COVID-19: How to Start a Business Post-Pandemic

The world has witnessed several widespread epidemics, pandemics and other calamities that have tested the resolve of human social and economic existence at different times and stages of life. Think of the Smallpox outbreak, the Spanish Flu; Black Death of the 14th century, which reduced Europe’s population to a half. Then came the Great Depression, almost immediately followed by World War II – two global catastrophes that crumbled the economies of Europe, sparking off widespread hyperinflation. This was the last time the world has experienced a global catastrophe of the likes and magnitude of COVID-19.

The world has always had to battle with rebuilding, re-growing and sustaining the economies of their nations after these catastrophic events like the ones mentioned above. At the end of World War II, the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) was introduced as an economic policy intended to help stabilize the economies of the world. This goes to validate the fact that a major aspect of human life affected the most by these global events is the economy of nations.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about one of the severest interruptions of the 21st century to the global economy. From Wuhan, China, where it was first discovered in December 2019, before it found its way to the rest of the world, leaving trails of devastation, the world is yet to recover from the sordid devastation caused by COVID-19. The first wave of the pandemic had caused a global shutdown on human interaction and the world’s economy, and while we are yet to fully recover from the devastation, the second wave is already sweeping across many countries of the world. 

It is no news that economic activities have suffered a great deal from the lockdown triggered by the pandemic, and that there have been monumental disruptive shifts in the global stock market which have adversely affected all major players in the global economy, world over. There is no counting how many big companies that have gone bankrupt, laid off staff, or are now struggling to survive, neither is there an accurate report of how many small businesses that got swept into extinction during the lockdown. 

However, despite the impact this pandemic has had or is still causing, human activities have begun to soar again. People have begun the fight to win back all what has been damaged or distorted…

EDITOR’S NOTE: Read the full piece here. It’s on pages 58 & 59 of our latest edition, ’25 Entrepreneurs & Brands to watch in 2021‘.