The e-commerce giant Amazon, now a days is to expand all of it’s service in all the sectors by entering in the new sectors trying to build tough competition for the existing players of that sector. Now, the company has joined India’s online food delivery market, and now focusing on becoming the market leader in this sector by giving tough competition to the top local players i.e. Swiggy and Zomato. Let us see the complete report on the topic, Amazon experimenting in food delivery services in India.
Insights of Amazon Food
The American-based e-commerce giant Amazon, has invested a good amount in their new venture i.e. around $6.5 billion in India. The name given to their brand new food delivery service is Amazon Food. At the present moment, the Amazon food is working in selected pin-codes of Bangalore i.e. 560048, 560037, 560066 and 560103. From the past news from many sources, it was heard that the company was originally planning to launch their food delivery service in India last year, which they pushed to match. No clear reason was provided by the company in this regards but later on they had to push it further more due to the nationwide stay-at-home order (National lockdown) by the Indian government, which they issued in late March before the immediate starting of their services.
E-commerce giant at present testing the food delivery service with the selected restaurant partners in Bangalore with some of the employees. They are going to expand this venture in the upcoming span of time.
Competition in food delivery services
The basic idea behind the Amazon’s entry into the food delivery market sector to try the new sector. Also, many of it’s rival in their sectors are presently started working in this sector. Google is also working in this sector indirectly with the help of their funded company i.e. Danzo. At present, Danzo (Google backed startup) is working in all types of delivery services and now has started delivering the food services.
Other startups like Zomato is itself working in this sector and has now acquired Uber Eats in the starting of the year. The biggest rival startup, Swiggy is also giving the tough competition in this sector, making this sector difficult for any type of future competition. After looking a great opportunity in this food and delivery sector, Amazon is also trying to experience this sector.
Amazon strategy behind Amazon food
Amazon is now promoting it’s Amazon prime services to their customers to experience all the facility under a single roof. The company was waiting to integrate this facility with their prime services. According to the company, this brand new integration of this service can help them in increasing their revenue and can help in achieving their goal of converting their business model into profits. This will also help them in acquire more customers which can become their potential customer and so they will be able to experience all the facility within the same brand name in the single servicing platform.
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed many struggling companies into bankruptcy. Stay-at-home orders have forced many nonessential businesses to close as the demand has fallen massively. The number of bankruptcy filings has risen sharply with little revenue coming in. According to report from American Bankruptcy Institute, bankruptcy filings have risen by 26% from last year.
COVID-19 has led to disruptions of many industries. The economic slowdown caused by novel coronavirus has forced many startups and SMBs to shut because of the limited resources, revenue, capital and high debt prior to the pandemic. Not only this, many big companies are also gradually being pushed towards the bankruptcy.
The result is that it has increased layoffs across many industries. Huge number of people have been laid off resulting into unemployment. For the last two months, 36.5 million people have filed for jobless benefits. This all ultimately resulting into economic crisis.
Unable to cope with the loss, not only startups but many established firms are left with option but file the bankruptcy. The companies filing bankruptcy are mostly from aviation industry i.e. airlines, clothing lines and oil & gas companies. Some of them are big players like Virgin Australia, Neiman Marcus, J.Crew, Diamond Offshore Drilling and Whiting Petroleum.
Here are some of the major companies dealing with the financial fallout due to COVID-19.
Diamond Offshore Drilling
On April 26, the contract drilling services company, Diamond Offshore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Houston-based company provides contract drilling services to the energy industry around the globe. But it filed bankruptcy due to low oil demand and the price war between OPEC and Russia as it caused its business to decline amid the coronavirus outbreak
Diamond Offshore has $5.8 billion of assets and debts of more than $2.6Bn. The company filed bankruptcy 10 days after it missed an interest payment on $500Mn worth of bonds and said it was working with advisers on various options for its future. The company also recently drew down $400 million under a revolving credit facility.
In 2019, Diamond Offshore reported revenue of $981 Mn. The company had employed 2,500 workers at the end of last year. According to company’s statement, Diamond Offshore currently has enough capital about $435 million of cash on hand to continue normal operations as it undergoes restructuring efforts.
Virgin Australia
On April 21, Australia’s second-biggest airline Virgin Australia became the world’s largest airline to seek bankruptcy protection since the coronavirus shutdown created a debt crisis. The COVID-19 has affected the travel industry as airlines seek government due to restrictions on travel.
Virgin Australia was rejected for a 1.4 billion Australian dollar ($897 million) government loan before entering into the Australian equivalent of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. However, Virgin Australia was struggling even before the corona crisis. It has been suffering an annual loss for seven consecutive years.
The company currently has debt of AU$5 billion ($3.2 billion). On the other hand, more than 10 parties have expressed interest in restructuring the company. Founder of Virgin Group and major shareholder of Virgin Australia, Sir Richard Branson stated that the company would work towards proper steps to make Virgin Australia healthy again.
Virgin Australia constitutes share of around one-third of Australia’s domestic airline market. The company employs 10,000 people directly and 6,000 people indirectly. If the company ceased operations, its rival Qantas Airways would have a virtual monopoly.
Frontier Communications
On April 14, the national phone and the high-speed internet company Frontier Communications initiated its bankruptcy proceedings by filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The company announced that it was proceeding with the sale of its Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana operations and assets to Northwest Fiber for around $1.35 billion in cash.
The company made its restructuring plan to reduce its debt by more than $10 billion. It has also received $460 million in debtor-in-possession financing. Frontier has more than $1.1 billion in liquidity including the company’s more than $700 million revenue in cash. Also the DIP financing will help it meet operational needs.
With this financing, the company plans to continue providing quality service. Frontier has fiber-optic and copper networks in 29 states. The company said it had $8.1 billion in annual revenue in 2019, according to an SEC filing.
Gold’s Gym
On May 4, one of the most popular fitness chains Dallas-based Gold’s Gym filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the country’s bankruptcy code. Gold’s Gym plans to permanently close around 30 company-owned gyms but its franchised locations will reopen as coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
The company said in a statement that the move has been taken in an effort to facilitate the financial restructuring of the company. Due to lockdowns imposed in many countries to contain the spread of COVID-19, gyms are forced to remain shut during this period. Thus, it has become difficult for them to continue their operations.
The company expects to emerge from bankruptcy by August 1. The company said that has been a complete and total disruption of every one of their business norms. So they needed to take quick, decisive actions to enable them to get back on track. Gold’s Gym was bought in 2004 by TRT Holdings for $158 million.
Many businesses filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 due to COVID-19
Intelsat
On May 13, the satellite operator Intelsat announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company reported almost $15 billion in debt at the end of 2019 and started struggling when it skipped a $125 million interest payment in April. Intelsat had revenue of $2.1 billion at the end of 2019.
Intelsat provides satellite services to customers in the media and government sectors but because of because of coronavirus crisis, the company saw significant reductions in demand that eventually led to filing of bankruptcy. However, it secured $1 billion in debtor-in-possession financing to help provide liquidity during the restructuring process.
J.Crew
On May 4, the New York apparel company J.Crew filed for bankruptcy after struggling with declining sales and huge debt. The retailer had roughly $2.5 billion in annual sales. The company faced low demand as all its locations were forced to close temporarily to contain the spread of Covid-19.
J.Crew tried to lower some of its debt burden by taking its more successful Madewell brand public. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, J.Crew’s lenders will convert around $1.65 billion of its debt into equity. The retailer also secured $400 million financing from current lenders in order to continue its operations during its restructuring.
Another menswear brand John Varvatos filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 6 as part of an agreement to sell all of its business and assets to British private equity firm Lion Capital. John Varvatos stated that along with the rest of the luxury retail industry, it has been greatly impacted by the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak has forced the company to temporarily close its stores.
As part of the sale agreement, Lion Capital will provide debtor-in-possession financing that will help support John Varvatos operations when combined with its projected cash flows. Lion Capital was already an investor in John Varvatos. It had purchased a majority stake in the company in 2012.
Stage Stores
On May 10, Stage Stores, which operates department stores under brands such as Gordmans, Bealls and Goody’s, filed for bankruptcy and is now terminating its operations. According to a company statement,it is looking for potential buyers of its business and assets,
Earlier Stage Stores struggled with competing against large-scale retailers as well as e-commerce sellers. Then, the pandemic burdened the retailer by causing Stage Stores to temporarily close all of its 738 locations. For reconstruction, the retailer is now in the process of beginning to reopen stores to conduct liquidation sales.
Stage Stores operates the chains in mostly rural areas across 42 states. The company had roughly 13,600 full-time and part-time employees as of February 2019 and reported revenue of $1.58 billion in sales in the last fiscal year.
True Religion Apparel
On April 13, True Religion Apparel, an American denim retailer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in less than three years. The company has struggled in recent years with competition from other retailers. With the retail industry hard hit by the coronavirus, True Religion stated that simply could not afford to wait out the financial instability and stay-at-home restrictions.
ABL and Term Loan are the company’s largest lenders. They are providing more capital to help with its restructuring. True Religion had assets and liabilities ranging from $100 million to $500 million. Until its stores open up, the company plans to continue focusing on its e-commerce sales. True Religion was taken private when it was bought by investment management firm TowerBrook Capital Partners in 2013.
Ultra Petroleum
On April 30, the energy company, Ultra Petroleum filed for bankruptcy for the second time and agreed to a balance-sheet restructuring with its creditors. Ultra Petroleum previously entered Chapter 11 proceedings in 2016. Ultra Petroleum has approximately debt of $2 billion as of Dec. 31 and business disruption from the coronavirus has caused the bankruptcy.
Ultra Petroleum secured financing of up to $25 million through the restructuring agreement and a revolving credit facility with an initial borrowing base of $100 million from lenders. The company said it will be able to eliminate $2 billion in debt. Ultra Petroleum’s operations are primarily focused on natural gas reserves in Wyoming. The company had $742 million in revenue for 2019.
Whiting Petroleum
On April 1, the oil and gas company, Whiting Petroleum filed for bankruptcy because of the Saudi-Russia price war and the drop in oil demand driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. Both of these factors contributed to its decision to file for bankruptcy according to Whiting Petroleum.
The officials said the company plans to convert more than $2.3 billion in senior notes into new equity which would account for 97% of the reorganized company’s ownership. Whiting will also provide payment in full of its revolving credit facility and expects to be out of Chapter 11 proceedings within five months.
The company said it has $585 million of cash on its balance sheet and will continue normal business operations. Whiting’s business is situated in the Rocky Mountain region of the U.S. It has its largest projects in North Dakota and Colorado. Whiting’s market valuation fell from its peak $15 billion to $32 million in 2011.
Chesapeake Energy
The oil and gas company is reportedly preparing a bankruptcy filing after its business took a hit from the Saudi-Russia price war and declining demand for oil amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Oklahoma City-based company was once at the forefront of the U.S. shale boom.
The company was burdened with $9 billion in debt even before the pandemic and price war. Chesapeake is in talks to secure $1 billion in debtor-in-possession financing that would help it fund operations and is considering skipping a $192 million payment due in August. It also faces a July 1 payment of $136 million.
Founded in 1989, Chesapeake has operations in five U.S. states, including Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana. It employed about 2,300 people as of the end of 2019.
Hertz
The car rental company Hertz doubts its ability to continue as a going concern which indicates that it is on verge of bankruptcy. The company’s executives have been trying to postpone the roughly $500 million payment. Yet, it has secured debt restructuring advisers and is preparing for negotiations with creditors over its $17 billion in debt.
The car rental industry has been affected severely due to coronavirus pandemic. Hertz had laid off 10,000 people amid the crisis, incurring employee termination costs of $30 million. The Estero, Florida-based company is now working with restructuring experts at law firm White & Case and investment bank Moelis & Co. in order to address its debt issues.
JC Penney
On May 15, J. C. Penney Company Inc., with its Chapter 11 filing, became the largest retailer in the United States to file for bankruptcy amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Plano, Texas-based company is facing numerous challenges like declining sales and nearly $4 billion in debt. Most of J.C. Penney’s stores have been closed since March 18 because of the coronavirus.
JC Penney had skipped a $12 million interest payment due on April 15 and a $17 million due on May 7. Upon missing the first payment, the company entered a 30-day grace period “in order to evaluate certain strategic alternatives. J.C. Penney plans to secure about $450 million to fund its operations in bankruptcy.
The company operates about 850 stores in the U.S. and employs nearly 90,000 workers. However, the retailer may have to permanently close 200 of these stores as part of its bankruptcy process. Penney saw total net sales for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 1 fall 7.7% to $3.38 billion from last year.
American luxury department store Lord & Taylor is also preparing for bankruptcy and plans to liquidate inventory in its 38 department stores once restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19 are lifted according to reports. The retailer braces for a bankruptcy process and does not expect to survive the bankruptcy process.
Lord & Taylor, billed as the oldest in the United States, was founded in 1826 and once a major retailer in the U.S. But then it struggled to compete with other rivals such as Macy’s and TJX Companies which operates TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Department stores in general have faced challenges from online retailers and consumers purchasing less apparel.
Le Tote, owner of Lord & Taylor, owes $23.53 million to Hudson’s Bay Company after buying the retailer from the Canadian department store chain for CA$100 million in 2019. Hudson’s Bay maintained possession of some of Lord & Taylor’s real estate and took on responsibility for its rent payments. The company could use a bankruptcy filing to take some of its leases back from Lord & Taylor.
Today almost every country in the world is under lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Small businesses, startups & entrepreneurs are wondering how to survive lockdown. On one hand, you want to keep the operations going as long as possible but on the other hand, the health of yourself and your workforce is the top priority. There are survival tips that must be followed to protect your company to avoid closure of business.
The business has surely been slow since the last few months and with the coronavirus pandemic rapidly spreading around the world, the economies are falling down drastically. Now, as over a Billion Indians are under lockdown due to the novel Coronavirus. It has created many hurdles for many established business, startups and their employees to survive in markets.
Humankind has never witnessed anything like this before. Companies are complaining about stranded supplies and non-uniform implementation of orders by law-enforcing authorities. In addition to this; the ever-changing government rules and notifications that are putting restrictions on transport, gatherings, etc.
Due to COVID-19, there is a huge cloud of uncertainty and darkness but as an entrepreneur needs to deal smartly with the circumstances and understand what can be done differently to get over this crisis. Many are looking for business survival tips in lockdown.
While people are locked inside their houses for safety concerns,many major companies have adopted new ways to operate like asking employees to work-from-home, safely shutting down facilities, etc. As the markets have witnessed record falls, it is more difficult for startups to survive in this situation. So here are some strategies to help startups survive during lockdown.
Be Open and Honest with your Customers
Right now we are all facing uncertainty, may it be self-employed, business owners, stay-at-home parents or working a full-time job. It is important to keep our relationship with existing clients alive. Empathize because they are as badly hit as we are. So be honest with your customers and tell them what actions your business is taking.
Experts say, company’s website must be designed well as many customers can visit it during lockdown. Adding an FAQ section to your website is the easiest way to give your customers the info they need. Consider creating a pipeline of business through digital outreach. It is necessary to connect with older customers.
Work from Home Efficiently
Working from home is not a new strategy anymore but how to work efficiently from home is the question before many employees. In almost all affected countries, the advice is to work from home if you possibly can. According to a research, 86% of people feel less stressed working remotely.
To work efficiently, employees need to use the right kind of tools. Thus, startups must ask their employees to use video conferencing tools like Zoom, Google Meet, Skype, Slack, etc. Apart from this, one must ask employees to maintain strict hygiene while working remotely also. One must ask teams to have regular communication to inform about progress and updates.
Manage the Expenses
At this point, the only thing startups should focus on is staying afloat and come out of this situation diligently. This can only be done by managing the expenses in a proper way. Question every expense, get rid of everything that is not important, re-negotiate agreements with suppliers, take a hard look at team costs, chase every single receivable, and do not sell without advances. In times like this, the single focus is to keep the business afloat at all costs, which may need founders to be very careful.
Find out what Help Government is offering
Many governments across the world, are just putting measures to fight COVID-19 but they are also rendering financial help to startups and SMEs to restore falling economy. For instance, the UK has announced plans to offer various grants, loan schemes, reduced business rates, and statutory sick pay relief for SMEs.
The US Government recently announced a $2 trillion relief package for its citizens and businesses, impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. New Zealand’s measures include wage subsidies for small businesses. So, it’s your responsibility as entrepreneur to keep yourself updated with any such help offered. It is advised to check your local city or state website to find out what steps officials are taking or what is available in your area.
If you haven’t got one yet, it is advisable to claim your Google My Business listing now. It’s free and it will help customers find your business online. If you already have Google My Business page, log in to your account and you’ll see a new option on the homepage called “Coronavirus (COVID-19) ” option that has been added recently.
By following the link, you will reach a page where one can make suggested changes to their business information. There one can update their business hours, adding extra services they are offering to customers or their local community or informing them about delays to normal service and so on.
It is necessary to communicate with Suppliers and devise plans accordingly
Move your Sales to Online Shop
Now, selling your products one-to-one is impossible due to lockdown but selling online is still an option. Selling online has never been easier and now is the perfect time to start an online shop to earn extra revenue. Depending on your country, postal services and couriers might still be running, otherwise, lots of companies are starting to offer “doorstep deliveries.”
It is totally safe as the business owner drops the parcel on the doorstep and the customer collects it from there, so there’s no contact involved. This is also a great way to help the people in your community get the goods they need. This may help the operations keep going due to continuous cashflow.
Keep in touch with your Suppliers
Because of restrictions on transport and meetings, there might be interruptions in the supplies you need to make your products or do your job, depending on your line of work. Knowing this ahead of time and keeping track of inventory can help you prepare and set realistic expectations for your customers.
You can ask the suppliers or vendors how long it will take them to deliver the goods. If it’s going to take you longer to fulfil orders than usual, your customers will be more understanding if you let them know in advance.
Looking at the current scenario, stabilization of inventory and logistics may not be achieved immediately. But businesses should then turn their attention to pre-booking rail and air freight capacity and using after-sales stock ensuring continuity in their supply chain network.
Take Tough calls
According to experts, the need of the hour is to make a impartial analysis of the current state or position of your startup and take tough calls based on that even if it means merging your startup with another venture. Sooner or later, startups will come face to face with the reality-survive at any cost.
To take such calls, entrepreneurs would require support and help to think clearly. A few other options, that founders can explore, are holding on a favourite project or letting go of a resource that might be valuable but not affordable at this hour.
Have Patience
During this tough time, having patience until things restore back is really essential. For this, a team has a valuable role to play. A Team should be strength, motivating and bonding the team is important. A leader must share the situation so that the team can support and help. Sharing the problems can give hope and might find you a solution to deal with the situation.
Each new learning becomes a rule, and each failed attempt becomes new learning. In the matter of just a week, India went from a do-not-panic state to a state of complete lockdown. So during such testing times, there are several financial and legal aspects that all businesses should bear in mind to lower risks and cut down on their losses. By adopting the appropriate strategies, any business can survive this lockdown. And remember it is a matter of time!
There’s a common saying that goes, “Money doesn’t grow on trees”. The world is harsh and everything has to be earned. To survive you need money, and to get access to money you need to work. But finding work is just too hard or even harder than working in today’s world. It would no longer be a surprise if we were to find out that a 1000 people applied for a post with 80 seats. It shows us just how much of a role money plays in our lives. 💸
But fear not! The world is vast and its diverse inhabitants do tend to come up with ways to support themselves. They come up with ideas for new ways of making money, laying the path for someone else in the future too. Now, every individual is unique in their way and each possesses a different set of skills and preferences.
So keeping that in mind and also the fact that as of this moment you might be unemployed since you are reading this we have listed down some weird and funny ways to make money that you could consider👇
This works by uploading a photo of yourself and tagging the clothes that you are wearing. When viewers like what they see and buy the clothes, you get a commission in the form of points which you can redeem for cash and various products. This could be useful for people who have a large following on social media since they are more likely to reach out to more people and ultimately bring better results.
A new trend on the rise is professional gaming. With the ever-increasing use of the internet and YouTube, gamers are gaining popularity by posting their videos or by streaming it live. 💻 Many have taken it up as their source of income with money coming in from viewers who can donate through online transactions as well as through YouTube’s monetization policy.
Apart from that, video game competitions also offer huge sums of prize money. Recognized gamers often enjoy the luxury of free gaming systems and are also given certain privileges by the game they are known for.
Probably the only person to come up with this idea, Mike Merrill is an unusual man. He divided himself into 100,000 shares and sold them at 1 dollar a share. His shareholders now make his major life decisions for him.😆
Mike’s investors run his life and, just as with real companies, sometimes the benefits are short-term and put Mike’s long-term prospects in jeopardy. Another instance is Ian Usher, a man who decided to sell his life and start afresh. He sold his old life on eBay for 305,000 dollars and is now a professional speaker, blogger and writer and also the owner of an island off the coast of Panama.
Countries may be fighting one another over land claiming their ownership over territories but certain individuals have risen above them all. Among them is a guy named Dennis Hope. In the early 1980s, Dennis, then unemployed, found a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty that said that no nation shall have sovereignty or control over any of the satellite bodies. 😳
In 1980s, Dennis hope sold the land on moon to many people.
He noticed that it said nothing about an individual owning them. So, he sent a letter to the UN about him claiming ownership over the moon, the other planets and their moons and his intent on selling the land to whoever wanted it. He also mentioned that if the UN had a legal problem with it, they let him know, but there hasn’t been any kind of challenge by any government to his claim. Since then, he has been selling plots of land on the moon and other celestial bodies for actual money. Not only that, but he also has an ambitious plan to build the first city on the moon.
Become a Fake Patient 😅
Known as “standardized patients”, people with this job help new doctors get trained. It is essentially an acting job where people are paid to play different roles while medical students examine them. These jobs can be found in several medical colleges if you can act and don’t mind being poked and prodded by aspiring doctors.
If you think the ones above are too hardcore for you, this one might be less of a challenge for you, that is if you possess a car. Companies pay people for putting up their advertisement in their car to promote their business. So if you take up this job, you can make money even while driving through town with your friends.🤑
Ever wondered how fun it must be to be in an eating contest? Well, if you are a heavy eater, you could even earn by eating your way through. Although, you’d have to be quite fast too and also be prepared to face stiff competition.
Now, if you think it’s time to burn all of those now, you could earn money again by betting how much weight you can lose. If you succeed to maintain your weight by the end of the challenge, you get paid. Keep in mind though, both of these are different contests.
Provide Doggy Daycare🐕
Maybe you feel like your pet dog is still too young to be left alone at home and wonder if it’ll be hungry while it is on its own. Well, the feeling is mutual for many people and that is why nowadays some people are willing to take care of dogs while its owner is at work. It could be a source of happiness for you if you are a dog lover. To offer your service, you could get certified or choose not to if you are only going to look after dogs whose owner has trust in your competence.
Cry your way to Money 😭
Remember when you were a kid and used to cry for the things you wanted? This job also involves crying and you get paid for it too. People hire professional, discreet people to attend funerals and wakes. So, if you feel you can act and shed tears, you could give it a try. 😎
Rent your Friendship 👬
If you don’t have a problem mingling with strangers, or if you are a person who likes the company of others, or in other words, who takes a genuine interest in others, this job could be the right one for you to make money.
Naturally, if you are open-minded it adds up to your advantage. If you’re in this job, you will have a page with your online profile and will be contacted if the renter finds you suitable.🔍
Perks of doing this job include free meals, concert tickets, etc. Yes, of course, the relationship is strictly platonic.💵
These are some bunch of ideas if you are looking for weird ways to earn money. Excluding them, there are so many other things that you could come up with, ideas that could emerge from your interests. Although unusual as they may seem, it does fill your pocket with quick money. P.S. You might find yourself enjoying these jobs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has paved way for a global meltdown. Lockdowns and other measures implemented across the globe have helped in damage control and recovery from coronavirus to some extent, but the side-effects are here to stay. Manufacturing, retailing, and logistics sectors have taken a severe hit. This pandemic has effected damage on supply chains across countries and therefore, the distribution of products and services. The world is going towards a global recession phase. Companies working in the manufacturing sector are being compelled to change their working stack in order to see through this challenging time, one where the very existence of organizations is at stake. Consequently, 3D printing has taken the centrestage and is quickly becoming the baseline tech in manufacturing. This post covers the rise of 3D printing technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reasons behind the use of 3D printing technology
1) 3D printing technology helps in producing parts and pieces whenever and wherever they are required. This technology doesn’t rely on very expensive moulds for production. It directly helps businesses in the sense that transport costs are cut down since 3D printing allows production of elements within one’s own premise.
2) If any problem occurs from suppliers’ side, one can produce the same parts without losing their properties through 3D printing. It indirectly helps businesses to use the wide range of materials they have at hand.
3) Having a 3D printer in your company can quickly help build products in situations the final product depends on a single missing part. This way, last minute dependencies are taken care of through 3D printing.
Italy uses oxygen respiratory valves prepared through the 3D printing technology. An Italian engineering firm, Isinnova, decided to mass-produce the valves using 3D printing. This was taken into consideration when Italian hospitals ran out of the respiratory valves needed to connect COVID-19 patients to ventilator machines. After examining the valve and creating a prototype, the company collaborated with a local manufacturing firm to create 100 valves in 24 hours which were then directly supplied to the hospitals.
2) Respirators
Isinnova has also contributed through the development of highly potential airway pressure masks. The functionality of this mask is that it can be used for sub-intensive care of patients suffering from COVID-19.
3) Quarantine Booths
In China, 3D printing is a widely used technique employed for all types of works. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Winsun, a 3D printing company based in China, used its resources to 3D print 15 quarantine rooms for Xianning Central Hospital. The rooms were made up of crushed and ground solid urban construction waste.
4) Ventilators
Ventilators are no less than godsend at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. The University of Minnesota and Protolabs, a provider of 3D printing services, have collaborated for the noble cause of developing the key parts of a low-cost ventilator. Similarly, Formlabs has successfully printed a ventilator splitter which allows a single ventilator to support multiple patients.
Running your own business isn’t always easy, and for many entrepreneurs, it’s not unusual to find themselves juggling tons of different things at the same time. And, this can quickly begin to take a toll on every aspect of your health and wellbeing, depending on the type of business that you run. If you work from home from a desk all day, you can easily find yourself lacking exercise if you spend every waking hour working on your business, which can lead to weight gain, aches, and pains, and even affect your mental health over time.
Successful entrepreneurs know that looking after themselves is crucial not only for their own good, but also for the health of their business. When you take small steps daily to improve your lifestyle and look after yourself well, you’ll have more energy to put into your business, and quickly begin to reap the benefits. Here are some daily habits that you can implement to improve your work as a business owner.
Improve Your Sleep Habits
First and foremost, you will want to make sure that you are getting enough high-quality sleep every night. Trying to run a business can be difficult enough; you don’t want to end up doing reduced sleep when you’re suffering from fatigue and brain fog. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day to get in a good routine. If you need to, upgrade your mattress and pillows to improve your comfort at night and make it easier to drift into a deep, relaxing sleep. If you snore, mouth breathing could leave you waking up with a dry mouth and sore throat every morning; snoring strips are such a simple yet smart solution that will help you breathe through your nose and wake up feeling better.
Be Creative
Depending on the type of business that you run, you might spend most of your time doing mundane and rather boring, yet essential tasks. Having a creative hobby can actually improve your work performance, so it’s a good idea to try and inject some creativity into your daily routine. Whether you learn to play a musical instrument, set up a crafting room in your home, paint pictures, or try your hand at making your own clothing, having a creative outlet to turn to will not only be therapeutic but can also help you to stay disciplined and focused when it comes to your business.
Connect with Others
Running your own business from home has never been easier, so if you’re among the many people who are working as a ‘solopreneur’, it’s important to make sure that you don’t end up completely isolating yourself. Of course, technology has made it easy for us to stay connected with friends and family through texts, calls, and video calls, but nothing beats meeting up in person and spending some quality time with a friend or relative. Even if it’s just grabbing lunch or a coffee with a friend who lives or works nearby, try to work some social interaction into your routine as often as you can.
Exercising
When you’re heavily focused on making your business work, it can be all too easy to end up skipping the gym or your regular workout to sit at your desk and reply to emails or finish up a project instead. But too much sitting down can be bad for your physical health and after a while, you’ll start to see and feel the effects of not getting enough exercise. On the other hand, creating a routine that allows you to stick to daily exercising will not only make sure that you stay in shape, but can also help with mental clarity and make it easier for you to face all the work that owning a business throws at you. Going for a brisk walk or jog at midday might be all that you need to grab some time to yourself and get those endorphins flowing after a long morning; you’ll return to your desk feeling refreshed and pumped for the afternoon.
Eliminate Distractions
Working as an entrepreneur often means that you have notifications coming at you from all directions, but if you’re constantly making yourself available, you’re wasting valuable time that you could be spending elsewhere. Many business owners find themselves constantly checking their email and phone for work updates, which can be a huge culprit when it comes to the amount you have to do in a day. It might be worth investing in a software program or app that you can use to only get the notifications that genuinely need immediate attention so that you can focus better on what you are doing and check your emails when you have the time to deal with them all. And when it comes to your downtime, don’t let your business take over your life in the evenings and on the weekends; set your phone to ‘Do not disturb’ mode so that you can enjoy your free time without distractions.
Take Regular Breaks
Owning and running your own business is a lot of hard work, but you can’t expect yourself to be performing at your best if you never let yourself have some time off from it. In fact, working for long hours for weeks at a time without taking a day off to yourself can actually have the opposite of the desired effect when it comes to your productivity. You’re not going to be more productive from working flat-out; if anything, you’re going to end up suffering from burn-out and struggle to get anything done at all. Make sure that you give yourself regular short breaks throughout the day and take at least one day per week off from working too.
Relaxation Techniques
There’s no denying that running your own business can be stressful; you take a lot of risks to get where you are and unlike employment, there’s no guarantee that you’re actually going to make any money next month. Even when things are going steady in terms of the income that you’re bringing in, next week or next month could be a totally different story. So, it’s unsurprising that many entrepreneurs suffer from some level of stress and anxiety. Incorporating relaxation techniques like mindful breathing and meditation into your daily routine can be very helpful with this. Set reminders on your phone to let yourself know to take a few deep breaths. If you have an Apple Watch, they have a very useful feature that you can switch on to remind you to breathe throughout the day.
Delegate Tasks
Finally, don’t get stuck in a rut of trying to do everything by yourself. Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses, and one of the best habits that you can get into as a business owner is delegating tasks to somebody else when you’re struggling to do them your own. Not only do you free up time to work on the things you can easily accomplish and avoid wearing yourself thin, but you’ll also get better business results when you delegate tasks to people who are more suited to the job than you are.
Looking after yourself is hugely important when you’re running a business. Incorporate these habits into your daily routine and see the difference in your overall wellbeing and your business’s performance too.
You’ve probably seen dangerous jobs on reality TV shows like Ax Men or Deadliest Catch, but here’s the thing: the pay is generally not that great considering the huge risk to life and limb that the people working in these jobs take. Loggers and fishermen, for example, have fairly dangerous jobs compared with other professions yet they only take home an average salary compared to other workers, if not even less. If you’re going to take a risky job, whether you’re risking your health, money, or even your life then you should at least be handsomely compensated for it. Thankfully, there are plenty of risky yet lucrative professions that you should consider in 2020.
Day Trader
If you’d rather not work in a job that risks your life or wellbeing just by turning up to work, but don’t mind taking risks elsewhere, then consider day trading. Day trading in the stock market can be risky to your pocket as you never know when the market value could fall and leave you short, but on the other hand, making calculated risks can pay off handsomely. You can get actionable advice from people who’ve made a successful living from day trading to make sure that you put together a trading strategy that is likely to work. And, the best part of day trading is that it allows you to work for yourself; you get to decide which hours to work and you can usually do it from anywhere that you have a laptop or computer and a reliable internet connection.
Airline Pilot
While flying might be safer than driving, airline accidents do still happen and they’re usually very serious. Crashes might be rare, but there’s always that serious risk to life as an airline pilot every time you take off from the runway. And there are some smaller risks to your health as an airline pilot as well; the most common is back strain after spending countless hours in flight decks. But with a median salary of over $100k per year, the amount you can earn might just make the risks of this job worthwhile. Plus, it’s a huge amount of fun and you get to see different countries as you work.
Registered Nurse
There’s no doubt that nurses face more health risks than almost any other profession. As a nurse, you’ll spend every day dealing with sick people and are on the front line when it comes to treating infectious diseases, so there’s always that very real risk that you are going to wind up catching something that a patient brought in. And, overexertion can be a real problem for nurses who are often on their feet caring for patients for long shifts with little rest. However, typical average wages that are around 88% higher than the average national wage might make it worth it, not to mention the sense of satisfaction that you get from working in a role that is critical to the healthcare system.
Professional Athlete
If you play a sport and really enjoy it, then you might have considered your chances of becoming a professional athlete. Anyone who’s really good at a sport can make money from their game, but it certainly doesn’t come risk-free. After all, when your job involves keeping fit and physically competing on a regular basis, it’s bound to take a toll on your body. Over half of the injuries that athletes sustain are tears, sprains, and strains – but most find it’s worth it when they get to play the game for a living. And, the pay isn’t bad either – get really good and you could be on track to becoming a millionaire. But even minor league athletes can expect paychecks a few thousand dollars higher than the national average.
Construction Foreman
Working as a construction foreman means that you’re the first-line supervisor on a job site, and the risks are fairly high. However, the risk of fatality is lower than that of ironworkers and roofers who spend most of the time on the job working at height. Foremen tend to be more likely to suffer from strains, sprains, and tears that are caused by the physical demands of the job. However, with a median annual salary of almost $60k per year and the chance to earn around $100k for those with experience, the money you can earn certainly makes it worth it. And, most people start working in construction right out of high school; unlike many other high-earning professions you can learn on the job and there’s no need to get into student debt to get a college degree before you start.
Police Officer
If you want an exciting career and don’t mind taking some risks, working in the police could be ideal for you. While the high drama of working as a cop might be exaggerated for TV and movies, real-life policing is still one of the riskiest professions out there. In fact, the number of work-related deaths in the police is greater than all the other occupations listed here. However, it’s not very high, with around 18 deaths per 100,000 workers. And paychecks almost 60% higher than the national median salary may be worth sustaining some sprains and strains for. And, there are several options for entering the police; you can enter the academy after graduating high school, although some agencies will require you to have a college degree.
Electrician
With high demand from both residential and business clients everywhere you go, electricians are practically guaranteed a lucrative and prosperous career. But, this profession doesn’t come without its own set of risks. Electricians typically sustain injuries due to falls, which is unsurprising considering that they tend to spend a lot of time working on ladders at construction sites. If you’ve got a good balance and can watch your step, you can typically enjoy a paycheck that’s just over 40% higher than the national average salary.
Mining Machine Operator
Unsurprisingly, spending your time pumping the Earth for its resources can take a physical toll on you, but you’ll be handsomely compensated for the trouble. Extraction workers cover a broad category of people who drill and mine for resources such as gas, oil, and coal. There are various job opportunities on offer with some paying better than others, and certain mining machine operators can enjoy a very lucrative career. For example, mining roof bolters operate machinery and equipment working in underground mines and earn the highest average pay of all extraction workers along with supervisors and engineers. But, it comes with the highest risk; roof bolters tend to work mostly in coal mines and have a very high injury rate of 554 per 10,000 workers. On the other hand, oil and gas drill operators might earn a little less, but enjoy far fewer risks of injury. And, getting started doesn’t mean that you have to spend lots of time and money on education; you can get into mining straight from high school, but if you want to earn more, it’s worth investing in an engineering degree.
If you’re going to work in a job where you’re risking something, whether it’s your health, your finances, or your life, then you should definitely be paid enough to make it worth it.
The fast spread of the novel coronavirus has led to a global lockdown hitherto unfathomed. The on-going situation has now become one of the biggest threats to economies and financial markets all over the world, and is leading us towards a global recession. The spread of the coronavirus has impacted the purchasing power of people. We are apprehensive of exchanging traditional currency i.e. notes and coins, to minimize contact. In such a situation, digital contactless payments are gathering a new found attention in these times. Also, countries across the globe are taking numerous measures to maximize digital contactless flow of currency. The culture of digital contactless payments is only going to expand as time passes. This article covers the rise of digital contactless payments post the COVID-19 pandemic.
Status of Digital Contactless Payment
The COVID-19 pandemic stopped almost all possible transactions in the beginning. But over the last couple of months, digital payments have picked pace. People are now resorting to digital payments for purchasing all kinds of utilities. Many merchants have witnessed a significant rise in digital contactless payments across different modes. Statistics point towards a rise of around 30% in the role of digital transactions in revenue generation. Several reports attest to this. According to a report from Statista which talks about the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its consequent lockdown on Indians, a majority of respondents reported no or very less change in their use of digital payments. However, 33 percent said they used digital payments more than before, while nine percent made online payments exclusively.
Different modes of Digital Contactless Payment
The different digital payment modes that one can opt for in the current circumstance include:
1. QR Code
QR code or Quick Response Code-based payment is a modern payment system that has become pretty popular during the period of COVID-19 pandemic. People can simply scan a QR code with the help of their smartphone to pay for items like fuel, grocery, utility bills, fuel, food, travel and several other services. QR codes facilitate instant payments and that too using fool-proof security payment technology. Whenever a customer requests to pay via the QR code, he or she needs to just scan the QR code of the respective merchant. This scanning helps in automatic entry of the merchant’s details and leaves you with only having to type the purchase amount. After this, you are ready for the payment. Just click on the secure payment tab and watch the transaction happen in a jiffy.
2. UPI
Unified Payments Interface (UPI), developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), is an instant payment system which relies on your bank account. Whenever a customer requests the UPI payment mode for transacting, the merchant provides his or her unique UPI ID. After this, the customer needs to enter the UPI details of the merchant. The customer can also verify the details displayed on the payment portal. The customer is then ready for making the payment. Just click on the secure payment tab and it’s done! This is also linked with the QR code of the merchant.
Payment gateway is a merchant service provided by different e-commerce platforms and ensures that sensitive information (such as credit card details) passes securely through various channels when entered into a virtual terminal or an e-commerce website . At present, e-commerce establishments are strongly focusing on payment gateways as they refrain from entertaining cash-on-delivery payment orders.
The Near Field Communication (NFC) feature is a new technology in the e-payment sector that allows you to make contactless payments to retailers. Customers can choose to pay via their contactless credit/debit cards or through a Tap & Pay feature provided by banks via a mobile application; you simply tap on your smartphones.
5. Prepaid cards
Closed-loop prepaid cards are the ones that can only be redeemed at the merchant who issued them. On the other hand, “semi-closed loop cards” or “restricted open-loop cards” are similar to shopping centre cards which can be redeemed at various merchants but only within the shopping centre. These cards can be swiped/inserted at the PoS terminal for top-up/withdrawal purposes. You need to enter your pin for completing the payment. This is done for security measures.
COVID-19 pandemic has created a big problem in front of us. The people are having a great fear from this pandemic. This has led a situation where everyone is thinking about an autonomous facilities in place of human resource facilities. It situation has also marked a great moment for the autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. Although the pandemic has created a long-term impact on the human living conditions and this will accelerate AV innovation in the life of all people. Many experts says that AVs will prove itself and especially useful during future emergencies and outbreaks like the COVID-19 pandemic. Let us see the complete report on the future of autonomous vehicles post pandemic.
Autonomous Vehicles during pandemic
Like COVID-19 pandemic, AVs will be the ultimate resource for the upcoming future outbreaks, AVs will provide a useful means of transporting passengers to healthcare facilities, pharmacies and grocery stores. This will also help in maintaining sterilization and leveraging inside-vehicle technology to monitor passengers’ vital signs on the go.
The AVs are having some of the most valuable use cases like supplementing labour shortages in transportation, food delivery, and additional industries. It can also help in the situation where, there is any problem from the side of the drivers and delivery workers which are showing up to work sick as companies scramble to keep pace with the upcoming high delivery demand.
The efficient working of AVs can be seen at the time of crisis. In China, it can be clearly seen the use of autonomous vehicles for delivering the medical and food supplies in the hard-hit areas.
With autonomous big delivery vehicles, businesses can achieve more efficient service with the less no. of human work force. This will ultimately help in boosting the productivity of the business and helps in keeping businesses running during any type of pandemic or any type of challenging economic times.
From the latest surveys, it has been seen that, there is a large no. of miss-happening on the roads with the large number of deaths and massive expenses to the automobile due to human error.
There are two different types of mind set of the experts talking about this upcoming technology. Many experts believe that fully autonomous vehicles will be taking a long period of time to be functioned at a good amount of scale and this technology might never be capable of fully replacing human drivers. On the other hand, many other technology experts are in the favor of a fast and destructive change in the automobile sector in the upcoming few years post pandemic.
According to a latest survey, in 2020 found that around 38% of people enjoyed driving “a good deal,” while another 46% enjoyed it “a moderate amount.” This survey comes up with the result i.e. considerable affinity for having control over vehicles, and it’s not unreasonable to think that a hypothetical legislative push to have human drivers completely relinquish the steering wheel would be met with resistance.
In the electronically dominated world that we live in today, we expect things to be done fast and with a little effort put into it. Today, most of the web sites earn their revenue from ad banner impressions and clicks. But as a user, some of these ads can be very annoying & disturbing and in a few cases even malicious. To overcome these issues, it becomes necessary to block ads. It’s not so easy to block ads on smartphone as it needs some proper way to be followed.
Today, smartphones have become an integral part of our lives so much that even though one-to-one communication has decreased with our parents, relatives, and friends but we are connected digitally (video calls and messages). Smartphones have made our lives so easy and relaxing but there are some of the ads on smartphones which irritate us very much while using our smartphones.
These ads are created by pop-up pages, while some automatically start playing video or audio clips. These cause phone’s resources to be overused. As normal people don’t know how to block ads running in our smartphones. Here is a brief guide on how to block ads in simple steps.
How to block Ads from Smartphones
How do Companies target Audience to Advertise Products?
Smartphone tracks each every detail of the user and maps it as data to show relevant ads to the user. We have become so dependent on the technology that we feel short-handed when our smart devices run out of charge or we forget to take them with us or it runs into some repair.
There are many applications available online where we go and browse and shop for almost everything. Right from groceries to electronic gadgets to furniture to automobile, everything is made available online and we just buy it online assuming that we’re doing ourselves a favor. But, is that what really happening?
Smartphone applications request for special permissions at the time of installation and we just accept them without a second thought. It requests permission to access our location, personal information, access to our contacts, to view, read and send SMS and we simply grant permission to whatever is asked without knowing what we’re doing.
Follow these steps to Block the Ads on Smartphones:
Read the app permissions carefully before installing it and grant access to what is absolutely necessary for the proper functioning of the application.
Use apps like Ad-Blocker browser, AdLock, AppBrain, AdAway, AdGuard, AdBlock Plus to prevent annoying Ads from popping up here and there when you’re browsing.
Clear your browser cache regularly.
Clear your browser search history regularly.
Clear your app cache regularly.
Avoid browsing in another person’s phone or computer.
Use Incognito mode when browsing in a cyber café.
Visit only secure sites (HTTPS) and avoid other sites (HTTP).
When searching for jobs on job portals, provide only the necessary details and avoid giving unwanted details to avoid spam calls and spam messages.
The internet works based on the data available and the volume of data available increases manifold every day. The smartphone applications that we use today collects data of the user and the activities of the user(s) to help improve the application and to generate huge revenue from advertisements.
Ads are used for Data Analysis
Google, one of the largest search engines in the world has admitted that over 92% of its revenue is from Ads. Have you ever wondered as to how the same product which you viewed on some website appears as an Ad on another website that you’re viewing later? This is simply because the websites collect your data in the form of cookies and it is provided as data to the other site and this is carried so on and so forth in almost every website. This thing helps them in re-targeting the audience.
Legal or Non-Legal
Is it legal to collect all these data and information by these websites? Well, the answer is yes, because when you sign up to any website they ask you to agree to the terms and conditions of the company and we simply agree to all of them without bothering to read them because they are too long and boring and we end up providing them the data. This is the main reason of these annoying ads and thats why you see these ads. So, you should read the terms and conditions in order to block the ads.
So, is there any way to block the ads or all this from happening? The answer is yes. As mentioned earlier, there are several ways to block the ads and prevent these annoying Ads popping up on the websites and the SMS’s from being received on your smartphones. The following are some of the ways to prevent e-commerce companies and other organizations from sending you unwanted messages to your phone.
