Is it really the time?
We are in an interesting period of history aren’t we? For a while the world simply just shut down, businesses had to change how they operated, shops that were deemed non-essential closed and a lot of us were cut off from loved ones.
Jump forward to now and we face a potential financial crisis and looming threat of a pandemic. It would be insane to try and start a company now right?
With the world restarting and finding new ways of doing things, it is the perfect time since the market is wide open. In fact some of the biggest business or apps we use now were started during the last financial crisis such as Whatsapp in 2009 and Instagram in 2010. Indeed, businesses staring during a recession and going on to be household names is quite common. Just look at this article from Business Insider and see how many you recognise
New ways of thinking in business
Getting the idea for a business is the easy bit. As this article shows there are so many other steps in trying to set up a company, often you will find that you’re juggling a lot of things and depending on the size you may be doing it on your own. On the other hand, necessity drives invention and innovation, new ways of thinking are born out of realising that the old ways don’t work. In many ways this is because the safety net has been pulled from under us and we therefore have the chance to rethink things. Why are we doing it this way? What happens if we try this? Has anyone thought about? These are all questions we ask since we realise it’s time for a change in methodology.
Low Competition
Another factor is that the market is relatively wide open since there is no competition. Bigger and more established companies are busy trying to save what they can through layoffs and cost cutting, but what happens to their customers who also need help? You can come in and offer yourself as the value alternative that will be able to start relatively quickly since you’re a small staff (or a freelancer) which means you’re flexible, you have the talent and you don’t break the bank.
Talent pool
This brings me to my next point. Because companies will be laying off people, there will be more people looking for jobs. While in the short term that is very obviously a bad thing if you have a strong idea or take a chance on someone, they will be far more likely to contribute and become strong members of the team since you offered them a lifeline. If you build a team around you filled with experts or even if you are all freelancers and you throw work to each other the standard and the quality will benefit from it.
Whatever you decide, make sure you do the research. You have to make sure that you are 100% in on it and that you believe in what you are doing. I can speak from experience, the company I’m trying to build was theoretical, but for the first time I can see it growing into something I’ll be proud of.
