Could the COVID-19 crisis be an opportunity for sustainable start-ups?
The sudden lockdown of Italy was the first sign that the West was entering a new era in business and possibly even society. Not long after, we saw Spain, France, Germany, the UK and the US close their borders, shut down businesses and begin policing populations in a way most of us have never experienced. The shockwaves this has sent through the business world have only just begun to be felt with mass job cuts and production grinding to halt virtually overnight.
As an impact start-up founder looking up to 2020 as the year where everything was going to pick up and we were going to be able to launch on the market, this turn of events initially came as a devastating blow. As investors pulled out, supply chains stopped functioning and production was delayed indefinitely, our timeline went out the window. Whilst we began grappling with the repercussions of these events on our dreams of becoming a leading company in the field of sustainable fashion the world around us started to realise how much this crisis was about to affect them.
Small sustainable businesses are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to established companies due to our reliance on slower production processes, reduced resource availability and challenges in getting noticed. Now everything has changed, the new cards we have been dealt have flipped this around entirely. What traditionally would’ve been advantageous for large businesses is now looking like their downfall.
Large companies have built up enormous and efficient supply lines with many indipendent steps, they are still stocking thousands of products in huge storehouses and have huge overheads from staff and physical stores. The lockdowns have turned this well oiled machine into a lumbering giant that is bleeding out cash with no way of recouping costs. Before all is said and done, we can expect to see many traditional consumer good businesses disappear (and with them the unsustainable practices they rely on).
This is where the opportunity for nimble and conscious companies is. We have no overheads, we have no stock and nothing is set in stone. As society slows down to a more sustainable pace, we have been given an unprecendented chance to catch up and/or get noticed!
There is a HUGE opportunity for us to push out our message of a sustainable slower future where we can live without enormous planet destroying companies, instead relying on small scale companies with sustainable products that are made in just right quantities. People have begun seeing there is another way of making business and they are more willing to try it now than ever.
When the dust settles, there will be many companies that will not have survived and this will have ushered in a new era of consumers and suppliers. An era sustainable business must take advantage of, it is our turn to thrive, don’t miss out!
