Flourishing small biz beating COVID-19 blues
View(s):Undoubtedly, COVID-19 came as a bad experience for people, ruining their lives and livelihoods but adversity opens opportunities as the pandemic seems to have let loose a tidal wave of business activity.
The pandemic forced an enterprising spirit in the younger businessmen and women, with a flurry of new food ventures launched during the past two years along with skincare and holistic products.
While some of their businesses were born of need, others started as hobbies. “Whiling away time since 2020 was not an option for me,” a skincare start-up owner said noting that she with her sister who is a biochemist has started a beauty brand based on Ayurvedic recipes. A multitude of such businesses – each with a large following on social media which has translated into a good clientele over the past year have seen the owners mulling venturing overse as/exporting these products.
“We need to think like that and explore the top potential business that will sustain, no matter how tough the situation arises,” a start-up producing reed leaves (also known as pan leaves) bags told the Business Times.
The boom in the number of new entrants, based on social media which many of these start-ups and businesses rely on, started a further shift to online trade.
COVID-19 was the catalyst to start these businesses and the owners themselves are surprised at the rate they have grown over the past one to one and a half years. They have learned online marketing, selling, improving their product portfolio, client preferences, and competition along with the overall business climate operating from home.
A social media manager working for a large corporation noted that it is amazing how the product packaging has evolved. “There are beauty products which can compete on the international stage in terms of their packaging and presentation,” she told the Business Times noting that some products even look better than popular international branded ones.