Huh, that industry? An unexpected service that saw membership increase due to corona.
Hello, this is Koyama.
The other day, from someone close to me
I heard a story that someone living in Paris
passed away due to COVID.
There is a couple living in Paris
a French man and a Japanese woman, and the husband’s grandfather
died from COVID, I heard.
He collapsed, was taken to the hospital by ambulance,
and died at a hospital in Paris.
The grandmother who lived with them also collapsed from a stroke
and, according to the tests, COVID infection was confirmed.
Compared to Western countries,
the number of infections in Japan is limited,
but it is not someone else’s problem.
We are moving toward easing,but
think of it as “it could be me tomorrow,”
and we still must be cautious.
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Origin of the name COVID-19
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By the way, the coronavirus has a name that looks like a code called COVID-19
and you may wonder what it means.
It stands for
“coronavirus disease 2019.”
In other words,
it’s like saying“the coronavirus 2019 version.”
If you read into why it was named 2019,
you might think of COVID-20
COVID-21
as versions for 2020, 2021,
implying the virus could linger long-term.
With the coronavirus, information is chaotic and it’s hard to know what is true.
As one possibility, next year and the year after
a very long struggle could be possible.
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The townscape is different from before…
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So I continue to stay at home as usual,
butI do go out from time to time.
And recently, every time I go out
I notice something.
The town looks different from before, the scenery.
Clearly, fewer cars on the roads,
and instead more bicycles are on the move.
The guys delivering with Uber Eats
have really increased.
With fewer cars, the delivery people conspicuously stand out
around my area.
In just two months, the scenery has completely changed.
“The world can change in an instant,”
I feel again.
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An industry that actually grows even in the pandemic
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Rather than only negative COVID stories, there are industries that are growing because of this situation,
and in fact they are expanding.
Take Uber Eats and other takeout services,
online shops like Amazon,
as you know, but
In addition,other industries are growing as well.
Which industries do you think?
For example,the marriage-hunting industry
which I have been helped by since last year.
Interesting, isn’t it.
Even though human contact is restricted,
it’s an industry that might be negatively affected.
Even if memberships drop,it isn’t surprising.
However, now the entire “marriage industry”
appears to be seeing an overall increase in members.
Why is that?
Precisely because of this situation
many people feel anxious about the future,
and especially women are joining more.
Of course, meeting in person and dating cannot be done yet,
but online dating exists now.
“But can you really know someone online?”
You might think so,
but according to an article in Nikkei Business,
“the rate of successful dating can be 20–30% higher than in-person.”
They say so.
(Source: Nikkei Business
https://business.nikkei.com/atcl/gen/19/00002/042701193/?yclid=YJAD.1588419522.DYSI.sWdcq2V00OFKaxadXWhSScKAlOJz8aiGLvCClmdiSJQYEYsT3.kJewVb4ARGU37g3UCwuB3OQs-
)
Thus, some industries that seemed to be in trouble due to COVID-19
are unexpectedly thriving.
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Life and stocks follow the same rule
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What I take from these stories is that since the onset of the pandemic,
services that attract crowds and those that don’t
have clearly diverged.
Going forward, unfortunately
surviving companies andcompanies that will be eliminated
will be distinctly separated.
The survivors are
not necessarily the big companies.
Those that could adapt to the changes.
That said, not all industries or tasks can be moved online,
and there are things that cannot be changed by effort alone.
I used to run an izakaya,
and I know firsthand how tough it is to run a business.
It’s not an easy business even under normal circumstances,
and if you have to close the shop,
there is little you can do.
If I were running an izakaya now,
I might have to consider closing the shop for a while.
It would be a painful decision, but necessity dictates.
There may be options like taking out loans to endure,
but we don’t know when this COVID will end.
The longer it lasts, the more debt accumulates,
and the risk of falling into an irrecoverable state increases.
That’s why, even if you do nothing,
you should temporarily remove the money you must payand seek other sources of income.
This way of thinking is exactly the same approach I’m teaching now
in stock trading techniquesas well.
When you incur a large unrealized loss in stock trading,
instead of waiting for the stock price to return someday,
you stop the loss from growing further and useanother position to generate profits that exceed the loss,
as one of the coping methods, and
I believe a similar approach will be taken in real life.
There are various circumstances.
Some may think, “It’s not easy to close things down.”
and you might feel that way,
and I don’t intend to force my views on you.
What I want to say is the importance of taking action before it’s too late.
This applies to both business and stock trading.
Right now, everyone longs to return to the old normal, but that old normal may be gone.
There may be an entirely different world awaiting us.
That’s why
we should also imagine, “What if the daily life never returns?”
and prepare as much as possible.I believe it’s important.
Thank you for watching until the end today as well.
Keizo Shimoyama
