by Streamlion Consulting | Nov 17, 2020 | Business Tips, Post-corona business ideas
It’s the topic on everyone’s lips at the moment but, as the saying goes, ‘this too shall pass’ and eventually we will need to start thinking about life after covid. My new three-part blog series looks at moving on from crises and why businesses need to acknowledge what’s happened and learn the right lessons.
The way in which businesses showed up during the 2020 pandemic will define their reputation for years to come. Your reaction and approach, if positive and supportive, will be a key to future growth and success but only if you record them and use the information in your narrative.
Join the dots
It’s possible that your business looks very different to the way it did a year ago. Those changes could be minimal or material but, either way, it’s really important that you join the dots for your audience and tell the latest chapter in your business story. Put simply, you need to explain why you do what you do, and how you do it – and if Covid changed that, people need to be aware. Far from any changes being seen as a degradation of service or an unexplained departure from the norm, your business story should be one of flexibility and agility. People trust a business that can adapt and flex according to what is required and telling the story of how you survived the pandemic and subsequent deep recession is of paramount importance.
Where are you now?
Because the pandemic changed everything in life and business, businesses will have experienced far-reaching disruption. Your route to market may be different; you might be present on different channels (more social media activity, maybe, client meetings on Zoom?) or you could have drastically change the shape and purpose of the business. Are you still happy with your short and long-term business plan? It is essential to revisit your numbers to make sure pricing and profit forecasts are still accurate given any changes you have made. Whatever your story, resilience is at the heart of it and that is something to be celebrated.
Now is the time to be preparing some of this important background material upon which you will build your next chapter: that of the recovery.
A story to celebrate
Let’s look at one of the more recent major crises to hit the business world: the 2008 financial crisis. It hit business hard, especially smaller businesses who were forced to pay off employees, halt spending and investment and find new ways to survive. And the fallout was far-reaching too. The effect on commercial lending was considerable and suddenly loans to small businesses became virtually non-existent.
I’ve blogged before about opportunity emerging from crisis and, true to form, crowdfunding was born of this financial hardship. In the hunt for ‘alternative lending’, the online world stepped up and suddenly large numbers of people could participate in gifts, loans and shares to enable small businesses to raise the equity they needed to deliver on their plan.
So, what seems like a near-miss or a difficult time may actually simply be looked back on as a transformation to new and better things. Make sure your story celebrates what you’ve done during 2020.
Next time, I’ll be looking at what we’ve learned from this crisis and what we can take away – a little positivity to follow the uncertainty and sadness of the year.
by Streamlion Consulting | Aug 17, 2020 | Post-corona business ideas
Welcome to the final blog in my lockdown start-up opportunities series. Hopefully you’re feeling inspired to go out there and take full advantage of the benefit of a crisis generating new and unusual opportunities.
I’ve used Startups.co.uk’s list of ‘best business ideas’ published over the past few years to take a look at which businesses might make the startup success list in 2021.
1. Living With Less
I’ve certainly noticed an increase in people having clearouts during lockdown. Skips have arrived on driveways and random piles of unwanted belongings have been left with ‘please help yourself’ signs. It’s true that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure but the trend these days seems to be to minimise clutter wherever possible.
One angle on this is the ‘borrow instead of buy’ trend, started by the likes of Uber and AirBnB who ‘lent’ lifts and accommodation and now, justpark.com has a list of over 300 ways to borrow anything from textbooks to surfboards.
Add to this the current burgeoning trend for reusing and there are business opportunities aplenty to avoid reducing our spend and what we send to landfill. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of making something which is broken beautiful; the Swedish philosophy of ‘lagom’, meaning not too little and not too much; and not forgetting Marie Kondo and you have a wealth of areas to explore for your next opportunity.
2. Is online the only way?
An interesting comment in the 2019 business ideas article reads as follows: “…in 2019 consumers will turn to the internet for traditionally face-to-face services they previously wouldn’t have considered accessing online.” Hmmm. I suspect the author didn’t think this would quite reach the scale it has given coronavirus and a worldwide lockdown. However, we are where we are, and online activity is certainly a necessity for many of us.
Pivoting your business – or launching yourself into the online market anew – definitely needs to be part of any new business plan being prepared for 2020 and beyond. There are also many new opportunities to be exploited in terms of the associated fallout of all this screen time. Meditation, digital detox and time management being just a few.
3. Plastic alternatives
Think back to life pre-coronavirus, and remember the incredible progress that was made in the war against plastic. Sadly, some of this good will have been undone by our sudden and overwhelming need to access disposable PPE but, rest assured, the plastic issue isn’t going to go away forever. As our ‘new normal’ dawns, we’ll need ever more inventive ways of living without pollution.
So many great initiatives were started before lockdown, any budding product entrepreneurs out there should be capitalising on the lull in activity to develop their designs. Never before has the world had to entertain such a level of change to our everyday lives. Now must surely be the perfect time to stay on the crest of that wave and launch new and better products for the future health of our planet.
by Streamlion Consulting | Aug 4, 2020 | Post-corona business ideas
Welcome to the third blog in this series, all about opportunities that have emerged from lockdown. Things have certainly been different during lockdown and it looks as though they will continue to change with lots of talk of the ‘new normal’.
I’ve used Startups.co.uk’s list of ‘best business ideas’ published over the past few years to take a look at which businesses might make the startup success list in 2021.
1. Time is money
Apparently, we’ve all had extra time on our hands for the past few months and perhaps it is this which has led to an uptick in popularity of such crafts as macramé and such hobbies as keeping house plants.
In a blast back to the seventies, people are embracing both these retro trends. Houseplants have been enjoying a resurgence for several years now and macramé just happens to be a great way to display their lovely leaves. As the world gets busier, there are increasing numbers of people without access to a garden, so this trend is likely to keep growing….
2. Cocktails and dreams
Make your business dream a reality by investigating the new fashion for cocktails and premium mixers. Lockdown has added another twist to this tale as we’ve seen people partaking in mixing and tasting sessions virtually, and the delivery of ready-mixed cocktails to the home.
The money, however, might well be in the mixers as this market has been extremely lucrative for large premium brands. There’s therefore still plenty of space for startups to introduce something innovative. Consumers love provenance, natural ingredients, and local producers so there are lots of differentiators to cash in on.
3. Forget FinTech, FemTech is where it’s at
Finally, for Part 3 of this series, let’s take a look at women’s health. Clearly things like worldwide pandemics focus our minds on health and wellbeing more than ever and that’s certainly come at the right time for those interested in the women’s health tech space. Still crowded with topics that are a little taboo, women’s health is somewhat behind when it comes to technical innovation.
However, we sense that is about to change and we’re already seeing more airtime given to subjects including menopause, period tracking and contraception. Developing technology to help women navigate the ever-changing landscape of their health is certain to be a hot spot as big data, women embracing technology and a hunger to learn more about our bodies converge to create the perfect opportunity.
A great range of opportunities seem to be coming to the fore, post pandemic and we’ve still got a few to share. The fourth and final instalment in this blog series will look at living with less and the rise of the online business model.
by Streamlion Consulting | Jul 15, 2020 | Post-corona business ideas
Welcome to the second part of my blogging mini-series, all about opportunities that have emerged from lockdown. Whether you’re a furlough-preneur forced to try something new or a corona-preneur who has realised the attraction of working from home, there are plenty of great ideas for business start-ups.
I’ve used Startups.co.uk’s list of ‘best business ideas’ published over the past few years to take a look at what businesses might make the startup success list in 2021.
1. A sporting chance
Although somewhat interrupted during the coronavirus lockdown, sport is always going to be a part of our lives. Despite a lack of televised activity, the number of people currently getting out and about on pushbikes is estimated to be one of the fastest growing activities in the UK. Brompton, our largest bike manufacturer has reported a fivefold increase in online sales since the start of April and Halfords has reported a 23% increase in share price.
Startups.co.uk listed American sports, most specifically football, as one to watch in 2019, but perhaps sports-related businesses should keep an eye on whether lockdown trends look set to continue.
2. Alexa – don’t leak my data!
Crime, in respect of burglaries and car theft, may have reduced dramatically with everyone safely stuck at home but the criminals of the future exist in cyberspace. Predictions of an incredible 22.5 billion devices connected to the internet by 2021 mean a growing market has to be security for the Internet of Things (IoT).
There’s been no shortage of data breaches in the recent past and with more and more activity now moving to online platforms, devices need to be smarter and have increased protection. Cue the tech-savvy entrepreneur riding the wave of the demand for watertight security at device level over the coming months.
3. Plant Power
Veganism has been enjoying a high profile for some time now but two things have happened since we encountered COVID-19: firstly, we’ve all started to think about our health a little more seriously and, secondly, things that might never previously have been available can now be delivered to our doorstep. The outcome of these is no more excuses.
Plant-based foods are now entering the mainstream market as people hunt for the ultimate superfood and try to position themselves to avoid potentially harmful food imports post-Brexit. The fact that established research institutions have recognised the benefits of eating more plant-based foods surely signals the green light (pardon the pun) for business ideas in this sector.
From crisis comes opportunity, or so the saying goes. Watch this space for the next blog in the series investigating yet more post-corona business ideas including macramé, cocktails and yet more health apps.
If you missed part 1 read it here
by Streamlion Consulting | Jul 2, 2020 | Post-corona business ideas
As someone who is continually viewing and assessing new ideas for businesses, or helping successful business owners work out how to scale what they have, I’m always intrigued to see how trends move and what impacts the type of businesses that become popular.
Startups.co.uk have published a list of ‘best business ideas’ for the past few years so, over the course of a series of blogs, I want to investigate what this list might look like in 2021.
There is an amazing entrepreneurial spirit in the UK and, it seems a trauma such as Brexit, followed hot on the heels by a crisis such as Covid, have done nothing to dampen this spirit. However new business ideas, just as much as existing operational businesses, will undoubtedly need some tweaking to adapt to new ways of life that massive change inevitably brings.
Simon Sinek was live on Facebook recently saying that coronavirus was probably the biggest thing to hit the UK business world since the launch of the internet. Think back; businesses were born specifically to exploit the new normal (Amazon), some adapted very quickly and made a huge success (for example the travel/package holiday industry) and, for some, it was just a change too far (Blockbuster comes to mind). So, what is the next chapter in the story? Which businesses will survive? Which will thrive?
1. As safe as houses?
I have heard the comment made that we can no longer claim “a hairdresser will never go out of business” because, it seems, there has come a time when people won’t have their hair cut even though it continues to grow. However, the safety and surety of bricks and mortar is surely one which will continue, price fluctuations notwithstanding, ad infinitum.
In particular, building for the ever-growing care market (as mentioned in Startups.co.uk’s 2018 list). The expected shortfall in care home beds is expected to reach 14,000 by 2026 and recent issues associated with coronavirus might even see some redesigning taking place to offer up better protection against similar crises.
2. Food for thought
Now, we might feel we can cope during lockdown with slightly longer hair, but there’s one thing we do all need to do and that’s eat. Interestingly, the somewhat niche area of ‘late-night food’ was being seen as a trend in 2018, with speculation that there was a new phenomenon known as ‘the fourth meal’. Fast forward to 2020 and there has been a popular pivot by pubs in particular to serve take-away food in order to keep the cash flowing.
As a nation who, despite being stuck at home, seems to be no less keen on a nice meal and something to drink, this has been gratefully received and the delivery of food has also been a bonus and a convenient way to avoid contact while we’re distancing from each other.
3. We come to you
Talking of take-away and deliveries, yet another benefit of being an online retailer has come to the fore during the past few months: with a highly efficient delivery service, Amazon and the like have (almost) not needed to blink. However, far from being left behind by the big boys, we’ve also seen lots of local businesses start delivering in order to keep their business alive while people are stuck at home. I’ve heard the phrase ‘letterbox gift’ recently, in response to handily-sized gifts being delivered; anything from specialist tea bags to cards with a wooden virtual hug token attached to them.
It certainly shows that with a little innovative thinking we can use what has traditionally been a very commoditised service for very bespoke services. The gig economy is there; drivers willing to put in the miles already exist. It’s just up to the smaller businesses to work out how they can package their goods to be attractive as a delivery item.
Winston Churchill once said “to improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often”. It looks as though this is a good mantra for today’s business owners. We’ve pivoted to cope with lockdown but what else will we need to do once we find ourselves in the ‘new normal’?
