Startups and digital transformation will be key to COVID-19 recovery

Vu Tran, co-founder at Go1, talks us through why he thinks startups and digital transformation will be key in the economic recovery from COVID-19 in Australia.

It would be an understatement for me to say that COVID-19 has changed the world and indeed the way many of us live. In Australia, though tragic in terms of the lives lost to date, we have been fortunate to avoid the significantly higher rates of infection and associated mortality that other nations have endured. As we have seen in the United States and Europe however, the key common thread has been the dramatic impact on local and global economies alike.

The reality is that many good businesses may not survive, and those that do will find their operations permanently changed. From small businesses in hospitality and tourism through to multinational entities, all businesses will need to reassess how they operate moving forward given the flow-on effects of global challenges such as unemployment and disrupted supply chains.

Evolving in Order to Prosper

While the federal government has begun implementing its three-step plan for how COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted across Australia, there will still be a lengthy transition period as global travel remains limited and other economies are at varying stages of recovery.

Startups by nature are growth minded – it’s part of their DNA. Solving problems, spending money on growth (also known as investment), and therefore creating jobs as a result, make start-ups a prime ingredient in our country’s plans for economic recovery. They adapt, they identify opportunities for change, and grow off the back of them. This will be vital for succeeding in the new, and as-yet-unknown, world we are emerging into.

But while making considerations around change, companies no matter how large or small should also keep sight of what matters and what drives them. Investor and entrepreneur Ray Dalio underlines the importance of this in his book Principles where he talks about developing strong foundational principals to guide decisions when faced with challenges and opportunities. In his book, Dalio also notes, “evolving is life’s greatest accomplishment and its greatest reward” and “adaptation through rapid trial and error is invaluable.”