How to Build Business Models Around Trends

Money does not finish from an economy. I mean the Central Bank does not withdraw the money supply from the economy.

 This is what always happens. Money moves to where there are trends. The reason why some people are richer than others is because money always moves toward them.

 That’s how my entrepreneurial friends were debating over the issue of money and trends a few days ago.

 I told them that money and trends have the same direction. That means, money goes to where the need is highest and the value is highest.

 This is what the coronavirus pandemic has caused to the economy. We see how money dried up from certain businesses and moves towards some businesses based on trends. 

As I already analysed this for Zoom and Amazon, how they record high demand and patronage in this period.

 According to Techcrunch, Airbnb and Uber had laid off some of their employees due to the disruption caused by this pandemic. 

The shared economy and the aggregation business model had been badly affected by these trends.

 My interest in this analysis is to see how we could maximize trends by building business models around them. 

But, what are the trends of this pandemic?

 Trends Formation During this Coronavirus Pandemic

The World Economic Forum pointed out the rising market opportunities during this pandemic based on the trends. Trends are essential because they increase the value of a particular activity and increase focus on them.

Here are the trends I have observed that we could leverage on as we build new business models;

• Essentials Trend:

This automatically became a trend as the government ordered the shutdown of non essential businesses. So, essential businesses are needed to sustain lives this time. Without them people will die at this critical time either from hunger or other essential factors.

• Remote Working Trend:

While lockdown and social distancing have been some of the health measures to contain the pandemic this period, it has brought a new trend to business.

 The trend formed is remote working. Workers, especially digital businesses, need to keep working and  stay in touch virtually.

 So, products around remote work have been thriving in this period. Some products that support remote work are already recording success.

• Shopping and Delivery Trend:

It has become known that digital businesses can not be Locked down because it’s virtually operated. 

As more people are staying at home and movement is limited, purchasing will be done online. So, ecommerce and delivery tend to thrive in this period. 

When you order online and make payment online, this will be delivered to your location through their logistic system.

• Online Entertainment Trend:

It will become very boring for people and celebrities to be at home for more than one month without clubbing, going to shows, hosting events and other entertainment activities. 

So, the option is online entertainment that has almost a similar experience like offline entertainment.

• Online Learning Trend:

Physical educational system has also been disrupted by this pandemic. 

Students have to resort to online learning in order to continue their education. So, there is a rise in online learning more than ever.

 Caution to be taken In Building Business Models Around These Trends.

These are some of the business opportunities entrepreneurs can explore at this time. While building new business model around these trend, ensure you pay attention to these;

•  Short Lifespan Trends Factor:

There are trends created by this pandemic that will be short lived. They have few months when they will no longer be useful in the market. 

Some good examples are, hand sanitisers business, nose mask business, drug delivery business and other essential focused businesses.

An entrepreneur should be careful in developing a model around those trends as they have short lifespan.

• Sustainable Trends Factor:

There are trends created by this pandemic that will change the way things are being done in businesses, workplace and economic activities. 

Some of the examples are, remote working, online learning, online entertainment, adoption of digital payment and shopping etc.

 Many companies will reduce their workforce and also adopt remote working for some staff that could work from home.

 As we learn to develop new business models to explore the opportunities presented by these pandemic, we must know that trends will also change. 

The times are really ‘ a changin’