Interesting Businesses Born Out of the Pandemic

2020 was no doubt a challenging year for businesses, both big and small. The harsh business environment was characterized by mass layoffs, closures, and widespread confusion. Start-ups also took a heavy hit, as indicated by the sharp decline in new business formation throughout the year.

Photo by Mark Fletcher-Brown on Unsplash

The pandemic is still far from over, but we can confidently say that the worst is now behind us. Vaccines for the deadly virus are already available in many countries, and most governments are slowly lifting trade restrictions. The situation is gradually returning to normal, but that’s not the only good news for entrepreneurs.

While some businesses struggled and closed down, others flourished during the pandemic. Many entrepreneurs became impressively creative amid the crisis – pivoting to new high-demand services and products and changing their business models to pounce on emerging opportunities.

There are some interesting types of businesses born out of the pandemic, many of which have now carved out a permanent niche for themselves. Here is a highlight of some of these enterprises. Read on, and maybe one idea might draw your interest and end up becoming your silver lining on an otherwise gloomy pandemic.

Delivery services

A business modeled around delivery services is not a new concept. However, the pandemic has dramatically expanded the marketplace for this kind of business. Today, the food delivery service market alone is worth over 111 billion dollars and is expected to grow at an 11.51% CAGR between now and 2023.

The food and beverage sector has the biggest home delivery market right now that any small business could realistically tap into. But you could also try partnering with other non-food local businesses as a small third-party fulfillment and delivery service.

Running errands

Even with the loosening mobility restrictions, many people are still reluctant to venture out into public places for fear of contracting COVID-19. This is especially true for senior citizens and individuals with compromised immune systems. For this reason, many of these people lack reliable access to essential supplies, and therein lies a business opportunity.

You can create a business to run errands, such as buying groceries, refiling drug subscriptions, and picking up other suppliers for home-based customers. You could also offer special services such as dog walking, lawn maintenance, landscaping, and such. There are dozens of apps built around offering random services. But we’re talking about basing your operations within a manageable area without interference from a third-party service.

Online fitness and wellness training

The pandemic has shown the importance of maintaining one’s physical health. But many gyms are still closed, and those that are open operate under limited capacities and working hours. Mobile personal trainers can’t make their routine home visits either.

Trainers and gym owners have had to come up with an ingenious way to deliver their services. Fitness enthusiasts can still keep up with curated and personalized workout routines by signing up for online training sessions. The personal training market in the USis worth more than $10 billion, and there’s still plenty of room for growth.

Another lucrative area of interest is wellness training. After being locked indoors for months, many people are understandably concerned about their mental and emotional well-being. There are already numerous success stories with meditation apps, yoga session subscriptions, and a host of other wellness coaching regimens.

Box subscriptions

Subscription box services are a massively successful bulk retail approach that focuses mostly on growing and maintaining a loyal customer base. The whole idea started with early pioneers such as the Dollar Shave Club, HelloFresh, and Ipsy. Today, there are subscription boxes for nearly all mainstream consumer products, including grooming and beauty products, recipes, children’s toys, wellness products, food supplements, tools, board games, and assorted goods.

Box subscriptions are popular mostly because they sell convenience, but the pandemic has also boosted subscription-based sales across the board. If you have a potentially lucrative subscription box idea, now is the time to launch it.

Online courses and tutoring

A lot of people took the extra free time during the pandemic to better themselves intellectually. Virtual learning was already a huge and thriving industry before 2020, but it has grown even bigger due to this spike in demand for learning.

You can share knowledge on just about anything, from professional skills and life coaching to hobby-based activities. Start with a field you’re familiar with, for instance, your area of expertise, and build from there by adding more diverse educational content. The good thing about teaching online is you don’t necessarily need an expensive site. Online content marketplaces and video streaming services are a great place to get started and grow a following.

Let’s bring out the entrepreneur in you

A good business idea is not all you need to start and run a business. Start-ups are risky ventures, and a majority of them fail before reaching their potential. But this is not to say you shouldn’t give it a try. With the right mindset, moral support, financial backing, and training, you’ll have everything you need to build a profitable business out of any of these opportunities.

The good news is, we’ve got you covered on the business training part through our risk management course. Let our commerce experts guide you around all the likely pitfalls of starting and running your own business.