The COVID-19 pandemic brought tragedy, trauma, and challenges to the world. But it also put a new emphasis on the importance of the skills of an entrepreneur.
The period was marked by an era of unexpected creativity in response to the virus and the restrictions introduced.
Gatherings, work and personal, were off, so we moved online for Zoom weddings, meetings, and get-togethers. Attending venues was halted, so we enjoyed music and comedy from home on live streams. Our favourite restaurants were closed, so innovative bosses started bringing the food to you with new delivery services.
As businesses faced new and unexpected challenges, the skills of an entrepreneur came into their own. Providing solutions to new problems gave innovators a platform to demonstrate what they could do.
The Skills of an Entrepreneur
Businesses faced hardships and many collapsed in 2020 and 2021. Many are still feeling the impact of the pandemic.
But, during this time, entrepreneurs were starting businesses or adapting what they had, quickly, to the new reality.
They identified the problems, provided solutions through creative thinking, and dared to put their ideas into action.
A New Entrepreneurial Spirit
The situation allowed, or perhaps forced, entrepreneurial spirit to the fore. These solutions were needed by society as we grabbled with the pandemic and restrictions.
If it was ever thought that the era of the entrepreneur was in decline, the pandemic showed that is not the case. Now, as we continue our return to ‘normality’, it is an excellent time to look at how the skills of an entrepreneur stand today.
Entrepreneurs are More Resilient
The COVID-19 pandemic posed massive challenges to businesses of all sizes, from the world’s largest enterprise brands to your neighbourhood small businesses.
Faced with a situation unparalleled for many decades, many businesses found ways to adapt and survive. This was the entrepreneurial spirit shown by both brands and individuals.
American Express surveyed 1,000 smalled and medium-size enterprises about Entrepreneurial Spirit. It found that 81% of business owners believe that the benefits of owning a business outweigh the challenges.
While some stuck to their business plans throughout the pandemic, the survey found that 76% shifted their operations in response.
Entrepreneurs are creative problem solvers and strategic thinkers by nature. The pandemic presented unprecedented challenges, but also many opportunities for novel solutions.
While born in response to the pandemic conditions, many of the solutions and new businesses continue, and they will grow and prosper.
Entrepreneur Skills
The advent of increased ‘working from home’ during the pandemic is a good example of entrepreneurial spirit.
It created a demand for remote working solutions – how many of you had heard of Zoom before COVID? – as well as the tools, including cameras, mics, screens, and so on.
More businesses increased their online presence – an entrepreneurial response that created opportunities for digital entrepreneurs to fulfil this desire.
New businesses emerged to meet new demands, while other entrepreneurs turned solutions into new branches of their core business, creating a new customer base and revenue stream.
Innovation and Solutions
“The best innovations are created in response to specific, urgent, and large problems,” writes Dirk G. Schroeder, Emory University’s associate professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Global Health.
“In some ways, the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted our most pressing issues and potential solutions.”
Schroeder uses the example of an entrepreneur who recognises the value of masks, but cannot obtain them. Using the skills of an entrepreneur, this person could then enter the mask market with a manufacturing and distribution company, creating local jobs for those laid off due to the pandemic.
During the pandemic, this, of course, made sense. However, as requirements to wear masks were removed and the public attitude to COVID changed, demand fell.
So, what then for this entrepreneur?
To succeed in the coming years, the entrepreneurs who emerged during the pandemic must devise long-term strategies. For example, the mask-making company could use its short-term profits to raise capital for entry into the global medical supply market or develop PPE for manufacturing enterprises.
While the specific needs of the pandemic may not be there to the same extent anymore, demand for high-quality medical equipment will endure.
In the post-pandemic era, companies that thrived during 2020-22 will either have to return to their previous operations or use those entrepreneur skills to adapt to the new market demands – just as they did during COVID.
COVID Reducing: Entrepreneurship Continuing
COVID-19 has been reduced to ‘endemic’ status, vaccines have helped control the spread and impact, and society is gradually returning to normal.
It is still with us, but societal and economic conditions are, slowly, recovering.
So, where does this leave out entrepreneurs? As needs and demands shift again, will their new-look businesses survive intact?
This is where the skills of an entrepreneur truly come into their own. The people who had the innovation and daring to thrive during the pandemic are likely to flourish as we enter the post-COVID era.
Their virus-response business models will be challenged, but they will again find novel solutions to the new challenges. This is the nature of the entrepreneurial spirit.
