“As companies in cities across the U.S. postpone and even scrap plans to reopen their offices, they have transformed once-teeming city business districts into commercial ghost towns comprised of essentially vacant skyscrapers and upscale complexes. A result has been the paralysis of the rarely remarked-upon business ecosystem centering on white-collar workers, who, when you include the enterprises reliant on them, account for a pre-pandemic labor force approaching 100 million workers.”
Business Opportunity: While this article focuses on the devastation caused by the pandemic, there are always new business opportunities in times of chaos.
With large numbers of restaurant closures, delivery companies are taking up the slack. Maybe it’s time to shift to cloud kitchens to reduce leasing costs? I recently listened to a podcast where they talked about a food truck that drives around with pre-made meals so you can receive your food 10 minutes after ordering. (Sorry, I can’t find the podcast link.)
With many moving out of expensive urban centers to smaller rural towns, there will be new services needed in those locations. How about a mobile tech support business that spends a day a week in a different town to help remote workers with their tech issues?