“Hey! Money is irrelevant now. We should be focusing on how to vanquish this evil, how to slow down this death, how to return to normalcy so our children can begin going to school so that our oldies and loved ones can…”
Errrr…NO!
This is about money as it is about anything else (In reality, most things are about money).
The ‘How to make money from home’ banners have never flown any higher. So many suggestions, postulations, hypotheses, so many untruths to be recklessly shared(as no-one is telling you how productivity is a major issue and so money-making is so difficult in a pandemic). Even as we cry EMPATHY!, the rest of the world is saying “Hush, we hear you, but there is all this money to be made (and mismanaged) Duhhhh!”.
Here are some curious realities:
- Some people and businesses are still making money (as usual) DURING this crisis.
- Some people and businesses are thriving ONLY because of this crisis.
- Some people and businesses are crying for help DUE to the crisis.
So no, even as there are claims that this is a global leveler, we couldn’t be more apart in terms of privileges, or economic class.
We are in the same waters but we are not all on the same boat.
First Category: Social media platforms, telecommuting platforms, Data science, and analytics (almost everything IT actually).
In actuality, technology companies are not necessarily grimacing about this worldwide crisis. They are making quite some stupendous money from it.
Amazon is hiring aggressively to meet customer demand, traffic is soaring on Facebook, youtube, Instagram, and others. Zoom share prices rising ridiculously, even data analytics is not left behind. The need for more exposure analytics tools, fast facts, report updates, and analytics insights ensure the sector is still as relevant and indispensable as they have always been.
So no, these sectors as well as some in this category are anything but ‘at risk’, as they are still making money during this crisis
Second Category: E-learning platforms, healthcare, Gaming
The amount of money being pumped into the health sector is worthy of note. The need for kits, equipment, and resources for laboratories has positively impacted on the funds being allocated and invested into the health sector.
As the rest of the world aside health workers then stay home, all they can do is work and play. The use of e-learning platforms has jumped ridiculously and of course, people are searching for all sorts of hedonistic pleasures that they are readily satisfying via gaming.
FIFA competitions, PES, virtual tennis, car race, basketball…the list is endless. The crisis is all the advertisement these gaming companies need and they are simply milking it for all its worth. Capitalist style!
And then there is Netflix that has simply blown away into such splendor.
Third Category: Airlines, road haulage, ferries(frankly, everything transport), manufacturing industries, construction firms, sports,… the rest of the world
It is a crisis with some opportunities, but it is still a crisis nonetheless, an economic crisis for that matter. These sectors and others not mentioned but in this category have taken major financial blows and will take the longest to recover.
Billions have been lost and more is forecasted to be lost in the transport industry worldwide. Likewise. sports activities have been indefinitely put on hold and as such all expected revenue are simply are null at the moment
Then there is us…the rest of the world.
The take-home here is to find the sectors which are thriving and seek ways in which to render monetizable services in those, such that you can get on board with those who are making money and even thriving right in the middle of this global economic crisis.