A student by day, a millionaire by night, that’s the story of Indian entrepreneur Milad Hatami. His in-depth understanding of the world of currency exchange helped him open his own exchange center at the Ferdowsi Mall at the ripe age of 18. Here he talks about the impact of Covid-19 on small- and medium-size businesses.
Dislocation
“Businesses, both medium and large, suffered tremendously from the aftermath of dislocation caused by the pandemic. Many had to temporarily shut down and wait until the situation came under some control and the heavy curfews were lifted. Once however, the Hermetic seal on trade opened, several businesses immediately felt a tangible reduction in demand, shortage of employees who were uncertain about getting back to their job, and disruptions that occurred in the supply chain, increasing their concerns about when the business will go back to normal. These changes added to months of accumulating inertia and anxiety among small and medium business owners that ended up affecting the health and wellbeing of many.”
Financial depletion
“Another common and obvious impact of Covid-19 on businesses was that many found themselves swimming in the shallow end of their financial pool. According to a PNAS research article, “The median firm with monthly expenses over $10,000 had only enough cash on hand to last roughly 2 weeks. Three-quarters of respondents only had enough cash on hand to last two months or less.” With financial resources depleting, and the reasons I have mentioned above making it difficult to increase revenue, several business owners found themselves groping inside the proverbial tunnel without the light at its end.”
Essential commodities
"While the pandemic had bad effects on business, there was some uplifting news in the category of essential commodities. The reasons for this are obvious, but it is also clear that they did not exactly thrive. With norms like social distancing and employee rotation being vehemently practiced across supermarkets and the likes, businesses suffered from slow customer traffic.”
“Covid-19 impacted almost every human life on this planet. With the pandemic slowly loosening its grip on our world, it is time for us to reveal, share and assess our wounds. While some had to suffer from lack of everyday basics, others had to deal with depletion of their savings, and almost everyone had to battle a raging sense of inertia and anxiety that goes hand-in-hand with uncertainty. As we recover from the impact, here’s hoping we have learned to keep our loved ones close and our wits closer.”