Kavan Choksi: How Companies Stayed Strong in a Crisis

Kavan Choksi: Staying Afloat and Surviving a Crisis

As the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, we've all seen how it has negatively impacted the economy on the macroeconomic level. It has closed businesses left and right, and in the past year, unemployment has been rising along with news of a global economic recession.

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Despite the bad news that had occupied the pages of the papers in the past years, there are a lot of lessons to be learned. For example, several companies appeared to have thrived during these difficult times, Kavan Choksi points out.

One of the most notable companies that made profits during the past three years is the e-commerce retail giant Amazon. It has profited from the pandemic since most of the American public had to rely on door-to-door deliveries for several months during the lockdowns. Year in and year out, Amazon amounted to $2.5 billion, but the pandemic enabled the retail giant to net around $5.2 billion. It shows how much people have come to rely on Amazon some 20 years after its establishment.

Regarding door-to-door deliveries, Uber has seen its profits dwindle on the ridesharing side, but its Uber Eats delivery business has taken off. During the pandemic, Uber Eats skyrocketed to $1.2 billion. Kavan Choksi explains that the new gig economy delivery system has allowed many people without jobs to become business partners and gave restaurants, which relied on dine-in customers in the past, an important lifeline.

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Finally, Kavan Choksi notes that communications technology and entertainment kept themselves high afloat other industries. Zoom's stock has increased because many companies relied on it to allow teams to work together during the lockdowns. Netflix has also remained top of mind since many self-quarantining people need to keep things off their minds by watching movies and TV series.

It's important to remember that even if the economy appears cloudy, there's always an opportunity to offer value and earn, even in the most challenging times.

Kavan Choksi is a freelance business management consultant. He shares his knowledge of finance, business, and economics on his blogs, which can be found on this page.