Mignon Reynecke an associate professor of digital marketing at the UCT Graduate School of Business observed like many that the global pandemic is forcing businesses around the world to change the way they operate. In these times, successful adaptation depends on being agile and customer-focused. New avenues have opened and business owners may need to experiment in order to survive. Some even suggest, they should have a growth mindset.

According to Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck a growth mindset is not talent or intelligence that brings success in life and business, but rather being open to learning and developing and seeing mistakes and failures as challenges and lessons from which to learn. Instead of being held back by a fear of uncertainty and possible negative outcomes, like a fixed mindset does; a growth mindset actively looks for ways around the obstacles and shortcuts in the traffic jams.

With no business manual to charter a way forward during this these times of uncertainty, many businesses are learning to adapt on the go and with the demands of their customers.

However, not all is doom and gloom, according to analysts the future might hold more potential opportunities for businesses. As traditional models are being disrupted, there are possibilities for others to tweak their business operations and find other ways for customers to get particular products or services that may be in short supply or high demand.

All business owners are facing an unprecedented challenge to their businesses. If many businesses are to survive learning to make decisions quickly - even if the outcome seems uncertain will be paramount.

Please join us for a fireside chat with Ms Zimkhita Buwa as she shares her observations on how businesses are learning to survive the COVID19 pandemic.