First off, it great to restore our somewhat lost mental peace and is a step towards better mental health. Human lives are indubitably built on connections and the pandemic has hit that to its very core. The very obvious consequence is slipping into some sort of darker place. The silver lining here is that when we have lost our touch with the outside, it is the best time to rekindle the connection we have with ourselves, and what better than spending some quality me-time and creating beautiful things in the process.

The most urgent issue affecting cooperatives since the onset of pandemic is the financial crisis of businesses. Hundreds of millions worth losses have been incurred due to the quarantine. Some operations had to be closed, a number of workers had to remain in closed quarantine, the disruption in supplies of materials for production from different parts of the world, sales routes too are sluggish. In these challenging times, the advantages of cooperation are key to help coping with the crisis in all its facets. Cooperatives, many created in times of need a long time ago, show that solidarity is part of our economic activity today. They prove that cooperatives are resilient to crises as they adapt to new situations, finding innovative solutions to serve their members and customers.

Konark Ogra from Rural Handmade talks about the future of handmade and how Rural Handmade is working towards building the Alibaba for Handmade and Sustainable goods with technology.

A recent John lewis (2020) report mentioned about the resurfacing of wooden toys, with the increasing disregard for plastic and sustainability taking center stage in buying decision, There are many reasons wooden toys are better—not only for your child, but for the environment as well. They’re more durable, can be shared, sustainable (yielding less waste than their plastic counterparts), biodegradable and may even be made with sustainable and organic wood. Good quality, eco-friendly wooden toys also don’t contain harmful chemicals like PVC, phthalates, or similar chemicals used in plastic toys.

Modern startups run on digital tools. From communicating with customers, collaborating internally or protecting their assets, inbound and outbound marketing, interactive sales and entrepreneurs should know that there’s a digital platform or service for everything. In order to stay afloat, entrepreneurs must start off strong with some of the following digital tools. Embracing digital tools post covid is a must and will create newer opportunities for integration, growth and success down the road.

In the last 80 years, the Covid-19 pandemic has been the biggest existential crisis faced by us humans. The Covid-19 has deeply affected European consumer sentiment, many have delayed purchases as a result of the crises. Key shifts have been towards essential goods, adoption towards digital solutions, change of loyalty towards small and local businesses.