pivot pandemic
Globally, covid 19 has wreaked havoc on the world’s economies, forcing businesses, big and small to shut down. But it is especially in times of adversity, that we need to adapt and innovate so we can continue not just surviving but thriving.
daftarkhwan has had the pleasure of facilitating the journeys of several determined businesses that have managed to pivot in this pandemic, pioneering a new path for themselves and others in the same field.
Simba Global is a supply chain business that sources commercial textiles. Seeing doctors in the UK struggle to treat covid patients in trash bags, they created an off shoot company, Oxford MedEX. Oxford MedEX is a healthcare supply chain company with expertise in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and manufacturing operations across Asia. With sourcing offices in three countries, Oxford MedEx is supporting entities on the frontline of the battle against Covid-19. To date they’ve shipped 8 million isolation gowns, 2.4 million cover-alls and 20 million nitrile gloves, helping patients get the medical assistance they need without hitches or risk of contagion.
Airlift is a Pakistani app-based decentralized urban mass transit startup that allows customers to book fixed-rate rides on buses and vans in their network fleet. With people isolating themselves in their homes, afraid to venture out during the pandemic — Airlift found the next tech based problem to solve and subsequently launched Airlift express. An online grocery service delivering goods across all major cities in Pakistan including Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. Through this new initiative, our old friends at Airlift have been able to create thousands of jobs for riders, warehouse workers, engineers and new business teams within the organization, facilitating the masses of people who found themselves unemployed due to the lock down shuttering businesses.
Another key player in stabilizing the economy through this time of duress is P@SHA, a trade body and registered association for the IT and ITeS industry in Pakistan. P@SHA has been working closely with the government to extend support to IT customers, especially since Pakistan’s IT outsourcing and export businesses deal with corporations abroad, potentially causing a catastrophic disruption. They also managed to have call centers declared as essential services, allowing them to stay open during Eid-ul-Fitr and ushered in a new age of e-commerce with their continuous efforts to make Amazon accessible to Pakistani sellers.
Knowledge Platform combines education and technology, to generate culturally sensitive artificial intelligence-based learning solutions for students in Pakistan. They used to work exclusively offline but after schools shut down due to covid-19 Knowledge Platform took it upon themselves to help bridge the growing gap in education through Learn Smart Classroom & Learn Smart Pakistan under which they created 3000+ videos based on skills, more than 45,000+ assessment questions and around 600+ games and activities for students. They also launched a Learn Smart Classroom Virtual Campus during the pandemic which accommodated 300,000+ students from 1015 schools across 120 towns and cities in Pakistan, including usually overlooked areas such as KPK, Hunza, Gilgit, and remote areas in Sindh.
IHS empowers healthcare organizations through transformative solutions by combining health and technology. They specialize in research and testing for tuberculosis in 450 labs across Pakistan. Understanding the urgency created by the pandemic, IHS swiftly trained their staff, stocked on protective gowns and equipment and adapted their bio-secure labs and machinery in order to serve the Pakistani public by conducting covid tests across all their labs.
The start of the pandemic gave rise to home baking and unhealthy eating habits. Body By Butter, a healthy meal planning and delivery business based in Lahore, noticed an influx of customers demanding sugar free desserts. The team decided to experiment with Truvia to create sugar free baked goods. However once imports shut down, Body By Butter no longer had access to imported sweeteners. They found local alternatives to be substandard, so they took the initiative to painstakingly develop their own sweetener over the course of 8 months and 12 trials. They successfully launched Stevital in January 2021 to continue providing people with the little comforts, made big in these difficult times, while supplying them with a locally produced, delicious product.
For businesses to survive, creative disruption is vital. Being prepared to shift, pivot and change is fundamental especially in this digital age. For more updates on how we facilitate businesses at daftarkhwan head over to our website.
