The Pandemic Effect: How Did Covid-19 Reshape Online Business?
Written by Susan Tarek on December 12, 2020
At the beginning of 2020, the world encountered the Coronavirus or what we call “COVID-19“. Many countries went under lockdown and curfew was applied worldwide. This fear was accompanied by a strong desire for a social distance even when buying the necessary stuff.
People had not completely relied on online shopping before, they had preferred going and buying directly from stores but with the outbreak of COVID-19 and as it was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization they started to change their shopping behavior and look to limit their time among crowds. In other words, they see reason now to shift towards the digital world and rely more on the internet.
However, the advantages of online shopping do not only include safety and protection or saving time and effort for consumers, they expand to the big economic effects on online stores where studies indicated that Online purchases have increased across most product categories since the beginning of 2020.
For example:
- Consumer spending on Amazon between May and July 2020 was up 60% from the same time frame last year, according to the financial data firm Facteus.
- Netflix added 15.77 million subscribers in the first three months of 2020 and 10.09 million between April and June, giving the company its biggest growth spurt in history as viewers turned to streaming services while stuck at home.
These results encouraged brands like ZARA to take her decision to close 1,000 to 1,200 stores over the next two years with expectations from Zara owner Inditex that online sales are going to reach more than 25% of total sales by 2022.
But it is not all about sales, running an online business is less expensive than traditional stores. In traditional stores, there are charges that you don’t have in an online shop like electricity and water bills, location rent, maintenance of equipment, decor, and others.
What about employment and how it will be affected by online business?
Some see that online business increases unemployment as the number of employees needed in online business is less than in traditional stores but on the contrary, the online business created numerous employment opportunities in various sectors such as content creation, web design, app development, etc….
In conclusion, online business is positively affected by COVID-19. It offers interesting opportunities to increase sales and, at the same time, reduce business costs. Therefore, our services help you do it well, so you get ROI higher than in traditional stores.
You Will Never Know How Covid-19 Could Be So Beneficial!
by Susan Tarek on March 27, 2021
Have you ever thought that 2020 will be your year and then, everything collapsed?
COVID-19 proved that one year can change the world. We’ve experienced severe trauma started with entering into the lockdown, feeling scared, and doing our best to keep ourselves and those around safe and healthy.
This pandemic impact will be felt for years. But what effect has it had on individuals economically?
Some people lost their jobs, but at the same time, others started their new business
You may think it is impossible to start a business during COVID-19. Well, who says you can’t?
So, how do you create a profitable career during all this mess?
The key answer is FREELANCING.
Freelancing is not a new category of work but many employees started to learn about it and search for freelancing jobs after COVID-19 especially after the unemployment rate raised in the past year.
Freelancing allows you flexible working hours in addition to the freedom to choose the kind of project you would like to complete. Meanwhile, freelancers must have certain skills that encourage project owners to hire them.
Graphic Designers, Content Creators, Virtual Assistants are all examples of freelancing vacancies.
Now the vital question is, are your skills enough to become a successful freelancer?
Of course not, you need to create a strong portfolio to attract project owners. There are numerous freelancing platforms that you can register to, all you have to do is create an account and submit your information, skills, and services you provide. Remember, your portfolio and your clients’ testimonials are the cornerstones of the selection process.
Like any other job, working as a freelancer has its own advantages and disadvantages and only you can decide if you can cope with these properties or not.
The advantages of freelancing are:
- The flexible working hours.
- The amount of money you earn in freelancing is more than what you earn in a traditional job.
- The ability to select the project you want to work on by yourself.
- Working from home or any other place, you don’t have to stick to an office or work only on local projects as it is an online business.
- It is very helpful for mothers who can’t leave their kids for a long period of time.
The disadvantages of freelancing you should consider are:
1- Transferring money
Some payment methods are not working in some countries so, you have to check the availability of the payment method you choose and if you can use it in your country to receive your money. Paypal is the most common method and it is available in most countries, besides, it allows you to transfer money to your personal bank account.
2- Freelancing is risky
When you work as a freelancer, though, you don’t have this guarantee of payment. If you aren’t generating business, you don’t make money. Freelancers can spend months without winning any projects and this would impact their expenses.
In conclusion, freelancing is one of the best ways to earn money but it is better to follow these important techniques when you start to work as a freelancer
- Enhance your skills as much as you can, learn more, study courses in your specialization, and always be updated on the new. Competition in freelancing is very high and you need to have your own PowerPoint that makes project owners select you.
- If you are already employed, don’t quit your job. Work as a freelancer beside your current job so you don’t have to face any financial problems.
Choose trustworthy project owners and review their profiles and previous feedback about them so you don’t confront any obstacles in receiving your money.