With so much spare time on your hands, you have a unique opportunity to really knuckle down and plan a new business. Particularly if you have business ideas rattling around in your head, but haven’t been able to fully focus on them. Perhaps your studies used to get in the way, only now you have loads of extra time away from your education.
Thus, there’s no better time to set the ball rolling and plan your next steps. If you’d like some extra guidance on this journey, here are a few ideas for things you can do during lockdown:
Create your business plan
It sounds obvious, but you need to create your business plan. This will basically outline the main concept of your business and what it will do. A business plan is essential as you will need to present it to any investors or other people giving you finance. Don’t expect to walk into a bank and ask for a loan without your business plan. No matter how small your business seems, it still requires a plan. I’m not going to provide any tips on how to create your plan, but I will link a video below that shows some for you to take a look at. Overall, your business plan is basically a roadmap that looks at where you want your business to go, and how you’ll get there
Start raising money
All small businesses need money to get off the ground. If you’ve been thinking about this idea for years, you may have started a savings fund. If not, you need to think of ways to finance this new business. Seeing as you have plenty of time on your hands, you can research the different options available. If you want to use investors, work on developing a pitch for them. If you want a loan, get your application together to ensure you have a good shot of being approved. However, my idea is to set up a crowdfunding campaign. Get your business listed on a crowdfunding site and as for donations. You’ll need to talk about your idea and explain why it’s worth investing money in, but this can be a great way to gain some extra money during lockdown.
Apply for any licenses
Some business ideas require you to get licenses. If you sell alcohol, you need a license. If you’re offering financial advice, you tend to need some sort of license. Even if you plan on offering handyman services, you might need contractor licensing. Obviously, this step depends on your business idea. If no licenses are needed, you can skip over it and carry on with the next steps.
Gain any qualifications
Similarly, you might need qualifications to perform your service. A great example of this is if you want to start a personal trainer business. Here, you’d need to be a registered personal trainer, meaning you have to gain the relevant qualifications. Again, this is where lockdown can be a bit of a blessing. It may have been impossible for you to juggle your academic studies with additional studies to gain qualifications. Now, you have more free time to finally do it. Seeing as its unwise to start your business right now, you have plenty of time to get all the essentials in order and ensure you can hit the ground running when normality resumes.
Devise a marketing strategy
Technically, this will form part of your business plan. However, it needs so much attention, which is why it gets a point of its own. You have to try and devise a killer marketing strategy that promotes your new business. Ideally, you will put this plan in motion before you start up. This is how you build hype around a new startup. The aim is that people become aware of you, generating interest around your business. Then, when coronavirus is over and you can start your business safely, you have lots of keen people eager to spend their money. In fact, if you’ve already sorted out all the other aspects of planning a new business, you can devote all your time to this. Some of you may have planned your business idea months ago, then got hit by the lockdown, stopping you in your tracks. Take the positives from this – it gives you a chance to generate more hype before you open up!
Technically, you could start a business during lockdown. The problem is that most businesses will probably fail. Instead, use this time wisely. Plan as thoroughly as possible, putting yourself in an excellent position when everything clears.
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