CORONAVIRUS HEADACHE NECESSITATES LOCAL MANUFACTURERS TO DO BUSINESS WITH A HUMAN FACE

Albus Dumbledore once said:  “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, If only one remembers to turn on the light!”The current situation in the country is not how we envisaged 2020 to be especially given that the year began with a lot of positivity owing to the fact that we were getting into a new decade. But barely three months into the New Year, people already feel like throwing in the towel. This is because the world right now is grappling with a catastrophe that we wish would not have happened in our time. But it has. The coronavirus pandemic and its devastating effects is nerve racking. Businesses have been adversely affected with some companies advising their employees to work from home. But you know what, hang on. There is still some light at the end of the tunnel; especially for the local manufacturers.

 We have been importing a lot of goods (especially from China) that have posed a lot of competition to the local manufacturers, eating into their profits and even driving some out of the market.  As if to add insult to injury, the quality of some these imports is poor hence denying consumers a value for their money. But all is not lost.  One of the ways   to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is by regularly washing your hands with soap and water.  If soap and water are not readily available, a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol comes in handy.

With China not exporting various products into the Kenyan market, it’s the high time for the   local manufactures to rise to the occasion by offering   the same to the Wananchi. Companies that manufacture soap and hand sanitizers have a window of opportunity to market themselves by standing out in this time of crisis. People are stocking up on items like hand sanitizers, face masks and household disinfectants, in addition to washing their hands more often. As the   demand for these products soar, it means that local companies will increase their production hence creating more jobs.

Indeed, coronavirus could be the catalyst that kicks local manufacturers to another gear.  It has also opened other opportunities, for instance in  e-commerce.Therefore it’s a challenge to the local business community to cater for their  customers’ needs by providing them with high quality  and  competitively  priced  products in order to ease the pain that has been occasioned by the deadly virus.