We don’t see the end of the tunnel in the coronavirus pandemic that has put many economies in a precarious position. Yet, many previously shutdown cities have reopened, hoping to pump life into their deteriorating industries.
A USA Today report identifies retail, travel, and transportation as the sectors hardest hit by COVID-19 due to travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines. It may take a while for these industries to gain profit or recoup losses in light of this situation. Some sectors, however, continue to grow and profit. If you plan to start a business in your community or want to expand your current one, it would be good to explore these industries:
Delivery
With people’s limited mobility, delivery is one of the best services you can offer. Since the lockdowns, demand for delivery services has increased. Even when they regain freedom of movement, customers may no longer shake off the convenience of having groceries, food, medicines, and other essential items delivered. With a seamless system, reliable technology, and an advanced fleet, your business can endure the consequences of the lockdown.
Health and Medical Care
In this field, three services have been most helpful: remote health care, on-demand medical professionals, and online ambulance booking.
Remote Health Care — Unless your patient needs urgent TMJ treatment, tooth extraction, or other emergency services, their medical conditions can be checked through a remote health consultation. As long as the threat of a virus outbreak remains, remote health consultations will play a significant role in providing quality medical care. If you have a medical practice, make sure you have a website and mobile app so you could offer remote consultation.
Doctors On-Demand — A UK-based app that allows patients to find doctors, nurses, and caregivers on demand had a 70 percent increase in bookings during the lockdown. If you’re a hospital with a limited number of patients coming in, you can reposition your service and create an on-demand team of medical practitioners and healthcare providers who can do home visits or telemedicine.
Ambulance Booking — With all the medical emergencies, the demand for ambulances and vehicles that can transport frontline healthcare workers has been on the rise as well. But hotlines are burning. Why not offer an online ambulance booking platform or mobile app that people can access easily? You can make your app intuitive and navigable, helping patients and their families book a transfer with a few clicks.
Online Learning
Weekly downloads of online education apps saw a 90 percent increase from Q4 of 2019 to the first three months of 2020, according to Thejournal.com. The US, the UK, and Australia — the top consumers of these apps — all had more than 100 percent growth, with Google Classroom as the top pick.
This is the perfect time to launch an online education app if you’re a school or a learning institution that has offered traditional classroom learning for the most part. Schools were among the first to shut down at the start of the pandemic. Going back to regular school operations before a coronavirus vaccine becomes available will be risky. It’s safe to assume, therefore, that online learning apps will be a thing of the future, even for post-graduate continuing education or professional training.
Goods delivery, online access to medical services, and online learning — these are three of the industries that will survive and thrive in the pandemic. If you want your company to emerge unscathed from this unprecedented situation, make sure your business is in these industries.