While every corner of the world is at war with an epidemic, no one knows when it will end. During this time, business owners and SME entrepreneurs must adapt very hard in order to sustain their businesses to survive. And business owners, what should an entrepreneur do? In an economic downturn amid such an epidemic, I would like to introduce 5 lessons that e-commerce master Jack Ma has been able to successfully lead the kingdom to escape the SARS crisis in 2003 until it has grown to this day.

Back in March 2003, there was a mysterious epidemic, SARS, that caused acute respiratory infections. Spread in 26 countries around the world at the time, more than 8,000 people were infected. Nearly 800 people died. At that time, Jack Ma had just founded Alibaba, e-commerce, online wholesale in 1999, only 4 years had a heavy battle with the epidemic crisis. China, while the company still has no profit.

At that time, Alibaba had a project to launch retail e-commerce like Taobao had to slow down. Chinese stores were closed, making Alibaba, an online wholesale business, inevitably affected. Alibaba's main retailer was unable to sell their products and consumers were not buying because they had to stay at home. Moreover, the company has employees with SARS because of going to the fair. As a result, Chinese authorities temporarily closed the company. Causing everyone to be detained at home in the corner of a businessman, is a disaster. Certainly not with a man named Jack Ma. What did Jack Ma do to save the crisis in the past?

1. Employee safety is the most important thing

Jack Ma has raised a huge budget for the health care of employees. Because if one employee is sick, it may affect other employees and ultimately will affect the overall operations of the company Therefore, the health of employees must come before the company's income. And when an employee is infected with an epidemic, he immediately orders all employees to work from home

2. Accept the truth

All work has been postponed indefinitely. Customers cancel the product. The thing that Jack Ma said to employees is that change is normal. Don't just stick to the lost opportunity. Because it does not help us to plan for new opportunities in the future, do not just sit and think of the damage. Or trying to call for help Just accept the truth and move forward. The faster the change is accepted Will only find new opportunities faster and that's where Jack Ma immediately looked for opportunities from a retail e-commerce plan like a Taobao website.

3. Decisions must be made now and made with heart

When faced with a crisis, of course, business people have to figure out the cost of how they can survive. How much does it have to be reduced? Many times have to make difficult decisions Which most people tend to do later But the slow decision made things worse. Jack Ma said that when it was necessary to keep the company, it should be done. One of the decisions that operators will encounter in times of crisis such as the discontinuation of business. Temporary or permanent termination at that time, Jack Ma thought very hard because employees have been suffering for a long time. But must make the decision as soon as possible and must do with the heart because Jack Ma had made a mistake when the dotcom bubble crisis occurred When an employee needs to lay off, what Jack Ma does is the phone and talk to that employee himself. Tell employees that even after leaving, they must always keep in touch. And when the company can overcome the crisis Promise to get back to work and he fulfilled the promise he had made

4. Unity is power

During the SARS crisis, Jack Ma communicated directly with employees about the problems they faced. Requesting cooperation from employees and ways to overcome the crisis of the company To help employees understand that Alibaba's survival is not just for Alibaba itself, it also means that the entire business chain related to Alibaba is able to survive this crisis. In addition, the company uses the internal system to communicate with employees regularly. In order to create morale for unity And periodically understand the situation of the company As well as providing equipment for employees to be able to work at home conveniently as well In which most employees understand and cooperate well Everyone is carrying a desktop computer back to work at home. And each person works hard 12 hours a day so that customers are not affected by Work from Home as well. For employees who are sick, Jack Ma will give a break immediately and call to encourage. In addition, even if employees are scattered, Jack Ma also organizes activities for unity, such as online karaoke competitions, chatting activities among fellow employees, etc.

5. Looking for opportunities in the midst of a crisis 

There is always a chance of crisis. Jack Ma said, look for opportunities that Which groups of customers still have potential? How can the company help those customers? And he can see that SME customers all over the country have potential but have small capital. Opening a shop during an epidemic is difficult. If using online tools to help this group of customers grow, Alibaba will be able to survive as well. Alibaba has also collaborated with the government to invite SMEs, offline stores to be on the online platform. Although the SARS epidemic has not yet ended. Jack Ma decided to launch the online retail website Taobao on May 10, 2003, and was well received. Because the SARS outbreak causes consumers to want to buy products and services online, while sellers are looking for ways to sell products on the day that the store can't open. And finally, just a few years later, Taobao successfully beat China's market share from eBay

Ultimately, though, the lessons of Jack Ma during the SARS crisis were not as severe as the COVID-19 crisis that occurred at this time, but one thing is clear: Good leaders will be able to protect employees with heart. With wide vision Not attached to the same things and ready to accept changes that are not always predictable Like I said "Is the leader good or not? To see in times of crisis "

Reference

https://ibusiness.co/detail/9630000024871

https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-51275277

https://www.blockdit.com/posts/5e80426865634e0cacef33c3

https://www.ceochannels.com/jack-ma-of-alibaba-defeat-sars-two-decades-ago/