If there’s one thing I’ve learned during Covid-19 is that it is vital to have a backup source of income. Luckily, I am an essential worker and was able to continue to work. However, when they announced the kids would be out for the remainder of the year, I had to figure out how to accommodate my son. I also self quarantined and had to go without pay for a portion of the time time I was out. It’s unexpected times like these that make it important to make sure that you and your family will be taken care of no matter what. These are the times that it makes it even more evident that we all need to start our own businesses.
DECIDE WHICH BUSINESS YOU WANT TO START
I thankfully have multiple streams of income and to my surprise, my sales went up during the pandemic. I realized that more people were off, more people had time to shop online, and more people were supporting small businesses. People tend to want to band together and help small businesses and simply spread acts of kindness as they can. People also have more time to take their time and process the value they would get from shopping with you. I’m not saying that this is the only reason why you should start your own business but it is a huge driving factor in making your life recession proof. Things can change rapidly in an instant and it is times like these that show which businesses can prevail and which businesses are unprepared.
MAGNIFY THE VALUE
It doesn’t matter what type of business it is that you are going to start but it needs to be something that you actually care about and that you can do for an extended period of time. People want to support businesses that have value. So if you personally find value in the business you want to start, you will be able to convince others of the value also. I recommend it is something that you have wanted to do for a long time and truly take an interest to learning more about. I personally have always been into fashion and have followed it since I was little. I also studied it in high school and minored in it in college. It made perfect sense for me to start my own clothing company. I also love to journal and write, it’s therapeutic for me. So it also made since for me to start my own blog. I have a few more things that I am very passionate about and will be starting a few more businesses soon. There is no limit to what we can do as a creative people. The more you do the better your chances are of being self sufficient and less dependent on the other.
START SMALL
It is very important to learn how to balance it all out. Life is already hard enough as it is, I by no means want you to complicate your life if starting your business would. Use wisdom and take your time. Timing is everything so if you have too much on your plate right now maybe you want to pick this back up in a different season. Maybe instead you just need to stretch the process out until you are ready. What I mean by that is that you can take smaller steps at a slower pace. You can take a longer season to get your plan together. Work on your business plan until you get to a point where you can take on another task, then see what else you can execute to get yourself closer to starting your own business.
THINK OF YOU FIRST
Start your business for YOU. I really wanted something I could call my own and to be able to have another outlet that brought me joy. It’s only a bonus that my businesses brings in income. If you don’t find joy in what you do for yourself, explore other things. It will become something daunting if you choose to do something just for the money. Money is not everything so don’t let that be the driving factor, walk in your purpose. So be smart about this step.
START A LEGACY
Another big reason I started my own business was because I wanted to start a legacy for my family. I wanted something that I could pass on for generation to generation. You can start a positive cycle in your family and be a role model for another member in your family to start their own business. Before you know it, your family will be well off…. on it’s own and it was all because of your obedience to yourself!! The domino effect is contagious and so rewarding. It brings me so much joy when my own family members tell me how proud of me they are and how they are inspired.
Life is short and the pandemic we are going through right now proves it. So go start those businesses and become recession proof!!