With most of the world still forced to stay indoors, the gaming world in all its colourful, action-packed glory has become a ‘beacon of light’ to many. Given this recent spike in demand for gaming, ZeusX, a Singapore-based digital marketplace for gamers all over the world, is looking to ramp up its growth with more varied product offerings and aggressive user acquisition. 

e27 recently sat down with ZeusX founder Alex Tay to share his startup journey, the opportunities and challenges he faces in terms of attracting investors, clinching potential customers, and marketing.

The hurdles of being the ‘new face’ in the startup crowd

Newly established startups have to deal with several ‘birth pains’ of being new. For instance, they have to get people to understand what their business is all about and prove their reputation. Also, for marketplace platforms such as ZeusX, they must learn the ropes of seamlessly onboarding their initial partners.

While the young startup has not been immune to all of these, ZeusX utilised those disappointments and rejections as opportunities to improve their methods, product, and services.

On attracting potential customers, gaining visibility, and building trust by tapping into a reputable platform

Apart from product development, one hurdle many businesses must tackle is gaining visibility in the marketplace or ecosystem.

“In terms of attracting potential customers, the biggest challenge is that we are really new and trying to tackle an area where gamers are already wary of scams,” shares Tay. “So the number one question in their mind is — “Is ZeusX legit?”

“And because awareness and branding was a top concern, it’s important that people know about us from a reputable source and understand that we are not a fly-by-night operation,” the ex-corporate continues.

“We wanted to find a media platform which is not only reputable but is also well-known for covering startup movements in the region. Collaborating with e27 to address our top concerns was quite a no-brainer. We definitely achieved our original goal to promote ZeusX as a known startup, and had pleasant surprises in gaining visibility from investors too.”

Addressing the need to build trust among their users, Tay expresses that they “built a series of safeguards to ensure that buyer payments are only released to the seller upon successful delivery and validation of the item.” Additionally, they are adding more verification mechanisms for sellers and working with payment processing providers in filtering off problematic cards or transactions preemptively.

Key advice for those who are planning to take a leap into the same industry

“This is a bit cliché, but if you’re following your passion, it will become your engine of motivation all by itself,” Tay begins.

For Tay, this passion began at an early age of nine. “I was so enthralled with Super Mario Bros on Nintendo, and Archon and Battle Chess on PC that I wanted to be a games developer before I knew it was a real job. It motivated me to read those thick computing books even before I entered secondary school,” Tay confesses.

“Getting a desktop PC in my early teenage years also unlocked a whole new world for me. I mean, how amazing is that — being able to control colourful characters inside electronic screens?”

Get motivated by passion, but one must pursue entrepreneurship with a problem to solve and a clear monetization strategy

“The gaming industry is growing at an unbelievable rate and there is always room for more innovation. Just remember to have a clear monetization strategy from the on-start,” Tay continues.

As an avid gamer himself, who had also transacted in secondary platforms, Tay was really surprised to see most of the trades still taking place on forums, Reddit, and maybe some websites. “There have been limited innovations in this space when you compare it to the progress happening in e-commerce and even for sneakers trading.”

This was where Tay stumbled upon an old problem — there wasn’t any trusted central gaming platform where gamers can trade with peace of mind and get what they need easily.

Additionally, it was during a conversation with his friends when Tay realised that large-prized e-sports such as DOTA catered to only one per cent of gamers.

“So we asked ourselves, what about the rest of everyday gamers — the other 99 per cent? Is there a way for us to create a better living out of gaming, or even help to generate more value to our community? I carried these questions with me ever since that day.”

“The market is really fragmented,” shared Tay. “I followed the recent developments and thought I can apply both my passion and past expertise in creating that gamers’ marketplace that I’ve always envisioned.”

What’s next for ZeusX?

With more people gaming online than ever, there has also been an increase in customers and sellers who want to convert their efforts into cash. “Our approach,” shares Tay, “is not going to change much, but in order to help fellow gamers in need — ZeusX has decided to waive all sales fees until at least 30th June so that we also contribute back to the community.”

He went on, “In this unprecedented time, where COVID-19 is ravaging the globe and forcing people to stay home (and thus play more games), we do get a lot of interest all over since we are a gaming startup. Handling all these attention isn’t a bad problem to have, but we also don’t want to be distracted from the most important thing now, which is to product-fit our platform based on feedback.”

“Expanding our product offerings, introducing more payment options, and ramping up marketing efforts to acquire more users. ZeusX has a strong focus on mobile gaming and Esports games, so expect a good mix of the latest trending mobile game items as well as items from evergreen games too over time. Do watch out for us!”

—

ZeusX recently partnered with e27 for a campaign to help level up their game. We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

The post How this entrepreneur is stepping up the game for gaming tech e-commerce appeared first on e27.

Surge, a rapid scale-up programme for startups run by Sequoia India, has announced the 15 early-stage startups selected for its third cohort, which is underway.

The programme combines US$1 million to US$2 million of capital for each startup, with company-building workshops and support from a community of exceptional mentors and founders from companies like gojek, ONE Championship and Tokopedia.

The Surge 03 cohort includes startups from Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and India, who are solving a wide range of problems across a diverse set of industry verticals, including SaaS, development tools, consumer, F&B, education and Health.

Also Read: Vietnam’s BuyMed raises US$2.5M to expand its pharma distribution marketplace in Southeast Asia

The founders are from eight nationalities, including India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, Italy, Canada, Barbados and Sweden.

More than half the current cohort is from Southeast Asia, while one-third of Surge 03 startups have at least one female founder.

The 15 startups have collectively raised US$39 million as part of the programme.

Since its launch in March 2019, Surge has grown into a community of more than 110 founders from 52 startups, spread across six countries.

Surge 03, which started on 13th April, is taking place completely online for the first time. Day-long sessions held once a week for 16 weeks, include online company-building workshops, small group discussions and interactive fireside chats with Surge mentors such as William Tanuwijaya, Founder and CEO of Tokopedia; Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner, Sequoia Capital; and many other experienced founders and investors from Vietnam, Indonesia, India and the US.

The eight startups from Southeast Asia are:

Bukukas (Indonesia): Helps owners of MSMEs understand and manage their financial flows more effectively with an easy-to-use digital ledger they can download on their smartphone.

Hangry (Indonesia): A cloud kitchen that serves up multiple in-house ‘virtual restaurant’ brands for online orders and delivery.

CoLearn (Indonesia): An edutech platform that empowers tuition centres and tutors to create online learning experiences for their students.

Thuocsi (Vietnam): An online B2B marketplace for pharmaceutical, health and personal care needs.

Pencil (Singapore): Brings the scale of algorithms to the creative process by generating ads that are predicted to work. It is the first generative creative platform for performance advertising teams in brands and agencies.

Pentester Academy (Singapore): Trains security professionals on the art and science of defeating hackers and making the internet safer. It does this by replacing theory classes with practical experiences that are both fun and edifying.

Tigerhall (Singapore): A mobile learning platform that aims to help professionals achieve their career and life goals by learning directly from Asia’s most successful people.

Tinvio (Singapore): A communication and commerce platform built around the idea that merchants and suppliers should be able to work smarter together.

—

Image Credit: Surge

The post Meet the 8 Southeast Asian startups receiving US$1-2M each from Sequoia’s Surge programme appeared first on e27.

 

Updates: The article has been updated on the funding amount

Singapore-based communication and commerce platform Tinvio has secured US$5.5 million in seed investment from Sequoia Capital’s accelerator Surge, according to a company statement.

Other backers include Berlin-based VC Global Founders Capital and Silicon Valley-based investment platform Partech Partners. This brings Tinvio’s total raised to US$6.5 million.

The company plans to use its newly-raised capital for product development and market expansion, primarily focusing on Australia, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia (SEA).

“Our 12 months goal is to provide financial services to businesses and extend our market leadership in current cities and launch in more languages in different places,” said founder and CEO Ajay Gopal.

The startup that was launched last year by an ex-investment banker is on a mission to help small and mid-sized business owners keep track of their orders, accounts, and receivables in a more simple and efficient manner. 

Most of the merchants in F&B, retail, and healthcare supply chains today still place orders over email, WhatsApp, or phone calls, while invoices and payments are exchanged mainly in paper form, he said. 

Also Read: Unlike in the west, layoffs are only the last option for Asian firms during a crisis: TranSwaps Benjamin Wong

“Tinvio’s frictionless chat-to-order mobile experience enables users to send messages and orders to their suppliers in just a few taps,”

The mobile app also creates digital ledgers of all orders, invoices, and issues for real-time monitoring and analysis, so that merchants can keep a track on all their orders. 

Tinvio’s claims that its customer base has significantly grown to over a thousand businesses, with 50 per cent monthly user growth and 80 per cent cohort retention. Its platform is currently available in over ten cities from Hong Kong and Singapore, with plans to provide digital financial services to businesses.

During COVID-19, the commerce startup has stepped up its efforts by initiating a movement called “Save Our Nomnoms“ to help local F&B brands raise immediate awareness and enable direct discovery for their restaurants through their website. 

–

Image Credit: Tinvio

The post [Updated] Tinvio bags US$5.5M seed funding to make tedious business transactions easy for SMEs appeared first on e27.

Anthony Tan, co-founder of Grab, urged companies to stay strong together and support one another during the COVID-19 crisis in a letter originally sent out to investors stating the impact of the pandemic on Grab.

In a LinkedIn post titled Note to Investors on Addressing the Challenges of COVID-19, the ride-hailing giant provided direct insights on how COVID-19 has impacted Grab along with advice on why this is the most crucial time to remain collaborative.

Tan quoted Victor Frankl’s popular book Man’s Search For Meaning on how difficult times are simply a test for individuals to rise above challenges and unleash their true potential.

On that note, Tan believes that even though there may be rough roads ahead, one cannot lose sight of their “north star” which he refers to as the people and businesses who depend on the company for a living.

Even though hard times can run longer than expected, Tan believes that we, as a generation, still carry the tools and technology to find innovative solutions to tackle it.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Chilibeli raises US$10M, gojek denies staff layoff and Grab merger reports

Below is the note:

I hope this note finds you and your family safe and well. It has been a trying period for all of us, and I wanted to take this opportunity to have a frank discussion about the impact COVID-19 is having on our business and our ecosystem of partners.

COVID-19 is the single biggest crisis to affect Grab in the eight years of our existence. It has had an unprecedented impact on our operations, our business and the livelihoods of our partners.

Viktor Frankl once wrote, when humanity is faced with an impossible set of challenges, we are challenged to change ourselves. COVID-19 and the global economic devastation in its wake are those impossible challenges, and we are rapidly changing our business to overcome that challenge.

Impact on our Business

In cities and countries where there are movement restrictions, we have seen a sharp decline in our ride-hailing business with volumes in some countries down by double-digit percentages.

Our deliveries business is faring better. Stay-at-home measures are prompting consumers to order in food and groceries, contributing to demand for GrabFood and GrabExpress. To better serve our users who remain at home, we are expanding GrabMart, Grab’s daily essentials delivery service, and Grab’s on-demand concierge service, GrabAssistant to more cities and countries. This, in turn, creates additional income-opportunities for our drivers during this critical period.

Also Read: Stressful times ahead: How this e27 webinar will help you keep calm and carry on

While the full economic cost of the COVID-19 pandemic is unclear, there will be tough decisions and trade-offs to make as we continue to evaluate its impact on our business. We will right-size our costs, manage our capital efficiently and make the necessary operational adjustments in order to weather the storm and carve out a path to profitability.

Community Assistance

The spread of COVID-19 has devastated the livelihoods of our partners and upended everyday life for millions of our customers. Our driver-partners are now finding it difficult to support their families, and our merchant friends are facing store closures and disruptions to their supply chain.

Our immediate priority in the last couple of months has been to support our driver- and merchant-partners during this very difficult time, including a committed spend of US$40 million in relief initiatives for the region.

The relief initiatives include a financial assistance scheme for driver-partners who are stricken with COVID-19, so they can focus on recovering rather than worrying about putting food on the table. We are also working with NGOs to distribute food staples to needy driver-partners. For example, we recently distributed 80 tonnes of rice to drivers in Vietnam.

For restaurants and small food merchants, the crisis has led to a decline in footfall. To help small food merchants stabilize their business, we are moving them online as quickly as possible and offering commission rebates, commission deferrals and marketing support so they can better manage their cash flow during this period. Open-air bazaars and wet markets that have not changed their operational models for centuries now face an existential threat in COVID-19, and we are actively bringing them online so they too can reach more customers.

Frontline healthcare workers are risking their lives to protect ours. We are working closely with governments and hospitals to aid frontline workers by providing specialized dedicated services like medicine delivery and non-emergency ambulances, in order to ease the burden on public healthcare systems.

Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: Grab-IMDA partnership aims to help Singaporean startups expand overseas

Stronger Together

Ultimately, the impact of COVID-19 and the resulting acts of community kindness remind us that we are nothing without each other. At Grab, we are committed to serving others. Though the impact of this crisis may last years, we cannot lose sight of our north star – the people and businesses who depend on us for a living, our customers who rely on our services more than ever, and our broader community that is working hard to adapt to a new normal brought about by this pandemic.

We will devote our operational resources to alleviate the pain felt by our partners; we will use our technology to aid governments and healthcare providers; and we will build relevant services to give customers what they need, now.

COVID-19 is an exceptionally difficult generational challenge. But while it looks dire, we are in better stead to face this crisis today than decades ago, because we have the tools and technology to help us find solutions. COVID-19 will require exceptional effort from all levels of society to overcome. We must rise to meet this challenge with new solutions, so that decades from now when facing another generational crisis, we can say that the tools of the future were built today.

I’m praying for all of us. Stay safe and strong.

–

Image Credit: Grab

 

 

The post Quoting Victor Frankl’s book, Grab CEO urges businesses to stick together during tough times appeared first on e27.

 

Japanese edutech startup Manabie eyes Southeast Asia expansion after stepping into Vietnam

Japanese edutech startup Manabie is expanding into Vietnam after raising US$4.8 million in its initial year, according to Japantimes.

Funded by individual Japanese investors and VCs such as Genesia Ventures, the edutech platform revealed that it intends to scale up its services across Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Manabie has experienced a surge in demand for its learning platform after COVID-19. The company currently has more than 100,000 users and has partnerships with 30 private and Japanese schools.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Tigerhall, Growthwell Group raise funding rounds

Google-Senti AI partnership aims to “unburden people” from sifting through numerous documents

Filipino AI company Senti announced a partnership with Google to roll out a knowledge management tool for the Department of Health (DOH) in the country, according to Rappler.

According to Google, the partnership will make it easier for DOH to sift through substantial amounts of documents more efficiently.

“The tool will unburden citizens from sifting through hundreds of documents with different versions of the same policy. This will help guarantee that important information communicated by all DOH partners is updated and consistent across all channels, and that major cities and remote areas can all be in-sync with the latest and official guidelines,” the company added.

LiveIn, CapBay join forces to offer financing solutions for property owners

Malaysian proptech company LiveIn (formerly known as Hostel Hunting) has partnered with financial services company CapBay, according to a statement.

Property owners can apply for financial assistance from CapBay to furnish, renovate or improve units and simultaneously become a partner of LiveIn as one of its rental owners.

Also Read: Quoting Victor Frankl’s book, Grab CEO urges businesses to stick together during tough times

“CapBay’s financial solutions help business owners optimise their cash flow and support their business growth. This collaboration with LiveIn offers a greater value proposition to customers and creates the opportunity for more owners to come on board as LiveIn partners,” said Ang Xing Xian, co-founder of CapBay.

According to the company, 40 per cent of LiveIn’s customers are students and young working professionals. Despite an economic downturn, LiveIn expects to expand into Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

–

Image Credit: Tra Nguyen

Sign up here for the next e27 webinar.

 

 

 

 

The post Afternoon News Roundup: Japanese edutech startup Manabie eyes SEA expansion, Google partners Filipino AI company Senti appeared first on e27.

Qoala, an Indonesia-based insurtech company, today announced its US$13.5 million Series A fundraise led by a JV between funds from South Korea’s Kookmin Bank and Telkom Indonesia, Centauri Fund.

The round also saw participation from Sequoia India, Flourish Ventures, Kookmin Bank Investments, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Mirae Asset Sekuritas. It also includes existing investors such as MassMutual Ventures Southeast Asia, MDI Ventures, Surge, SeedPlus, and Bank Central Asia’s Central Capital Ventura.

The company said that it will use the funding to invest further into its technology, people, and brands to fuel its multi-channel strategy.

Founded by Harshet Lunani and Tommy Martin, the company provides customers with a multi-channel insurance solution offering two business models:

• Working with large scale platform partners to drive awareness about insurance with consumers due to the low penetration of insurance in Indonesia.
• Supporting the traditional offline insurance channels, which currently contributes 99 per cent of insurance premiums, to become digitally enabled through Qoala’s app for agents/brokers; and supporting the creation of new intermediaries in the future.

Also Read: Indonesian bank BCA’s VC arm gets US$14 million boost

In addition to its currently available offerings, the Jakarta-based company also plans to accelerate its new COVID-19 support effort within the next month for consumers and MSMEs across Indonesia to provide pay-outs to those affected by the pandemic. This includes those who have had their treatment partially or fully subsidised by the government and are hence ineligible per usual insurance plans.

According to Kenneth Li, Managing Partner of Centauri Fund, Indonesia has a considerably low gross written premium (GWP) to GDP ratio in comparison to other emerging countries, coupled with the large growing middle class in need of more security in their financial planning.

“This allows for an immense potential for the insurance sector to take off in Indonesia through innovative propositions,” said Li.

Just over a year after launch, Qoala claimed to have processed over two million policies per month, up from 7,000 policies in March 2019. It has diversified its partnership portfolio to serve five core industries: travel, fintech, consumables, logistics, and employee benefits.

The startup has a number of partnerships with prominent brands across Indonesia, including Grabkios, JD.ID, Shopee and Tokopedia. Qoala’s customers also include other digital platforms such as Investree, PegiPegi, and RedBus, as well as retail giants such as MAP Group.

Their go-to-market approach is supported by over 20 insurers including global players such as AXA Mandiri, Tokio Marine, Great Eastern as well as local insurers such as ACA, Adira and BRI Life.

–

Image Credit: Qoala

The post Insurtach startup Qoala secures US$13.5M in Series A funding led by Centauri Fund appeared first on e27.

Ruangguru CEO Belva Devara left his presidential special staff role, stating concern over the public’s opinion

Belva Devara, CEO of Indonesian edutech startup Ruangguru, announced that he has left his presidential special staff position effectively after submitting his resignation letter on April 15, 2020 to President Jokowi.

Devara posted its official statement on his Instagram account.

According to Kompas.com, Devara decided after the appointment of Ruangguru as the official provider of Kartu Pra Kerja triggered a backlash in the country. Kartu Pra Kerja (pre-employment card) is a government programme aimed at people, who are jobless or have just lost their income, to provide training and incentives.

Devara said that there is no conflict of interest in the appointment because the required verification for the programme was done before the company was appointed.

“I don’t wish to cause any more false assumptions with regards to my position in Presidential Special Staff and possibly divert the focus from handling COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bevara.

Hong Kong’s recruitment platform Talkpush raises funding to expand to Latin America

Hong Kong-based recruitment platform Talkpush has announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount of investment from Singapore-incorporated, Colombia-based Latin Leap.

It will use the funding to set foot in Latin America and introduce its Felipe Bot over the next few months.

According to TechInAsia, Latin Leap is a venture capital studio that aims to open up opportunities in Latin America for Asian startups.

Also Read: Can Talkpush disrupt the recruitment industry?

Talkpush was founded in 2014. It optimises traditional recruitment processes to acquire talents by using robotic process automation technology with the employment of AI, Big Data, cloud computing, social media, and analytics,

Vietnam receives Facebook’s approval in restricting anti-government content

After spending months of throttling, Facebook has finally agreed to block access to certain anti-government content to users in Vietnam, as reported by TechCrunch.

Vietnam requested earlier this year that Facebook restrict a variety of content it deemed illegal, such as posts critical of the government. When the social media giant didn’t comply, the country slowed its traffic to unusable levels for around seven weeks by controlling the local network providers.

At that time, Facebook said that undersea cable maintenance had caused the slowdown of its products such as Messenger and Instagram. But it failed to convince the public.

Facebook conceded to the government’s demands. A source is reportedly said that “once we committed to restricting more content, the servers were turned back online by the telecommunications operators.”

—

Image Credit: Ruangguru

 

The post News Roundup: Ruangguru CEO Belva Devara resigns from President’s special staff position appeared first on e27.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has upended economies throughout the world, including the app-based businesses. Global SaaS company Adjust’s annual App Trends 2020 report takes a look at long-term trends based on data from 2019 and includes insights into how COVID-19 has affected the app economy by comparing Q1 2019 and Q1 2020 figures.

The data shows that many app verticals are seeing increases in sessions and installs in 2020, most notably in the Business, Food & Drink, and Gaming verticals.

The research further noted that the increase is in line with the pandemic forcing the majority of employees to work remotely, which contributes to Business apps seeing a significant rise in sessions (up by 105 per cent from Q1 2019) and installs (up by 70 per cent). Revenue events are also up by 75 per cent, as users opt for premium versions to help ease the transition to working from home.

The increase in various verticals

In Food & Drink sector, many restaurants are forced to turn to takeout-only which contributes to Food & Drink apps experiencing a significant increase in sessions — up by 73 per cent on this time last year, while installs increased by 21 per cent.

In Gaming verticals, there has also seen a large uptick in installs, with the need for entertainment surging. In the last week of March, the vertical saw a 132 per cent increase in the number of installs compared to last year.

Also Read: Coping with consumer behaviour during the COVID-19 crisis

In total, Gaming apps saw a 47 per cent increase in sessions and 75 per cent increase in installs in Q1 2020 compared to Q1 2019.

The engagement behaviour’s slight changes

“Beyond these increases in installs and sessions, the report shows little evidence to suggest that there’s been a fundamental shift in user behaviour post-install,” said Paul H. Müller, co-founder and CTO of Adjust. “Users are still taking the same actions in-app, such as averaging a little above two sessions a day, to churning at predictable points in the customer journey.”

The report also details on differences between paid and organic installs, noting that app marketing is fast becoming a pay-to-play game — as the market becomes increasingly competitive. The number of installs from paid sources amounted to 30 per cent of total installs in 2019, up from 24 per cent in 2018.

Additionally, the report explores when users typically engage with app verticals throughout the day, offering insights into peak times and the windows of opportunity for reactivation campaigns for businesses.

First, e-commerce apps see a peak of sessions both at lunchtime, between noon and 2 pm, and again in the evening, with sessions between 7 and 10 pm accounting for a quarter of their daily total. Similarly, Food & Drink apps see a spike in use between 5 and 8 pm, accounting for 31 per cent of their total daily sessions.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

On the other hand, many Gaming apps don’t see significant shifts in engagement throughout the day. Casual game activity increases between 12 and 4 pm, but it’s a modest jump of only at 15 per cent. Meanwhile, Mid-core games rise from very early in the morning (5 am) to peak at 1 pm.

The takeaways

The report also includes its takeaways:

• The current state favours the old players in app-based businesses, which presents challenges for newcomers to breakthrough. With this in mind, marketers are advised to build up the paid activities and focus less on organic. To improve paid activities, marketers have to make sure that campaigns are tied to the seasons and the contexts allow the business to engage and retain valued customers.
• Marketers for app-based businesses are looking to a broader range of networks to find new audiences. The research finds that there is more experimentation with networks with marketing automation unlocking this potential, giving marketers more time to manage even more campaigns. However, the more the businesses succeed, the more they have to handle alongside fraud prevention.
• The importance of re-engagement differs depending on the businesses’ vertical, but many app marketers agree that not enough emphasis is placed on retargeting. In 2020 this activation technique could take more of the spotlight — Shopping leads the pack, but others could follow.

The full report is available for download here.

—

Image Credit: You X Ventures on Unsplash

The post How app-based businesses navigate increased demands in the middle of a worldwide outbreak appeared first on e27.

 

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, physiological needs are the most basic needs of an individual for physical survival, with food being one of them.

Following the declaration of a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, and the lockdown imposed by countries, the F&B sector in food retail and foodservice have seen a tale of two cities.

With F&B establishments only allowed to offer takeaway and food delivery, businesses have seen 50 per cent drop in sales and expecting sales to be worse in the upcoming months. To put into context, in China, HaiDiLao has suspended operations and from a six-day closure for the company in January accounts for 1.5 per cent for its estimated 2020 sales.

To keep up with the changing behaviour of consumers, many F&B retailers have switched their model from an offline to online model partnering with food delivery partners such as Grab and Food Panda.

However, these platforms charge 35 per cent commission, eroding already thin margins. Having little to zero sales, F&B companies have resorted to renegotiate rental terms with their landlords, delay or cut wages, and even lay off workers, in order to hold on to cash.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

On the contrary, sales have spiked across all online and offline supermarkets due to the tsunami of demand from anxious consumers. Grocery delivery app downloads and order volumes have seen a surge since the outbreak of COVID-19, resulting in difficulty to cope with the orders.

Tesco online reported a full schedule of its delivery services next month, Happy Fresh has seen a 10 per cent spike in orders and Meituan has received four times more grocery deliveries. Shelf movements of food staples at offline stores are fast, eventually leading to the inability of aligning the pace of inventories being restocked.

Notably, one of the biggest issues in the industry lies within the shortages of labour along the supply chain. As demand soars, a more rapid movement of goods along the chain is necessary, which is likely to require more manpower due to the lack of automation at this stage.

Walmart is looking to hire 150,000 staff; Aldi to add 9,000 staff, and Tesco is looking to add 20,000 workers; even grocery startup Instacart is planning to add another 300,000 shoppers in the next three months.

Another point to note is the food supply chain, as younger workers migrate to an urban population, we have seen a lack of farm workers. In the US, this has been exacerbated by President Trump’s immigration policies.

In somewhere like Malaysia where we are self-sustaining as food supplies however, we have seen logistics impacted by the Movement Control Order where state borders are now closed. Fresh supplies from Cameron Highlands, for example, have been reduced by 30 per cent due to market closures.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

The concern is further aggravated when a number of countries started imposing export restrictions on major crops – countries that are heavily reliant on food imports would be among the first victims of such action. Vietnam, for example, has curbed rice exports, Russia has halted processed grain exports and Kazakhstan has suspended exports of flour, oil, and vegetables.

At this critical point of time, it is crucial for sectors and industries, or even countries, to work hand in hand to mitigate the food supply chain crisis. Unemployment that arises from the foodservice sector should first be channelled to the food retail and supply chain where a severe understaffing problem is apparent.

Public transportations that are currently operating at a lower capacity, such as buses and trains, could provide support in terms of movement of goods across different states.

Governments should avoid trade barriers or restrictions among countries, particularly on essential goods, as this could potentially accelerate food price inflation when supply becomes limited.

–

For more insights by RHL Ventures on COVID-19’s impact on the food & beverage industry and various other sectors, please visit this link.

Register for our next webinar: How startup founders can become thought leaders

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

The post Is COVID-19 eating jobs away? appeared first on e27.

The year of 2020 — a year of COVID-19 attack in almost all nations. The impact in the world economy is severe, a lot of activities slow down, GDP downgrading in major countries, businesses shut down, unemployment rate increasing, the stock market went down drastically, and no one could confidently tell when it will be over.

Another question raised in mind; Would things go back to normal after the crisis is over? If it does, how long will it take?

Investors and leaders are demanding to cut non-essential expenses, cut losses, protect cash flow, prepare plans to rise again when things are over. The pressure seems way more real right now –and that’s the reality we need to face.

“Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them,” says Andy Grove, former Intel CEO.

Instead of being stressed and imagining all bad scenarios that would happen, wouldn’t it be nice to change our perspective and find ways how to sustain our business in the right and positive way?

Rise of new ideas, innovation, and creativity

This is the time to apply Steve Job’s principle — Think different. Adaptability is one of the traits of human nature. Our ability and flexibility to cope with environmental challenges through biological and behavioural or cultural means, creating new ideas when we forced into changes.

Also Read: A survivor’s guide for businesses dealing with COVID-19-led supply chain disruption

These new ideas transformed into innovations, followed with creativity to overcome challenges. The crisis becomes a forcing mechanism that leads to changes and advances, whether it is in technology, social culture, politics, even policy, and procedures.

Cultivate problem-solving skills

Plato, one of the most famous Greek Philosopher, says that, “Necessity is a mother of invention.” It means the need or problem encourages creative efforts to meet the need or solve the problem. The word had said it all.

During this time of crisis, a true entrepreneur will find out a hundred ways to solve their problem. There is some point in our business where we rely on someone to solve the problem without us being involved in it. But during a crisis, it forces us to roll the sleeves and activate our problem-solving skills to make the most out of it and not losing the opportunity when it comes.

Unity in diversity

Fighting the demotivation among our colleagues, partners, and employees, during a crisis, required unity of purpose, intentions, and understanding. It is common that during a crisis, all the perceptions, assumptions, and rumours are surrounding the workplace.

Also Read: Leadership through a pandemic: A heartfelt note from one entrepreneur to another

Truth to be told, somehow, this brings people into a unity-mode, because of similar opinions. With this situation, leaders being forced to infused a positive atmosphere by forming and influence a unity of purpose and intentions, which will be resulting in understanding among the people that eventually will benefit the business.

Discover new talents

Challenge doesn’t always mean crisis, but crisis always brings challenges. Talented people in our organisation usually emerge when the challenge comes. Sadly, not every time they are recognised.

However, when the crisis comes, we directly involved in it and so desperate for a solution, and we start noticing these talents. What we think we never needed was right before our eyes all this time. These talents usually have their way to create a dynamic in the organisation that enables the team to work better together.

Anticipation for the next event

I agree that this kind of crisis like COVID-19 might only happen once for many years. But this is not the only crisis that we could ever face in our business.

If we have experienced hardship once, it would be a lesson for us how to handle the next type of situation, so it would be our learning. In fact, it is a perfect time to start drawing different ‘what-if’ scenarios and make a brief plan on how to anticipate those situations.

You see, even in the amid crisis, there is always a bright side in it. If we focus on what we can gain and the beautiful impact behind the dark time, we will lift our burden and not wasting every single opportunity that comes. Trust the process. Remember,

“After the rain, there is a rainbow — after a storm, there’s calm — after night, there’s a morning — and after an end, there’s a new beginning.”

Also Read: Entrepreneurs share COVID-19’s impact on their businesses in a survey by Startup Genome

Leadership is key

Unfortunately, even after we realise these things, we can only bring an impact if we utilise our leadership skills for the benefit of the organisation. We must never forget that during the crisis, people look for direction. As a leader, it is our duty to provide guidance and not spreading the negative vibe around us.

There are two kinds of responses that we can choose; despondent and panic, or energised and inspired. A true leader will keep him/herself steady in front of the people and not letting their emotions overcome their attitude.

Panic won’t help and will lead people into confusion. On the contrary, when we show our passion and energy, it will lead the organization into a positive mode and people will be inspired to work for the good.

Keep strong and steady, for the great things will come to those who believe in it.

–

Register for our next webinar: How startup founders can become thought leaders

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

Image credit: Mathias Jensen on Unsplash

The post Looking for the silver lining for your business amidst a pandemic? Here’s how appeared first on e27.