SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024
VIKANT SAHAY
2020 was a year for introspection and gave us many new ideas, new ways of thinking, and a new perspective about business. At FPA, we have worked extensively in increasing our bandwidth. We invested our time and resources in capacity up-gradation, up scaling addition of new services, digital marketing, international collaborations, technological up-gradation, the addition of new customers, and working extensively on human resources, finance, and operations. This year gave us more confidence as a company that can be taken PAN India and will be written in the history of FPA as a year of transition from local to global
– Anirudha Walawalkar, Managing Partner, FPA Global
2020 hit us all as an unpredictable, unseen storm that redefined the business model in a way that almost all standard business practices were thrown out of the window. Fresh methods to streamline logistics, supply chains, customer interaction, revenue and cost management became absolutely critical to sustain the business; almost requiring a daily micro management with most hospitals, laboratories and businesses closed and patient foot falls receding. The small businesses and informal sector were again hit extremely hard. But at the same time, the pandemic provided great new opportunities to serve new markets and users and a chance to build a new product line to serve the domestic and international customers
– Deepak G Tripathi, President, Tulip Diagnostics (P) Ltd
The year that started with immense hope and eventually drifted into completely chaos. However, this turned out to be an opportunity for ‘The Legal Capsule’, which automates legal contract signing and managing process. Enterprises that were managing all legal paperwork manually had no means to transact due to complete lockdown. The Legal Capsule stepped in and on-boarded many enterprises including a Fortune 500 company to automate their legal contracts by digitally signing and procuring stamp papers electronically. A big learning for the world to adapt to technology for legal work too
– Gautami Raiker, Founder & CEO, The Legal Capsule
Challenges are something we always relish, however this year, the barrage that we received left us bruised and limping. Losing a cashew Feni distilling season was bad, but the disruption to our existing supply chain for raw packaging material crippled us. Despite a forgettable year for us, we spent a lot of time at the drawing board; re-thinking, restructuring, and learning from the situation
– Hansel Vaz, Founder, Cazulo Premium Feni and Fazenda Cazulo
While most businesses were hit pretty badly in 2020, travel and hospitality were among the worst affected industries. While we were fine for the first few months of the pandemic, we started to feel the pressure after three months. Banks were also a nightmare to deal with. However, the last few months of 2020 saw a slight rise in tourism and we have started to bounce back slowly
– Joe Viegas, Proprietor, Joeys Car Rentals
Year 2020 turned the world topsyturvy. It affected businesses, jobs, families, livelihood and what not. Most of it was for the worse. However there were some opportunities which cropped up which were lapped up by forward thinking entrepreneurs when they converted their alcohol manufacturing lines to make sanitizers or garment manufacturing lines to make masks or PPP kits. But overall 2020 was a year which has taken a toll on all. 2020 has taken us back by a few years by undoing all good done by one and all. Overall, a year which faster we forget, the better and use as a learning experience to embark on an uncertain future which will only show growth henceforth
– Manoj Caculo, President, GCCI
2020 has been probably one of the worst that the world has seen, economically since World War II. This is a battle that all are still waging against an unknown enemy. Though many may not agree, despite this colossal gloom, there have been some positives. In that, we humans were compelled to slow-down, ponder and go back to fundamental basics. This helped our environment rejuvenate a lot, though in highly negative circumstances
– Pradip Antonio Peregrino da Costa, President, Verna Industries Association
The pandemic-induced lockdown in March was a sudden jolt. Fortunately for us BNI Global was monitoring the situation and with total preparations the BNI weekly meetings went online by March 16 itself. The first 2 months got consumed in training and shift over for all 13 chapters of Goa as well as in engaging with the BNI entrepreneurs to check their business well-being – supporting them wherever necessary. Overall our sales at EP Kamat Group has increased by 30% and is expected to end the financial year with 50% increase vis-à-vis last year. At BNI Goa membership grew by 20% and we crossed the milestone of 1500 crore of business. In short I fully realised the efficacy of BNI’s ‘Givers Gain’ philosophy. The more I gave my time and energy for others, my business grew despite me
– Rajkumar Kamat, Founder and Director, EP Kamat Group and ED, BNI, Goa
The term 20-20 is generally used for perfect eyesight and cricket. But ironically, the unfolding of the year 2020 was never seen or imagined by any of us. The year began with anxiety and the fear of the unknown. The lockdowns, job security and economic slowdowns made us question everything we used to take for granted. A simple walk on the beach, a hair cut or a simple hand shake was now met with dread. The sight of migrants walking huge distances, sometimes without even food, still haunts my mind. But the subsequent months have shown a light at the end of the tunnel. The pandemic has accelerated innovation in technology and the digital economy, which would have taken years to develop. Many concepts such as work from anywhere, online education, marketplace models will be here to stay long after the pandemic ends
– Sandip Bhandare, Ex-President, GCCI
It has been a historic year where no one anticipated what we are heading for and what cover you take for risk exposure. It was a trial and error for the cashew fraternity globally. It was one of the toughest times for us but some were fortunate as the lockdown took place before the harvest season. The Goa government was very proactive in announcing the MSP for the farmers and granted permission to start their factories following the SOP during the lockdown. This helped the farmers, employees and the employers. The processors had a tough time to plan to sell their product. There were challenging times but holistically the cashew Industry was fortunate to sail through 2020 with reasonable sense of satisfaction
– Siddharth Zantye, Director, Zantye Cashew Industries
The year 2020 has given us a new perspective. In the hospitality industry, there has been a sudden change in the customer demand and preference. We have had to alter our service design to comply with the safety and hygiene standards in the new normal without compromising on the quality of our offerings and the experiences. On a macro level, the industry has never witnessed anything like this in the last 75 years. It has been challenging, yet we were also faced with an opportunity to learn during which the entire industry has come together embracing a collective, mutually beneficial and coordinated approach. At IHCL, we introduced new product offerings and services that were developed to meet the requirements of the current times. In addition, Taj - the hallmark of iconic hospitality got recognized as India’s Strongest Brand as per Brand Finance India 100 2020 report
– Vincent Ramos, Area Director – IHCL, Goa and GM - Taj Hotel and Convention Centre, Goa
The new design process during COVID-19 opened up new dimensions to the architectural vocabulary and emerging trends of built form with special focus on space planning, automation based and wired Internet dictated building technologies with reference to natural light and ventilation, adaptation strategies to environment, flow management of pedestrians and vehicular modes, communications and education, SOPs, resilience and contingency planning towards preparedness, medical and healthcare facilities, building regulations and bye laws review, health and well-being, socio cultural aspects, urban rural migration and many more. Overall 2020 has been a year with challenges and has certainly been a positive way forward revolution with a new beginning through architecture
– Architect Manguesh Prabhugaonker,
Chairman, Indian Institute of Architects (Goa Chapter)
