DIGITAL NOMAD

In today’s modern world we take a lot for granted, thinking everyone has a home like we do, be it a “face me I face you” in downtown “Aj city”, a terrace apartment in Lekki or a mansion in Banana Island. Truth is there are still tribes in Eurasian steppe, Africa, or even Europe who don’t have homes, very relatable to us in Nigeria are some Fulani’s who have chosen the nomadic life.

The nomadic lifestyle is the oldest form of human society still practiced today, and the nomads who live this lifestyle are people and tribes who do not consider themselves attached to any fixed habitation. It is instructive to remind us that there are three types of nomads, namely: hunter-gatherers, pastoral (this own and breed livestock) and the tinkers or trader. I say this is instructive because somehow we have found ourselves to be business nomads especially in the printing industry.

The hunter nomads amongst us need to sharpen their weapon of creativity as it is certain that 2021 isn’t configured to be an easy year, especially as COVID-19 is still very much around and our economy like others have drifted into a fresh recession, forex is scarce and government is not backing down in taxing its citizenry a bit more. The pastoral nomads amongst us have a business to care for, will they be downsizing? Will the debtors be able to pay their debts, can the business generate enough income to meet rising obligations? Will government grant palliative to help businesses survive? Many are the questions in the mind of pastoral nomads. Let’s even leave the trader nomads for a minute as we first need to focus of having the products for this traders to be able to engage in their buying and selling hustle.

The major strength of the nomad is their ability to survive difficult terrains. Imagine how the nomads feed, exercise, keep safe, and protect their investment out there in the vulnerable open.

Today, it is the world of the digital nomads where mobility has suddenly become the most efficient strategy for exploiting scarce resources, let’s face it, we really have no choice today but roam the digital space in search of pasture. The foundation of the digital nomad movement was initiated in Nigeria a few years back when remote work spaces sprang up, allowing people to do their work at shared office space or virtual offices all with the hope of maximizing those scares resources, the pandemic has now made it a trend to work from home. In other words technology enabled work from any location is what digital nomadic life style is all about.

Buying and selling has shifted to the social media space, a figurative desert that seems to have borderless opportunities, people who have never met transacting business is a miracle we are all glad to have in this space. I have watched younger people coming into the printing industry explore e-commerce sites to enhance the logistics part of their business. For instance a direct to garment (DTG) printer uses this site to pull in customer that ensure he prints weekly. What this client has done is to give a one week lead time, rolling out all jobs gotten from the e-commerce site every Wednesday’s, then further creating jobs for the delivery services sector, this looks like a case of expanding the printing value chain which of course is good for the industry.

Apart from expanding the print value chain, other benefits of being a digital nomad are helping you to operate outside your comfort zone, creating other income streams (personally I will be starting online and virtual skill upgrade training in the digital nomad space, please watch out for this), helping you reduce burn out, for some it’s about maximizing limited resources without compromising the quality of their deliverables, amongst others. It is also important to note that like the traditional nomads, the digital nomad terrain also have tough problems and different challenges.

In all, a digital nomadic life style might just be your next survival strategy in this difficult time.

Thoughts from Akin Oduwole CE, Technology Global