It has almost been 50 days since Metro Manila has been put on lockdown/enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), and everyone has scrambled to adjust to the “new normal.”
I have so many feelings as a mom and a wife, but this post is more of wearing the “entrepreneur” hat. What are essential and profitable businesses that are operating in these unusual times? The lists are endless – manufacturer of medical supplies, food, laundry supply, a food delivery app, home-service medical services (blood test, consultatoin etc), all are essential businesses that are doing well financially.
BUT, if you’re looking for something doable and easier, take a peek at the list below.
If you’re at home and your current source of income has been affected, these are also good starting points if you want to have your own business – you can stay at the comfort and safety of your home, and the skills required in set-up are quick to learn:
1. Sell Physical Products Online
Opening an online store is the easiest to implement among this list.
During the first few days of ECQ, online grocery stores like Landers.ph, Waltermart Delivery, Lazmall, and Metromart found themselves flooded with customers who did not want to leave their homes, or line up for hours to enter a supermarket.
Previously, people purchase online for the following reasons – avoid heavy traffic and parking, save time and convenience. Now, there is a heavier reason for staying home – safety. The risk of shopping at a retail store is higher than accepting a shipment (and then disinfecting it). The days of going pasyal pasyal are gone for now.
Same goes for non-essential goods
Across Viber and Facebook groups, everyone is asking, where can I buy what?
“Where can I buy exercise gear/ weights online?”
“How about toys or art supplies for kids?”
“Does Uniqlo have an online store?”
In fact, our two online stores have received an increase in store traffic during this lockdown.
How easy is it to open an online store?
You don’t need to know how to code to make your own online store. You can join a selling platform like Shopifyi and then drag and drop. Plus, they are offering a FREE three-month trial now because of the pandemic. (Their previous free trial was only 14 days, so this is a great offer!)
If you’re not sure what to sell, I will write some ideas in the next post!
2. Sell Information Online:
Offer an Online Course, E-book, Subscription, Printables, etc.
With schools and all types of learning centers closed (language schools, child-centered facilities like Kumon, Gymboree, Kindermusik, sports & music schools), online learning will be the only option aside from homeschooling.
If you have a skill you want to share (something as technical as engineering or how to write software, or more hands-on like sewing, cooking, appliance repair, teaching music), there are platforms where you can market yourself and your own school
I’ve been tinkering on this idea too!
Last year, we did a live seminar on How To Source and Import from China to the Philippines. By God’s grace it was successful and received good feedback. We received a lot of quieries from Filipinos in the province and abroad if we could offer an online course.
Here is a snippet of the live seminar we conducted. What do you think? Should we launch an online version of this course?
3. Sell A Service: Build Your Own Digital Agency
Freelancing is a great way to earn income, and a lot of freelancers harness their management skills and scale up to build their own agency.
What does having my own agency mean?
One of my good friends is a graphic designer by profession, but she has young kids to take care of. So she opened her own graphic design digital agency, and outsources the design work to other graphic designers. As the owner of the digital agency, she reviews the work of the designers under her and gives feedback. But she is mainly responsible for managing the company’s finances, sales and marketing.
Take note: starting your own agency gives you a higher earning potential, but you also have to manage and motivate more people. For this kind of work, it’s good to have at least a soft background of whatever service your agency is offering. That way, you can communicate and sell more effectively, while also having a level of certainty and assurance of the level of quality your agency is offering.
I’m not ready for my own digital agency
There are so many services to sell online — copywriting, photo editing, voice talent, etc.! If you want to start smaller and test the ropes, you can easily sign up for a free profile at Fiverr.com and offer your services there.
Hope In The New Normal
I never thought 2020 would turn out this way.
Like everyone else, we had a lot of plans for our family and for our business this year, and this pandemic has thrown them all up in the air. But I know that we are blessed in countless ways – the blessing of being together and staying safe at home, first and foremost.
If you’ve watched the short Netflix documentary: Coronavirus, Explained, it sums up with saying that the human race is resilient, creative, and strong, and we can overcome this pandemic. And honestly, we have no choice but to be resilient. A crisis brings either the best or worst in us, and I’d like to believe that everyone will come out of the lockdown a better version of themselves.
Take care of yourself physically, emotionally and mentally. Then when you’re ready, go for the goals you’ve always been dreaming on achieving! You can do it!