Being the owner of a business is always something that a person can be proud of. You’re doing your part in supporting the economy and maybe even giving jobs to people. Add to that the earning potential and personal gratification that goes with being an entrepreneur, and it can truly be one of the best life decisions one can ever make.
Now, if you’re still on the fence about starting your own business, then you must know that there’s actually no better time than now to do so. Thanks to technology and the multitude of innovations that have been made in the past few years alone, you’ll find that any new business you could start right now will be so well-supported that, generally, you have the option to run it from anywhere, even your own home. This, in turn, can offer you that sought-after work-life balance.
On another note, if there’s one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it’s that a business or livelihood that’s built on technology has a better chance of growing and surviving disruptions like a widespread lockdown. What a time to be alive, indeed — not to mention, what a great time to start a business. Here’s a step by step.
Leverage the right platforms and tools.
Regardless of what your business is, there’s no question that, in this day and age, it will run on technology in more ways than one, as well as benefit from it. For this reason, it’s very important to make use of the right platforms and systems to get this done.
A prime example is when you’re starting an online store. You will want to have a well-designed and professional website that your customers can access with ease. This, then, needs to integrate into a sales or POS system on the backend, which can also take care of essential things like inventory management and fulfillment. However, in order for all of these to work seamlessly from start to finish, you’ll want everything to run on software and platforms you can trust, whether out-of-box or bespoke to your specific needs.
Adapt to working remotely.
In the same vein, you also want to be able to support your remote work efforts, as well as that of your team’s (if any). This can be quite a paradigm shift if you’re used to the more “traditional” way of working — that is, in an office environment — so you definitely need all the help you can get to adapt to working remotely.
You will likely find that a plethora of remote working tools will keep you on the straight and narrow. From keeping you productive to team collaboration, there’s pretty much a tool or app for everything under the sun that you can use to operate your business efficiently wherever you are in the world. Doubtless, it will serve you well and your team to make use of them.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of a good business continuity plan. This is relevant, regardless if you’re just starting your business now in a pandemic, or if you’ve been around for a while. COVID-19 has effectively demonstrated how things can go awry practically overnight, which many businesses were sadly not able to anticipate, prompting many to close shop as lockdowns were enforced all over the world.
Adapting your business plan accordingly will do wonders in ensuring that it avoids drastic repercussions in the event of a large-scale disaster—not just now in the COVID-19 pandemic, but also in the future. Surprisingly, this is easy enough to do, especially when there are great resources to guide you in the process. At the most fundamental level, such a plan will consider COVID-19’s possible impact on your business, as well as include forecasting for various alternative scenarios and determine how you can innovate to keep your revenue streams flowing.
Starting your own business at this time is not at all a hardship and may prove to be a breeze. Research is undoubtedly the best place to start, so leave no stone unturned to be adequately guided from start to finish. The sense of accomplishment alone will be worth your efforts.
