With the rapid development of COVID-19, the way that everyone lives has changed drastically.
This has caused serious consequences that haven’t been experienced by current generations.
Mandates like quarantines, social distancing, and home confinement are all practised by countries across the globe.
One significant impact is the business interruption losses caused by COVID-19.
Most businesses are unable to operate unless they are considered an essential business, meaning that many companies and workers are being affected.
This means that COVID-19 is influencing the economy and business revenue.
Some businesses are protected through insurance, but others are left to weather their losses without any assistance.
To give you a better idea of how COVID-19 is affecting your income, we’ll explain four significant impacts of the shocking virus below.
Physical Shut Downs
Arguably the greatest impact is that businesses are needing to shut down their physical establishments.
COVID-19 is ridiculously contagious, so preventing the spread is a necessity yet simultaneously difficult to achieve.
This is why many states have instructed their citizens to stay home and avoid going outside.
Taking things a step further, many businesses are not even permitted to stay open.
The exception to this is if you’re a grocery or food-related business.
With physical shutdowns required for just about every other business, this means that there won’t be any in-person business.
Customers won’t be running errands like getting their drycleaning or styling their nails.
As a result of this, many businesses that depend on in-person transactions are severely affected.
This means a massive loss in revenue as they’re losing their main income stream.
Reduced Online Spending
Another effect of COVID-19 is reduced online spending.
You might think that online spending would increase in response to physical stores being shut down.
With some items like necessities, this is true, but online shopping is down across the board.
There is a logical reason for this and that’s because people have less disposable income to spend.
While your business might not be open during the virus outbreak, the very people that would be giving you business are also likely out of work.
With less work to do, people will inevitably be prioritizing essentials over buying items like new shoes and clothing.
This means that online spending is also impacted as more people are concerned about staying afloat.
One aspect of this is that going digital is an option for some businesses hoping to keep sales steady.
If someone loves or needs your product, they might still buy it regardless of what’s going on with the economy.
In this situation, a digital avenue to reach them keeps your opportunity of making a sale. While sales may still be lower overall, it’s better than having no sales at all.
Impacts Vary By Industry
It’s also important to understand that the exact impacts vary by industry.
While a large majority of businesses are severely affected by COVID-19, some industries are not and others are benefiting from the pandemic.
As mentioned above, essential businesses like grocery stores are permitted to stay open.
Food is also a priority during these times, so many people are stocking up.
With this in mind, grocery stores are selling out and thriving from COVID-19.
On the other end of things, industries like retail are being slammed by the virus and losing millions in revenue.
This speaks to the fact that the full impact of COVID-19 varies depending on whether you’re able to stay open and if your product or service is in demand.
Speaking generally, food and household essential-focused business will continue to feast while many other industries and small businesses will likely struggle.
Duration Is Uncertain
As a final haunting consideration, the duration of COVID-19’s massive influence is uncertain.
This virus is highly sophisticated and incredibly contagious.
It’s potentially lethal and is projected to affect close to half of the world population at some point.
The greatest researchers and doctors from all around the world are working on developing a vaccine for the virus, but it will certainly take time.
Until then, the virus will continue to spread and cause concern for everyone.
Unfortunately, there’s simply no telling when it will end.
It could be in summer, it might not be until fall, or it could even be next year.
With this in mind, the financial impact of COVID-19 is sure to last for the foreseeable future.
It doesn’t seem likely for non-essential businesses to open up any time soon, so businesses will endure losses until quarantines are no longer needed.
Closing Thoughts
COVID-19 is hitting the world with force, wreaking havoc in all countries and causing ripples that impact societies and economies.
Unless you’re an essential business like a grocery store, you’re likely required to stop operations during this pandemic and this is a major blow to your revenue.
Taking this into consideration, there are many ways that COVID-19 is affecting business revenue.
Two of them include required shutdowns of physical establishments and reduced online spending.
The impact varies by industry and it’s unclear when this crisis will end.
While COVID-19 is surely a terrifying situation, we will get through it and normal life will resume eventually.
Until then, you’ll want to see if your business insurance covers your disruption losses to help mitigate the damage.
Also Read: How to Manage Your Business Growth
