A research into the business condition in the Western region by the Sekondi Takoradi Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry has revealed that many businesses in the region were not prepared to work digitally at the on set of the covid-19.
But the vice chief executive officer of the chamber, Nii Kwaney Addy is hopeful businesses will use the findings to develop their businesses.
He was speaking at the Business Condition Virtual launch of the Sekondi Takoradi Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Takoradi.
Every quarter, the chamber researches into the business condition of the Western region to among other things, bring out the challenges confronting businesses in the region and also help the business community and investors make informed decisions.
For the first quarter, he says 32% of respondents indicated business was generally satisfactory even though sales were low whilst 58% said business was bad due to the covid-19 pandemic.
According to them, high prices of raw materials and import taxes coupled with low demand for goods other than food and food items affected their businesses. 10% however said business was good mainly due to the good management of their personnel.
For the first quarter, there was about 20.8% decrease in employment with some staff being laid off due to low turn out of activities. Only 13% dared to invest perhaps because they wanted to reap the benefits of investment that include value addition to products and services and reduction in cost through application of efficient processes.
Commenting further on the findings, the Nii Kwaney Addy observed,“ It was very clear from our survey that a lot of people were not prepared for digital work.”
“They did not have the means to do business digitally, work with it, deliver digitally and even collect money digitally.
“In fact a lot of people were not using their emails and their websites and stuff like that so I think this is something that the covid has brought out that we need to work on”, he stated.
He also stated that many people did not have buffers. “They were virtually living from hand to mouth”
“We came across 9 businesses who shutdown completely because of low demand and no buffer to cushion them”, he noted.
He is hopeful the findings will add value to businesses.
By Shirley Ewurama Smith | Takoradi | 3news.com