The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world by its overwhelming impact on not only our health but also our businesses, institutions – practically every part of our lives. While we may encounter a fair share of COVID skeptics and denialists, nobody is immune to social and economic struggles. Companies that had to halt their activities took a real, unexpected beating that forced some of them out of business. To avoid similar dangers in the future, we must implement dynamic planning and strategies to provide a quicker response to the crisis.
In this article, we will focus on how this extraordinary pandemic transformed our approach to company planning and business activities. COVID-19 has affected every business and coming back from lockdown is not an easy transition for anyone. We will talk about solutions that would make similar processes in the future more bearable or in some cases – even profitable.
That’s right! Top proactive businesses that have the data and resources to prepare for the future find ways to profit from extreme circumstances while less fortunate companies start bleeding. If your company or livelihood has suffered due to COVID-19, we suggest transforming your approach to planning.
In order to thrive in today’s market, businesses have to maintain a high level of technical skills. While some conservative companies may not be as dependent on IT and like to take their time with the transition, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned technologies into a necessary part of survival. Let’s discuss the benefits of IT for company planning and activities that will protect your business in the future. We will also gloss over great assistance tools, such as proxy servers from a legitimate proxy provider. Learn more about Smartproxy if you are interested in the usage of these intermediary servers. At the moment, let’s focus on the ways to use IT and revitalize your business in the twilight of the pandemic.
Set up an online shop
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An obvious no-brainer, most companies who managed to withstand the onslaught of COVID-19 complications continued generating revenue thanks to purchases in online shops. Proactive companies that invested in online shop infrastructure and e-commerce have not only prepared for the time of isolation but also created a much more convenient way for customers to order and receive desired services.
IT and e-commerce investments are the smartest decisions that allowed tech giants like Amazon to thrive during the pandemic. If you plan to run a business during the economic restart, take care of a website and online shop as fast as you can.
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Of course, with a necessity for an online shop comes responsibility for customer data and the well-being of your website. Proxy servers from a respectable proxy provider can help you balance the internal load of your online shop, as well as limit DDoS attacks and other cybersecurity threats.
While an online shop already brings more revenue by making your services accessible to clients, partnerships with third-party advertisers can help you use collected public data for additional profit.
Use web scraping to stay ready
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No matter what your current business goals are, web scraping is an inseparable part of most company activities today. You can plan for a restart, digitalization of your business, and even small personal projects, and web scraping will assist you in every step of the process. Nobody can argue with the power of knowledge, and a company that uses data extraction as a fuel for improvement and innovation will always stay versatile enough to survive and thrive in the future.
We can use the same example of Amazon to highlight the biggest success story that heavily involves web scraping. With continuous e-commerce investments and a watchful eye on the competition, the company uses extracted data for extremely aggressive price changes to stay on top.
Although competitive price monitoring is arguably the most important process that derives from web scraping, it is only the tip of the iceberg. With good residential proxies from a legitimate proxy provider, a business owner can scale up their scraping operations and make them much more efficient. The security provided by intermediary servers protects our IP addresses, so even if your scrapers get recognized by third parties, you never put your network identity at risk.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put an even stronger emphasis on the importance of IT and e-commerce for businesses. Companies that utilize automated web scraping with proxy servers from a legitimate proxy provider can collect and process data to transform company planning. Alternative approaches to marketing campaigns, competitor analysis, aggressive price tracking, and many other data-related processes are now more versatile, precise, and efficient in the hands of tech-savvy businesses.
With a much more proactive approach to company planning, we can not only steer away from possible danger at the right time but also utilize new opportunities that can come and go in a matter of days or even hours. Transform your business activities with IT solutions and stay prepared for a brighter tomorrow!
News
Manchester launches new fund to help support city’s ‘struggling’ grassroots music venues
Emily Sergeant
An important new fund has been launched to help support Manchester’s local grassroots music venues that are ‘struggling’.
Manchester City Council has teamed up with national charity Music Venue Trust (MVT) to launch the fund as a ‘rapid’ and ‘targeted’ intervention to protect the small venues that make Manchester’s music scene and culture world-renowned.
The launch of the new fund comes following reductions to the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure Business Rates Relief Scheme.
Council and MVT say this new initiative is designed primarily to ‘ease the financial pressure’ caused by Manchester’s grassroots music venues having to transition to these new business rates tariffs.
The fund aims to recognise and highlight the ‘vital’ contribution that grassroots music venues make to Manchester’s economy and to its identity as one of the world’s leading music cities.
This initiative has been made possible through the previously-reported Council revenue generated by live concert arena, stadium, and festival activity during what has been a record-breaking year – particularly summer – for major events throughout the city.
Applications for the fund are now open to venues.
Grant applicants must be able to demonstrate that they are a location in Manchester that has a dedicated live music or performance space, puts on live music at least three times per week or consistently feature it as part of a wider cultural programme, and has an organisational focus on music – with other services being subsidiary or dependent on music activity.
The size of grant awards will be based on a venue’s business rates liabilities – with the maximum amount that can be applied for being £20,000.
Manchester has launched a new fund to help support the city’s ‘struggling’ grassroots music venues / Credit: Rahul Kukreja | Joshua Hanson (via Unsplash)
“We understand the importance of smaller venues, the stages where talent is nurtured and the city’s music begins,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the leader of Manchester City Council, as the new fund was announced this week.
“We also know that across the country, grassroots venues are struggling, and that’s why in Manchester, we’re taking action to ensure that real support reaches our venues quickly.
“This swift delivery is virtually unheard of in the sector, but we are determined to innovate.”
Applications for funding are now live on the Music Venue Trust website and will close on Friday 28 November, and payments will then be made by Saturday 31 January 2026.
Paul Scholes shares touching message over response to quitting punditry to look after his son
Danny Jones
Manchester United legend Paul Scholes recently announced that he has stepped away from football punditry and other media duties to look after his son, Aiden, and he has clearly been touched by the response to his deeply honest interview.
The former United star and England international has three children with his wife, Claire Frogratt, recently revealing that the two have sadly separated.
While his only daughter, Alicia – a thriving young netball player with London Pulse – and eldest son Arron (who runs the family’s self-titled Scholes Gym in Oldham) are both fully grown and in good health, Paul recently opened up about the challenges of looking after his youngest child, who has autism.
Aiden Scholes was diagnosed as autistic when he was just two and is largely non-verbal, meaning there are added difficulties not just when it comes to communicating but overall welfare. Opening in a fairly rare instance on a recent episode of The Overlap, the ex-midfielder is now putting all his focus on care.
As a dad to a young boy with autism, I can’t help but have more respect for Paul Scholes after seeing him open up about his own experiences. Not only does it hit home, his priorities are in order. ❤️ https://t.co/kCjfQye3ef
Speaking with his old Man United teammates, including host Gary Neville and Roy Keane, as well as the rest of the panel, the 50-year-old retired pro and one-time manager turned pundit says that he recently made the conscious decision to put virtually everything else aside to put all of his efforts towards Aiden.
Put simply, he said, “I just decided everything I’m going to do is around Aiden.”
Of course, he went on to explain some of the important “routines” and obstacles in more detail during the sit-down, but even from the brief clip that went viral online, he’s been met with an incredible reaction on social media.
Sharing an update on his Instagram story, he went on to add: “Would just like to thank everyone for all your kind messages since The Overlap interview regarding Aiden – there’s been loads and tried to read as many as possible”, he said.
“The response from families (especially Dads) shows how much speaking about it helps so many… There was one quote from a parent in a similar position that’s just got me…”
The anonymous line he shared read: “My job is to stay alive one day longer than my son/daughter”. Truly tearjerking stuff.
Now 20, the Scholes family are a couple of decades into learning how best to meet Aiden’s additional needs, but Paul has admitted in the past that the climate was different back in the day.
Neville himself said that his long-time friend, teammate, and fellow Class of ’92 graduate has always been a private person and didn’t talk to anyone about anything.
He signed off by urging people to enjoy the little things, like the weekend and having a few drinks – as well as wishing the best of luck to his beloved Salford City FC – but it can’t be overestimated how much his candid words have resonated with people all over the country.
You can see Paul Scholes’ most recent appearance on The Overlap in full down below.
The Manc -
20th July 2021 
