast and in good terms of the organisation, entrepreneurs should consider giving incentives and more exciting offers to loyal customers. More efforts should be made to keep them in touch with the organisation by offering more incentives.
   
4. Effective Planning of Cost: businesses are advised to try to identify trigger variables that will affect revenue and cost. At this time, entrepreneurs are expected to have some sorts of evaluation of their income, to guide proper management of their finance.
   
5. Map out new goals and purpose for the business: In a challenging time like this, many entrepreneurs especially those directly involved in the importation, have been forced out of the market,

Basic Attributes of an Entrepreneur

Here are the basic attributes that will help an entrepreneur thrive during a global pandemic/economic crisis.

• Detect and Proffers Solution to Problems: An entrepreneur is proactive enough to pinpoint any challenges confronting his/her business and swiftly respond to seek solutions. An entrepreneur studies the trend of the business, uses some of the previous knowledge and experiences in mapping out solutions to challenges identified.
• Decision Maker: Entrepreneurs determine the objectives of their business and they should know what is suitable per time. A good entrepreneur analyses and make wise decisions aimed at growing the business.  He makes sure that his business venture is in good relationship with pubic authorities and society. He also decides the market for his product or services.
• Good Leadership prowess:  A good entrepreneur possesses exceptional leadership attributes that help in the effective management of business teams and activities. As an entrepreneur, you have to be in charge. You must be at the forefront of your business at least during start-up. To be a successful entrepreneur, you must possess the ability to attract smart people and build a great business team. Great businesses are usually managed by intelligent and proactive leaders.
• Goal Getter: Entrepreneurs is someone who raises the bar and aims at achieving all the set goals and plans for a stipulated period of time. Great entrepreneurs always take on big challenges and aims at unlocking their goals. They are usually motivated and driven by their goals. They could spare more time in a bid to meet their set goals.
• Sales Person: An Entrepreneur must be a good salesperson. A good entrepreneur knows the various techniques and psychology of selling their goods and services. They have the mastery of convincing people to purchase what they have to offer. They understand the magic about making money; it is essentially a medium of exchange of goods and services.
• Risk Taker: This is perhaps the most unique attributes of most entrepreneurs. Most people do not try because of the fear of failing while trying; however, a good entrepreneur does not focus on the odds, but rather thinks too much about the success and the possibilities of recording success. An Entrepreneur bears any risk in starting up and sustaining a business. They are always ready for emergencies prepared for various types of competition should competitors emerge, thinks of strategies to outshine them.

Implications of Covid-19 Outbreak on Business Activities and Way Forward

Following the outbreak of coronavirus, businesses are rapidly adjusting to the changing needs of their people, their customers and suppliers, while navigating the financial and operational challenges. The impacts of this outbreak have been so grave on many business activities, however, that is not to say some businesses are not making a fortune out of it either.  Here are some of the implications of the pandemic coronavirus:

• Systems Influence: with COVID-19 outbreak, many organisations are beginning to appreciate the use of the internet as a means of operation, as against the old traditional style of transacting. With more obvious reasons to maintain a social distance, operation of companies no longer remain the same; there is a massive transition in the systems and methods of running businesses. Systems resilience is another major factor being tested as never before- new systems priorities and challenges.
  
  The risk factors associated with the old business transactions are significantly modified and not only that, sudden changes were also recorded in volume, real-time decision-making, workforce productivity, security risks forcing leaders to brainstorm on what to do as a matter of urgency, if they must remain in the business.
  
• New Experience: The experience of the global COVID-19 will forever remain in the history of many businesses. New experience and more advanced way of viewing of analysing the business has emerged due to the outbreak.  The threat imposed on us as a result of COVID-19 has changed the way we think and behave; therefore, the next challenge is how to improve the way we design, communicate, build and run the experiences that people need and want.
  
• Difficulty in Operation: Following the shock caused by the pandemic, many business process functions across most industries are severely disrupted. There is obviously a need for restricting and revaluation of business operation. To achieve this, it is crucial for entrepreneurs, especially multinational organisations to respond rapidly to maintain continuity.
  
•  Customer’s Accessibility: The impact of COVID-19 on customer’s accessibility is phenomenal. One of the biggest challenges faced at this time is how contact centres are leveraged, how employees deliver relevant customer experiences, where they work, and how digital channels can be used to support the increase in contact centre volume. To overcome this challenge, entrepreneurs need to delve into new ways of working and reduce potential revenue loss. Possibly, creating a platform that briefs customers on latest trends and how to transact.
  
• Supply Chain Constraint: with COVID-19, there is more strain on the logistics. Companies need to devise means of delivering goods and services swiftly and safely at the same time. The logistics team at the bigger risk of being infected, while trying to be proactive enough with goods and services delivery, they also have to bear in mind their welfare. To manoeuvre this period, companies need to offer more incentives to the logistics team and make protective materials be at their disposal. 
  
•  Leadership Trust: At this critical time, leaders are faced with challenging to trusting people; since leaders will not be there to oversee the activities of others, they are forced to believe. It means sharing a clear plan and transparently showing how decisions are made is the only way out.

For the first time in recent history, COVID-19 has completely shut down the global economy, leaving no nation out of its wide-reaching effects. Many have locked down their countries (both developed and developing) to manage the spread. This unprecedented global event is the first of its kind in the 21st century. It is obvious that after the crises many global activities including how we live, work and even study will never remain the same.

Many entrepreneurs are already at the forefronts – looking out for ways to improve after the whole lockdown. It is therefore expedient to optimise and adopt new methods to keep entrepreneurs in the game for other possible occurrences.