Battle Creek Times

In the midst of the COVID-19 economic crisis and the struggles some businesses are experiencing, internet-based business models are getting a boost, such as videoconferencing and e-sports, according to StartupNation founder and CEO Jeff Sloan.

Sloan spoke with WJR’s Paul Smith recently during the Business Beat portion of "The Paul W. Smith Show" about the evolving trend.

“We know all too well that this pandemic has wreaked havoc on businesses and business sectors, but it’s also shifting success to emerging sectors, like videoconferencing, instead of traveling to take meetings,” Sloan told Smith.

And while long lines and restrictions have discouraged or flat-out prohibited people from shopping in person, the economy has also seen a shift both to consumers ordering things from fully online retailers, or doing their shopping from local chain stores through their computers, then picking up their items at the store.

“While many of these changes were afoot prior to the crisis, there is no questioning how the crisis has put these changes on overdrive and created hyper-growth in the emerging categories,” Sloan said on the radio program.

And the crisis has created growth even in areas most people may not have been aware existed before the coronavirus, Sloan said. The need to cancel sporting events has created a growing interest in the e-sports, with fans who desire competition taking an interest in viewing online gaming competitions.

"Instead of battling it out on the field or court, competitors from different leagues or teams face off in the same games that are popular with at-home gamers,” Sloan told Smith.

Some of the most popular games include Fortnite, League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Call of Duty and Overwatch, according to Sloan.

"Who would have thought that all of that online gaming you’ve been yelling at your kids about playing too much is now turning out to be one of the most successful sectors of business?” Sloan said on the radio program.