An economic crisis is more than a downturn, it’s a disruption to a society’s way of life.
Economic activities that were previously essential are suddenly less important, and those that may not have been on our radar are suddenly crucial. The economic pandemonium surrounding COVID-19 has seen us cast away the old ways, and build new and novel ways of communicating.
Every crisis can bring about waves of bad news. But for an entrepreneur, this can also be a call to action to finally launching a business. The rapid changes in our day-to-day lives and adjusting to “new normal” are an opportunity to tackle new challenges, some of which can be solved by online businesses.
In this article, we’ll outline four online business ideas that are suited for today’s market.
These business ideas can be started from the safety of your own home, and with a little hard work, they have the potential to be the start of something brilliant.
Editor’s note: This article was originally written by Ivan Kreimer but has since been updated by Lucas Spinella, a self-starter and entrepreneur specializing in marketing. Lucas has spent countless hours researching business ideas while spearheading Foundr’s newest course ‘Start Your Side Hustle‘.
With social distancing and stay-at-home orders mandated in most countries, people are looking for new ways to stay fit and healthy while the gyms remain closed.
For those who own training equipment like jump ropes, mats, and dumbbells, training at home is not a problem. For those who don’t have a proper home-gym or perhaps lack experience in self-training, fitness apps are becoming a necessity. Apps like Aaptiv, Sweat, Peloton, and Sworkit provide users with simple, interactive, guiding workout sessions that help countless individuals fight the dreaded “quarantine-15”.
All of this means that if you have experience in the health and fitness space, this is the perfect opportunity to accelerate your efforts.
Ride the wave and use this opportunity to develop and launch your very own fitness program. Identify an area of fitness that you are qualified and experienced enough to instruct in, and see how it can be adapted for home-training.
Consider yoga practice for absolute beginners, HIIT routines that you can do in your garden, even low-impact exercise for those living in apartments who don’t want their neighbors complaining about the jumping, the list goes on and on.
If you’re a fitness guru, becoming a fitness consultant and developing your own digital product is a great way to not only reach a tonne of new clients, it’s also a way to keep your business growing and thriving.
Staying home and saying safe sure does have its perks. We have more time to spend with our loved ones, time to bake banana bread, and we even have the chance to work in our pajamas. You probably don’t miss commuting, and it may be nice to escape the corporate work environment and the office.
But beyond that, remote work can be isolating and stressful for many people. The uncertainty brought on by a global pandemic coupled with the sudden shift in routine and lifestyle has created the perfect storm for stress.
People are looking for ways to decompress, relax, and focus on mental wellbeing. If you’re someone who enjoys helping others or building digital products, then this may be the opportune time to launch your own wellness program or become a wellness consultant.
A wellness program helps you manage your stress, and lead you down the path of becoming a more mindful and productive individual.
Wellness programs include such activities as:
Yoga
Meditation
Stretching
Training
Healthy habits
Both digital products and services can work equally well, depending on your existing skills, knowledge, or preferences.
If you create a digital product like a course, you can create it and then sell it on your site
Digital products don’t necessarily need to be expensive to launch. You can create a free website on WordPress, share content via email, and record videos on your phone to upload to YouTube. If your content is informative and well-planned you can easily gain traction.
For those of us who are accustomed to working remotely, the new work-from-home ethic means little change in routine. But for those who were used to working from an office, this is a huge challenge to adapt to.
We can’t anticipate how the pandemic will unfold or what the new normal will look like. Many businesses will most likely keep the new changes in place, especially if working from home has had no impact on productivity.
For the right entrepreneur with the right marketing, this could be a promising opportunity.
If you’re someone who has worked remotely for many years, then you could use your knowledge to assist companies in making the transition.
Many companies will need to learn how to adapt their processes and systems to this new environment, and you can be the one who does that for them.
Remote working isn’t going anywhere. On the contrary, it will only grow over time. If you’re an expert on the matter, this is your opportunity to shine.
If you’re someone with a background in SaaS, perhaps consider launching a remote work “micro SaaS business”, something low risk that you can operate from your home. Think of a service that caters to remote working conditions.
There are dozens of companies that cater to this need: Zoom, Slack, Hubstaff, and more. If you can create a service in the same vein as these providers, then you may be onto something great.
For example, Carrd is a highly successful tool that allows you to create fully responsive one-page sites. And like all micro SaaS businesses, it’s run by one person.
Anything that focuses on communication, organization, security, collaboration, or time-management will fit the bill. Take advantage of the work-from-home movement, and try to target a SaaS niche that fits your skill-set.
It’s no secret that at Foundr we love freelancing and side-hustles. Freelancing is great because it allows you to:
Work remotely
Work in an area you like
Choose your own rate
Flexible working hours
Set your own work environment
We are seeing an interesting shift in the market as businesses begin to turn to freelancers more and more. Businesses that previously had never hired freelancers are suddenly making the change to freelance consultants and service providers. Many companies will be interested in hiring people who are already equipped to work from home as it saves them the trouble of retraining remotely.
As the world moves to a more digital platform, any experience you have with digital services is now in high-demand. You can become a freelancer who specializes in:
Marketing, including SEO, PPC, and copywriting
Design, including web, UX, and product design
Programming, including back-end and front-end development, and DevOps
Media, including video animation, editing, or production
Other digital skills, including web analytics, big data, and project management
If you’re highly skilled but a total newbie to the freelancing game, the most important step is to avoid rushing into things. A major part of freelancing is your state of mind.
When it comes to freelancing, you need to value yourself, your skillset, and your time. Above all, you need to treat yourself as a business (because you are one).
The world of freelancing is infinite, and thanks to the internet we can continue working even when social-distancing. The opportunities are there, you just have to chase them.
This pandemic is a new frontier for all of us. Use your entrepreneurial spirit to launch your business and break free from the job market. By identifying new job opportunities, taking the leap, and staying safe at home, 2020 could be the start of something special for you.
What do you think of our business ideas? We love hearing from you, let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
By Lucas Spinella