A Positive Spin on COVID-19

There seems little doubt that working from home worked well for a lot of employees who normally commuted every day to offices in cities around the country. Brisbane was like a ghost town, with no one in ten story office buildings except bored security guards and trains as well as busses just about empty.

Assuming a percentage of these workers start making a habit of working from home at least some days during the working week, you have to wonder if the billions scheduled to be spent on expanding commuter transport could be better used on something else.

The rise of the home office has proved a market opportunity for business equipment and office furniture sales. What else could be sold to this new market segment?

An article I have just read by University Lecturer on Architecture Norman Day pointed to another fall out from working from home….. Lots of empty city office buildings.

He suggested that many of these buildings could be converted into residential housing for minimal cost as all the structure and infrastructure and is already built. The open plan design is ideal for an internal build using non-structural walls.

There’s an opportunity for some creative architects and builders!

Despite the Covid Virus killing a lot of older people thereis a real lot of baby boomers around who remain the biggest market segment in the country.

They are tech savvy and in general fairly well off and have been buying on line instead of visiting shopping centres, have mixed feelings about cruises and won’t be going overseas!

They are concerned about the future for their children and grandchildren and are keen to help them if they can.

They are concerned about the future for their children and grandchildren and are keen to help them if they can.

What can you sell them instead?

This is a huge opportunity for our government in Australia to buy up a couple of good airlines like Qantas and Virgin Blue for fire sale prices and open up Australia to support the in-bound tourism industry. 

Only the Government can gain from multiple market segments while operating at little or no profit margin. The interest rates on Government borrowings are pretty low and potential payback excellent.

A big island like Australia needs air transport as a critical component of its economy, so if the market economy can’t provide it then the Government should.

On-line shopping and the delivery services associated with it have boomed as a result of COVID-19.

Customers are buying absolutely everything on-line now and having it delivered and not just locally, but nationally and internationally!

And instead of eating out, eating in, with the best menu in town and Uber Eats delivery!

Now’s the time to get serious about “Australian Made”!
And all the other angles “Australian Grown”, “Australian Manufactured”, “Employing Australian Workers”, “100% Australian owned”.

Customers understand that buying Australian and Australian owned equals jobs for Australians and the multiplier effect of them spending their wages in Australia and supporting more Australian businesses.

You should promote your Australian Made status and if you want to use the Kangaroo logo on your products and in adverts then you need to register and to pay a modest fee. Starts at $300 and is calculated on annual product sales.

There has been a paradigm shift for purchasing managers from “Price” to “Continuity of Supply”. The experience of production lines brought to a stop with one component not available from China due to the pandemic quickly nullifies the benefit of a low price.

Australian manufacturers have a wonderful opportunity to provide an alternative supply source for components that could be in short supply sometime in the future. It is like having a gun, but no bullets, not very effective!

A purchasing manager who ignores the need for alternative and preferably Australian sources of supply could be in trouble if another pandemic arrives.

There could be a real business opportunity in providing backup component supply for other manufacturers so remind your customers and prospects that you are Australian, manufacture here and you are proud of it.

It seems likely that stimulus packages involving public infrastructure will be channelled through Local Government. In this case I suggest that the paradigm shift should be focussed away from “Lowest Price” and on to “Australian Made” and “Australian Owned”.

The value of the re-spend multiplier effect should be calculated and considered as a bonus when price is compared with an overseas sourced project / construction. An example could be the trains operating now in Brisbane which were sourced from India. Local manufacture may have been more expensive but the spin-off of components, employment and skill development would have been significant.

So the advice is to make the benefit of Australian Made / Australian Owned, clear to all your customers. Particularly to those responsible for spending our money to stimulate our economy! Rather than spending our money stimulating the economies of other countries.