9 Disrupting Business Model Shifts in a Post Pandemic Era

The first six disrupting business model shifts rewrote the way business is conducted in the post pandemic era.

But the next three shifts bring together the earlier six and lay down a road map for the future.

Without this road map, your business establishment may not be able to survive the new normal.

Find out why and how.

I will lay out the last three disrupting business model shifts with a case for embracing them that is critical.

This concluding Part 3 of the 3 Part blog post series will cover:

The First Six Business Model Shifts

In Part 1 and 2 of this 3 part series on 9 disrupting business model shifts in a post pandemic era you saw the six foundational areas impacted.

Areas in which the basic approach to conducting business was redefined by the covid-19 pandemic.

Click below if you missed Part 1 and 2 of this 3 Part Post Series.

Let us quickly recap those six areas:

• Changing Consumer Behaviors
• ReImagining the Customer Experience
• Operational Agility
• Technology
• ReEngagement
• New Offerings

The moral of the story is clear: reinvent yourself or become extinct.

The pandemic has made seismic changes to the way business is conducted.

And it has not left any part of the business environment untouched.

It is in your business establishment’s interest that you embrace this new benchmark wholeheartedly.

Your survival now depends on that.

In this concluding Part 3, you will come across the remaining 3 areas.

It is critical to understand that the nine areas are not independent silos but interrelated phenomenon in the hospitality operation.

So, you will see that the remaining three areas out of the 9 disrupting business model shifts are more or less outcomes of the first six.

These lay down why you will benefit from adopting them.

Without further ado, let us jump right into it.

Financial Resilience in Business Model Shifts

One factor that has largely been ignored in the business arena is resilience.

What does resilience mean?

Miriam’s Webster Dictionary defines resilience as:

So, the crux of being resilient is about regaining strength.

When the entire basis for running a business - earning revenue and retaining profit is in danger, resilience takes on new meaning.

It is this financial resilience that is the need of the hour.

Financial Resilience in a post pandemic era is not just about regaining revenue streams.

It is about the core of the business itself.

A holistic approach will need to be taken to the entire way business is being conducted.

What do we mean by an holistic approach?

Well, we will need to transform ourselves based on the prevailing environment.

It is important not to see the pandemic as something which happened and will disappear.

From all counts, the pandemic is showing clear signs of being part of our lives for a long time to come.

In that scenario, taking an ad-hoc approach will have disastrous consequences.

Take one simple element of the impact of the pandemic on business - assets.

Assets which are at the core of generating revenue and thereby value have been rendered idle for a period of 18 to 24 months.

That is not the best use of those assets by any stretch of imagination.

And that is hurting not just the business but the entire investment itself.

Thus it is important that businesses take a systems thinking approach which encompasses:

• Leveraging technology
• Entering into productive partnerships and
• Forging new alliances.

Innovate in your key areas of excellence.

Meet new challenges with resilience in mind.

That means rethinking the entire process of why the business is existing.

Of identifying core competencies.

All toward building that financial resilience that is mandatory in the circumstances we find ourselves.

How financially resilient are you making your business establishment?

On to the next of the disrupting business model shifts.

Business Model Shifts & Active Engagement

In an earlier disrupting business model shift, we saw how engagement has become a core requirement.

However, it is important to understand that this is not the engagement that existed before the pandemic.

This is an entirely new animal.

What do I mean by that?

Hang on, I am coming to that.

More so than ever, there is a need to actively engage with your customers.

That means on regular basis using every medium possible to specifically inform the customer how you are protecting their health and well being.

Mediums can take any or some or all of the following forms:

• Signages
• Emails
• Social Media
• YouTube videos
• Messaging (minus the hype!)

This is a golden opportunity to welcome existing customers and making them feel at home - safe and secure.

A time for you to come out with creative ways to make special offers.

Offers that will emphasize the value you place on your customer’s safety and security.

There are plenty of opportunities to make these offers like:

• Customer focused incentives
• Special offers never made before
• Two for One ticket offers
• Leveraging Loyalty programs
• Lowering thresholds for redemption requirements (cash crunch has hit customers hard)
• Target members with exclusive reopening offers

Apart from these, communicating to customers how you are investing in no contact technologies.

This is not a easy thing to achieve.

Losing personal touch which is integral to hospitality and compensating the customer for that will require out of the box thinking.

Thus, active engagement is showing empathy like never before.

Understanding the life changing circumstances your customers are going through.

In a way, redefining value to your customer - in terms of safety, security, health and well being.

That combination should make a customer understand your active engagement crusade.

What initiatives have you put in place for active engagement with your customers?

And now on to the foundation for the 9 disrupting business model shifts.

Probably the reason why a business exists too.

Let us get to it.

Business Model Shifts & Trust

Ask any committed business person what the single biggest ingredient of business success is.

You are likely to get this short but life changing word in response: trust.

Trust is that glue that brings a customer and business together.

It is also the glue that sustains that relationship.

You could easily say that if trust comes unglued, everything is lost.

Trust is meant not in a trivial way but in every form it takes.

For example, trust can take the form of:

• Physical safety
• Financial stability
• Emotional support and
• Digital security

The Pandemic has enveloped the globe in an aura of fear for life and safety.

It has made us become obsessed with something we took for granted - our health and well being.

So, your business establishment’s trust quotient will be measured by how well:

• You keep customer safe at every point of contact
• You keep employees safe for every moment they are at work
• You keep your partners safe for the length of your association

In an earlier section of this post, you learned the value of resilience.

Resilient organizations understand that recovery is a human and multi-dimensional experience that requires trust and confidence.

What are you doing special to instill trust and confidence in your customers?

ReImagined Skills in Business Model Shifts - 

One factor which may not have been specifically mentioned but is critical is skill sets.

The Pandemic has turned every aspect of life on its head.

Not surprisingly as a result, human beings now need a totally reinvented set of skills.

Here is an infographic that lays out 7 such skill sets.

Do your employees possess these skill sets in this post pandemic era?

Business Model Shifts - The Way Forward

So, what is the way forward you may ask?

Can we consider the pandemic as over and done with and get on with life?

Not really.

Why not?

Because life itself has changed.

You do not do the things you used to do before the pandemic.

The things you took for granted are now things you have to think hard about.

But it is not gloom and doom.

Indeed, the pandemic may have created an opportunity.

An opportunity to relook at things we did not pay attention to.

Often things which are critical for survival.

And imagine the economy of the future.

That by itself is a good thing.

You can immediately put to action the steps shown below.

What do you think about the 9 disrupting business model shifts?

Do you agree with the shifts?

Are there any shifts we have missed.

Comment below, I will be keen to know your thoughts.

Steps You Can Take Right Now

STEP 1

Examine your establishment's revenue potential with fresh eyes in the post pandemic environment.

STEP 2

What new market segment have you identified for bringing back customers to your hotel?

STEP 3

Zero in on the trust factor with your stakeholders. Are you doing everything to regain trust?

STEP 4

What new and relevant initiatives are you taking to actively engage your customers? 

STEP 5

How financially resilient is your establishment? Take action right now to correct any deficiencies.

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