Even in the best of times, deciding to quit your job to start a business is a high-risk, high-reward venture. It’s not for everybody.
You need a reasonably well-rounded skill set to become an entrepreneur and have the right attitude and level of risk tolerance. And amid the disruption and upheaval caused by the pandemic, even more people than usual shy away from entrepreneurship.
But in the investment world, it’s often said that you should be bold when others are fearful. And investment approaches range from passive to active depending on what suits you best. There are real estate investors who buy REITs and others who become landlords.
Starting a business in this uncertain climate doesn’t have to be more intimidating. Here are some approaches you can explore to fit your concept and situation.
Go small
It’s no surprise that in the wake of the pandemic, many small businesses suffered the most. Large-scale operations tend to have a bigger pool of resources as well as diverse assets. In the event of a disruption, even one as unexpected and far-reaching as Covid-19, they are more likely to survive.
Small businesses have less wiggle room. They might rely on just a straightforward model of operations. Pull the plug on that revenue stream, even temporarily, and the cash flow stops.
Despite that, it makes sense to start a small business and keep it small. We’ve had time to recover from the initial effects of the pandemic. Many lessons have been learned from the failures of other entrepreneurs. Jumping into the fray now gives you the chance to incorporate those improvements.
You can take on a counter-cyclical business concept that will benefit from a downturn. Accountancy and collection, resume writing, and online education are among the services seeing increased demand. Meanwhile, as people limit their spending, food remains a priority; figuring out how to safely deliver food products to your consumers might be the key to success.
Keep in mind that bigger isn’t necessarily better. Large companies have begun to embrace agile principles to adjust in times of change. Those advantages will be inherent to your business as long as you stay small.
Imitate and improve
Some people not only have a knack for coming up with ideas, but they also have an appetite for building things from the ground up. It makes them perfectly suited to starting a small business from scratch.
But what if you lack one (or both) of those attributes? You don’t need them to become an entrepreneur. Many business owners didn’t follow the builder’s path.
You can buy an existing business or emulate success by launching a franchise. These options give you a higher-level entry point into the world of entrepreneurship. It lets you offset deficiencies by having a structure proven to work in the past.
Of course, this isn’t a shortcut to running a successful business. People and processes that brought success in the past might struggle in the new reality. Owners might have put their businesses up for sale because they didn’t see a path forward.
That’s the sort of challenge you are committing to handle using this approach. And if you’re the type of entrepreneur who enjoys tweaking and refining a base idea, this can be ideal for you. It will take a lot of hard work, but you can turn things around.
Innovate
It seems counter-intuitive, but when times are chaotic, many opportunities tend to arise. However, not all organizations are set up to take advantage. They aren’t just slow to react; they are rigid in their vision and way of thinking.
The missing quality is innovation. And it never results from top-down directives or targeted efforts to change. Innovation is an organic process. It tends to be born out of a collaboration between capable, like-minded, dynamic individuals.
Consider the networks of which you’re a part; think about the communities in which you practice. How can you serve the needs of others within those circles? Put your services at the disposal of your network, and it will increase the transfer of knowledge and experience.
It also helps if innovation isn’t coupled to financial objectives. For instance, airlines such as Royal Brunei and Qantas recently had an idea to profit despite the travel industry’s woes: selling flights to nowhere. Innovative? Definitely. But it’s also made possible by the financial leeway they possess. They could test this idea without having the future of their companies resting on it.
Innovation is unpredictable by nature. But you can increase your chances by maximizing the factors involved. You can only find completely new ideas through this sort of testing and application. And if it works, you can create a whole new market for your business.
