Covid-19 has rapidly spread like a wildfire, globally. Economies have been negatively affected by its deadly impact of this pandemic and as such businesses have also been adversely affected. The recently published business survey by Statistics South Africa, provides an update on how South African businesses are currently coping under the lockdown. It is no surprise that the results are not good.
According to the survey, 36% of firms have confirmed staff layoffs to cope with the pandemic, and nearly one out of ten businesses have indicated that they have already ceased operations permanently. Mr Limukani Hadebe – Head of operations at Outpost VR Africa, a company incubated at The Innovation Hub Maxum digital programme, says that they have been fortunate not to suffer the same fate.
Outpost VR was initially established as a tech start-up company that operated with the Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality space. In order to survive the pandemic and beyond the company has had to further diversify their service offerings within the digital space. There has been an increased demand for digital content as such this has created opportunities for tech-companies to provide a much broader range of services.
New Covid-19 safety protocols such as social distancing and less human contact will potentially lead to a surge in more intensified content marketing and over utilization of all available digital platforms as compared to before. Outpost VR considers this as an opportunity worth embracing during such difficult times.
Apart from their usual services the company also provides digital marketing, communication, and graphic design solutions to their clients.
“This has been an unusual period and its sad to see people losing their jobs and income at a time when the country is currently battling probably its highest unemployment rate. We have been fortunate enough to forge new meaningful partnerships and create employment opportunities in the process. We are currently working on some exciting projects and we may soon launch a mobile APP or two for our clients.” Limukani Hadebe, Head of Operations Africa; Outpost VR
The Covid-19 pandemic and the control measures that have been adopted may be here to stay and many organisations may struggle to survive, it is more important that people find means to innovate, adapt and come up with new ideas to provide lasting solutions which may help plug the unemployment gap while also helping the economy to recover
Businesses can no longer afford to remain the same. In order to survive businesses needs to equip themselves with new skills and strategies. In advising young entrepreneurs, Mr Limukani Hadebe states that being open minded is important. The traditional ways of doing business cannot survive post COVID-19, channelling new ways to work and make an income are critical for business survival.