Data shows significant spending decline in entertainment, travel, and transport categories, while services and shopping spending increased. However, data shows signs of recovery in May

European businesses reduced their spending by 41 percent in April, compared to the previous month, according to the Soldo Spend Index. The resource, compiled by spend management platform Soldo, features data from a sample of 28,000 businesses across Europe.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced mid-June that UK GDP fell by 20.4 percent in April 2020, and the effects of this significant drop are clearly reflected in business spending habits. According to the Soldo Spend Index, the average spend for businesses in the UK and Ireland decreased by 65 percent year on year in April. In the rest of Europe, it decreased by 57 percent.

However, there were signs of a slow recovery in May, as spending increased by 38 percent over the previous month. This corresponds to the government’s easing of lockdown restrictions, which were loosened on the 11th of May. Average business spending in the UK increased by 20 percent during the week commencing the 11th of May, compared to the previous week. This data suggests that the increased freedom of movement is providing a much-needed boost for some businesses while others continue to adjust to working remotely.

Areas of increased spending

From March to May 2020, business spending on services – including professional services, subscriptions, and software – increased by 81 percent on the previous year. Services accounted for 35 percent of all purchases made using Soldo during the month of April 2020. Business spending on shopping, such as purchasing stationery, tools, and relevant equipment, also increased, accounting for 30 percent of all Soldo transactions in May 2020. Online spend accounted for 58 percent of the expenditure over the period and people had to resort to borrowing money form lenders and brokers like CashFlex, for example.

Carlo Gualandri, Founder and CEO at Soldo says: “Businesses all over Europe have been hit hard by the coronavirus, and as these resilient businesses fight to stay solvent, cashflow and cost-control will be top priorities. For employees working from home, we’re heartened to see increased spending on software and business equipment, as this suggests that businesses are spending to ensure workers have the tools they need to work productively.

“The increase in business spending in May is positive, but we won’t be going to go back to what we once called ‘normal’ any time soon. It’s all about balance – you need to watch costs very closely while still spending in order to survive – and for this, real-time data is essential for full visibility into the financial health of your business.”

Most impacted sectors

The Global Business Travel Association anticipates $820 billion loss in revenues for the business travel industry, which is also reflected in Soldo’s Spend Index. Business transport spend, which includes money spent on taxis, motor freight carriers, local delivery services decreased by 74 percent in April 2020 compared to 2019 and accounted for just 17 percent of transactions made through Soldo. This increased to 21 percent in May, indicating a slow increase, although it is still 59 percent lower than the same period in 2019.

Business travel spend, which includes travel arrangement services, such as hotel or flight bookings, decreased by 92 percent in April 2020, compared to 2019. Average spending on travel increased slightly in May, however it continued to account for just two percent of transactions made with Soldo, up from one percent in April.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

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Simon Paine, co-founder and CEO PopUp Business School, successfully rotated his events business during lockdown and he’s happy to share his story – below

“We pivoted our events business in lockdown, now we are bigger than ever.”

Overnight, PopUp Business School saw its business model wrecked and hundreds of thousands of pounds of business down the drain. Yet it’s still in business and its CEO, Simon Paine, says there’s never been a better time to start up

“March wasn’t a great month,” laughs Simon Paine. “We lost six figures’ worth of business, a headline event with Google in New York was postponed and my business partner was locked down in the United States. Our entire business model revolved around holding events where we helped people to start up their own enterprises. With all public gatherings banned, we had no way to make money.”

But, three months later, the PopUp Business School is still in business. It was eventually forced to furlough three members of staff but an online pivot means it’s making money again. “We are fighting hard and, honestly, I’ve never felt more positive for the future – it’s been a rollercoaster.”

PopUp Business School events are funded by sponsors, making them entirely free for attendees. They are, says Paine, “The best business school money can’t buy”. Prior to lockdown, it had a lot of success. Since founding in 2011, it had reached over 7500 people in six different countries. In the previous year, 967 people actually started trading with attending a PopUp event. Its credibility was on the rise and it is backed by organisations including Henley Business School, Westminster City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions.

The question was: could it be done online? Paine says they’ve proven it can. “Overall, taking the events online has been very successful, though there are challenges,” he notes. At their first fully online event, sponsored by Westminster Council, they had 265 attendees, making it the biggest course they’d ever run. A later course funded by Oxfordshire Council also gained an audience of over 100 attendees, more than double what they would have expected for an ‘in-person’ event.

“You can get a greater geographic reach, which really helps in more rural locations. We would typically run most of our events in cities and towns before,” notes Paine.

“It’s a different experience, not being in the room with people; you have to mute them during most of the training sessions so you don’t get that natural back-and-forth you’d get at an in-person event.”

Everyone has been learning the art of the video call or conference, and Paine says engagement is the key. “Generating a strong sense of engagement has become a priority for the online events. Myself and the other trainers manage this in a few ways.

“One is by creating breakout sessions on Zoom or Teams. During the course, we still want people networking and communicating with each other; it’s part of what makes PopUp Business School special, and these breakout sessions make a big difference.

“We also run live polls during the course. Often, this helps us to decide how to go forward with that day based on energy levels, at other times we’ll gather information about participants to help us decide what kind of material they will benefit from the most. But we’ve noticed that the polls, themselves, help to build engagement.”

Getting ‘the tech’ right is also key. This doesn’t involve any in-depth tech skills, but rather there’s a focus on light, sound and building a sense of intimacy.

Paine explains. “We set up our equipment in a way that builds a sense of human interaction,We are careful to plan the practical things, like making sure a laptop is level with your face and that you have good natural light or a diffused lamp.

“Also, at times we will invite participants to switch their camera on, to wave, thumbs up, smile, put their hands up and communicate, so that it’s not a one-way street.”

So is the future of the business online?

“There’s a lot of power in delivering in-person events,”

Paine acknowledges. “However, doing the events online has enabled us greater reach, we’ve brought people to our online events who we think wouldn’t have been able to come to an in-person event.

“So, we think ‘hybrid events’ will be the future. We want to do in-person events, but also live-stream some parts of the course for those that can’t make the event.

“There’s never been a more important time to teach debt-free entrepreneurship and it’s our duty to grow our audience size in the UK, develop our international partners and get practical help, information and inspiration to help people get started.”

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post Simon Paine, CEO, PopUp Business School -“We pivoted our events business in lockdown” appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.

The global Coronavirus pandemic has forced many healthcare practices to reassess their treatment offerings and provide as many services as possible remotely.

From dentists to plastic surgeons, family healthcare providers to opticians, most members of the healthcare market have to adapt to survive during this challenging situation.

Thankfully, technology is helping many healthcare practices to provide their services remotely, but it requires careful implantation.

For any practices that are unsure how to go about providing remote healthcare services, here are some practical tips that can help.

Review Your Services To Work Out Which Ones Can Be Offered Remotely

The first stage in your transition towards remote healthcare services is to work out which of your services it is possible to provide over the phone or via video call and which will require a face-to-face meeting. Some healthcare procedures and examinations require a physical meeting, in which case you will need to make sure that you have a safe, sanitary space in which to provide these services for clients who need them. For those treatments that can be provided remotely, you need to make sure that you inform your patients and staff about the changes to your working practices and collaborate with them to ensure that your procedure works effectively.

Store Your Data Safely

The move towards remote services means that you will be storing more data digitally. If this data is not stored safely, then you could find yourself breaching regulations and facing a hefty fine, as well as a PR disaster. As such, it’s vital that you store your data safely. Central Data Storage offers data storage that is specifically designed to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and any other regulations that healthcare providers are governed by. As a result, you can rest assured that when you store your data with them, it’s in safe hands.

Create A Procedure For Sharing, Storing And Deleting Images

Viewing your patient’s symptoms is an important part of your diagnostic procedure, but when you’re not able to meet them in person, you may have to make do with photographs. As well as working with a secure data storage provider, you also need to explore the options for sharing these images and find one that is completely secure. Then, you need to create a policy that reassures patients that their pictures will be safe and won’t fall into anyone else’s hands, or be used for any unsavoury purposes.

Choose A Secure Video Conferencing Service

Video calls are a great way to provide remote healthcare services, as you get the intimacy of a physical meeting without breaking shelter-in-place rules. Find a secure video conferencing platform that will allow you to talk to your patients without worrying about anyone jumping on the call and compromising your patient/ practitioner confidentiality.

Providing healthcare services remotely is a challenge, particularly when you have to adapt quickly. Use these tips to help your healthcare practice stay viable and continue to offer your patients the treatments and support they need to stay happy and healthy.

Hernaldo Turrillo

Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.

The post 4 Tips For Providing Safe Remote Healthcare Services appeared first on OpenBusinessCouncil Directory.