City can conquer new challenges

WITH the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine being administered in Australia last week, we can finally say that the end of the pandemic is in sight.

But we still have a way to go — and many of the changes we’ve experienced in the last year are probably here to stay.

For 12 months now, businesses have had to dramatically change how they operate, not just to remain COVID-safe and help slow the spread, but also to reflect the way their customers have altered the ways they live, work and play.

From cafes and pubs to shops and beauty salons, what was once a normal and predictable business operating model has been thrown out the window — almost overnight.

Sadly, the pain is not over yet.

Our analysis tells us there could still be up to 49,500 businesses with an annual revenue of less than $5 million whose revenues have still not recovered to prepandemic levels.

These businesses are starting to think about how they are going to survive and prosper in the post-COVID world. Owners and managers are being forced to ask some tough questions:

Is the shift to online shopping going to be permanent? What kind of flexibility will employers need to offer in order to attract talent? How do you build relationships with your clients and customers in a world where more business is done online?

But while things are definitely going to be different, we think there are good reasons for Victorians to be optimistic.

The last 12 months have shown that our economy is more agile and resilient than anyone imagined. Businesses — large and small — have risen to the challenge of operating during an unpredictable and dangerous time, up-ending their old ways of doing things in order to operate safely and profitably.

Our property market has defied predictions of a significant downturn. Instead, buoyed by low interest rates, it is on track to achieve strong growth in the coming years.

And finally, despite all our challenges, COVID cases are lower in Melbourne than nearly anywhere else in the world.

Last week, PwC specialists sat down with the small businesses of Melbourne to hear from them their challenges — and help them plot a course for revival.

What’s clear is that while the pandemic has affected them in unique ways, many of their challenges — and solutions — are the same. From physiotherapists and personal trainers in the CBD offering virtual classes to counteract the reduction in foot traffic business, to graphic designers wanting advice to go online and expand their target market, it’s clear they are ready and willing to pivot.

The COVID-19 pandemic has propelled change at a rapid rate, but many of these changes were already bubbling away.

A generation’s worth of digitisation has occurred in the space of a few months, as people have been confined to their homes.

Virtual learning and working, online shopping and even social interactions have become a normal part of our everyday lives.

But it has also brought home what is so valuable about interacting face to face.

At PwC, we think that discussions about the “death of the CBD” are a bit over the top.

While it certainly seems like remote working is here to stay, it’s also clear that people are keen to get back in the office — at least some of the time.

At PwC Melbourne, more and more of our people are choosing to come back into our office on Southbank a few days a week, sharing ideas, meeting people and working together, face-to-face.

And we’ve noticed that when they do, they are also making a greater effort to take advantage of what’s great about our CBD: grabbing coffees with clients, having team lunches in restaurants, or doing some shopping after work.

So while fewer people might pour in and out of the city every day, businesses in the CBD should take comfort from the fact that when people do make the trip, they will be doing it with purpose.

The last 12 months have tested Melbourne’s resilience, adaptability and resolve.

The next 12 months and beyond will challenge our creativity, ingenuity and ambition, but we have every reason to believe that we will be equal to the task, and our city will emerge from the pandemic an even better place to live, work and play than ever before.

*This article first appeared in the Herald Sun.