All of us in Hong Kong and the city of Hong Kong itself have been hit really hard in the past 7-8 months. It started with the protests, then the US – China Trade War, and since Jan 2020 its been the Corona Virus Pandemic. Businesses in HK, big and small have all been affected. All the news we have seen for the past 7-8 months has been majorly negative and upsetting; people around you have become cautious, pessimistic, sad and discouraged.
My view of the current situation is that of seeing the Silver Lining in this unforeseen scenario. Specially for small businesses and Startups, this should be a good time to take a break from otherwise super busy and gruesome work life in HK, to spend time to figure out how best to take advantage of the current situation we are all in.
Here are some of my tips to all:
- Positivity – Keep a positive mind set, ups and downs are the essence of life, without hard times we would never appreciate the good times
- Re Strategize – The time delays your business has had because of the unrests and virus, may be a good time for you to go back to the drawing board and re strategize your business plans
- Altruistic Mind Set – Think of how you can enhance the situation for yourself and others around you, while taking advantage of the problems you face. Eg think of how your solution / product can be used to benefit all your stake holders and the ecosystem you are in
- Training – Use the time to train team members on skills that m ay benefits the business when things get back to normal
- Rebuild Client Partnerships – Build stronger partnership with your clients, who may not be buying from you now, but try and understand their pain points and what they are suffering so when things improve, you can have solution based on the changed needs of your client
- Optimize functions & Processes – Take time to optimize your processes, make them efficient, In current scenario where there is opportunity to outsource certain functions and roles to experts, use this break to optimize your team
- Recruit – Recruiting quality talent that wasn’t easily available before CNY, may be something you can do now
From our personal experience with BuyHive we have done some of the above ourselves. The Buyhive Solution will help provide freelance merchandisers in buyers in HK to buyers Globally, who aren’t able to attend the Tradeshows such as (HK Houseware, HK Electronics, HK Fashion Week, HK Jewellery Show, HK Lighting Fair, HK Print and Packaging, APLF, Global Sources Fashion & Lifestyle, Global Sources Consumer Electronics, Global Sources Mobile Electronics) and others.
The Freelancers are experienced Sourcing and Merchandising professionals, who have experience working for some of the major retailers or trading houses. They come with extensive Business knowledge as well as local market knowledge, their expertise can help International Buyers, who are unable to travel get the most of the HK TradeShows for a fraction of the cost of themselves traveling to attend the shows, and makes sure the exhibitors at these shows get serious inquiries and meet their business goals from the TradeShows.
- BuyHive helps International Buyers attend HK TradeShows at a fraction of the cost
- BuyHive helps International Buyers, get qualified and experienced professionals do their Sourcing tasks for a very small budget
- Sourcing and buying can still continue thus making sure the Retailers / Etailers stay in business
- It Doesnt affect the head count and budgets of the International buyers
- Buyers from anywhere in the world can attend the HK shows and find products and suppliers, through experienced sourcing professionals who can identify suppliers and products efficiently (in some cases even better than the buyers themselves)
- TradeShow organisers can still go ahead with the TradeShows without the worry of their exhibitors not getting genuine inquiries
- TradeShow organisers can have higher attendance even when Travel Industry is disrupted
We are here to make sure the impact of the Corona Virus situation can be cushioned with the use of technology and local manpower coming together during this unforeseen situations.
