Former Managing Director and Regional Vice President of Starwood Hotels and Resorts South Asia, Dilip has over three decades of experience in the hospitality industry and has worked with brands such as Oberoi, Taj, IHG, and Starwood in India, Australia, and Africa.

Change is cyclical and inevitable. The global economy has been a witness to bubbles, booms, and recessions. Such changes always bring about significant developments and opportunities for many. The current pandemic has also left everyone affected deeply across sectors and all are together putting in efforts to salvage the situation. Already, within a span of six months, we’ve seen monumental shifts towards significant recovery across all sectors. Technology and the online space now lead the way, paving the path for the emergence of a new normal.

Today’s youth will be especially affected by these monumental changes. From professionals to entrepreneurs, they will need to hone their skills to suit that of future leaders. In these times, success will be defined by exponential growth over a short period, and that requires flexibility, agility, and, most importantly - the ability to think and execute like an entrepreneur. Co-creation and interpersonal skills have today become more critical than ever before. Entrepreneurship in the new world is not limited to founding businesses, but it has expanded to being part of a larger business and taking ownership of its operations and its P&L.

Use Adversity as a Fuel for Innovation

India has been at the forefront of the global entrepreneurial and innovation scene for quite a while now – many of some of the most impactful companies or ideas of the modern world have originally been established within our country. Even today, ambitious young thinkers are building start-ups that are not only gaining popularity in our own country but internationally as well. Indian businesses including Zomato, OYO, Swiggy, Ola and MakeMyTrip have not only managed to grow exponentially, they have have secured millions in funding from international investors, establishing them firmly on the global landscape. What single factor unites them all? All of these startups identified a particular customer challenge – a significant gap in the market. When it comes to your idea, what gap does your idea bridge? How does it make your consumers’ life easier? Taking into consideration the challenges faced by industries and consumers’ worldwide, there are more problems to solve and challenges to alleviate than ever before – giving budding entrepreneurs a rich canvas to paint their business ideas onto.

Don’t be Afraid to Bring about Big Changes

The first retailers who went against the norm and started selling their goods online were told they would fail to make a profit and their business model would never work. Now, over 77 percent of all retail sales are made online. Another great case for going with your gut and not listening to naysayers.

The changes brought into our daily lives by COVID have so far been out of our control – the second phase will be the changes we bring about as we adapt to a new normal – and it’s up to entrepreneurs and business people to see the opportunity to bring in positives. Most recently, images of the first ‘socially distanced' music festival went viral – and the response to it was overwhelmingly positive. Forget stuffy, messy crowds, slushy mud and mosh pits. The new face of the outdoor gig consists of tables and seating, with all guests a safe distance away from each other, enjoying the show more and worrying less about falling face first into the mud. In fact, most of the feedback was that people prefer the new model – as they never enjoyed the previous overcrowded, stuffy model. However, chances are if this type of model had been proposed just a few years ago, it would have been rejected almost immediately as unnecessary and impossible to pull off.

Find ways to Enhance Limited Human Interaction

With social distancing firmly rooted into our daily lives for the foreseeable future, it’s up to us to find innovative ways to make our more limited interactions more meaningful. With social distance changing the way we order food, go out with friends, travel, work and even attend school – it’s imperative to explore new ways of making every small interaction we have with others count even more than ever before.

With more AI and automation taking over the market share, we can expect to see this opening up avenues to introduce more 'friendly' technology that not only helps automate more processes but still feels human, genuine and gratifying. Technology is about enhancing the human experience – not highlighting its absence.

We are at the cusp of seeing a flood of new innovations and creative adjustments to our daily lives. Amidst all of the changes and uncertainty, we can know for sure that we won’t be going back to the world we saw pre-COVID. The time is now for everyone who has ever had an idea they think has the potential to change the world – so what’s holding you back?