Covid has decimated economies across the world and put millions of people out of work. The midst of a pandemic doesn’t seem like the best time to launch a business, does it? But there are plenty of people doing it.

So if you’re considering making the leap and launching a business now, here are 4 tips to help.

Make it Covid Proof (As Far as Possible)

If you don’t want your potential profits to be decimated by covid, then you’ll want to know what sort of business is least likely to be affected. Of course, if you’re not in a hurry to make it profitable and you can wait till the pandemic has passed, this won’t be an issue. But for those looking to hit the ground running on day 1, making sure your business is likely to be able to trade throughout will be critical.

This was the core consideration of Jane Walkinshaw, who launched Cosy Little Room early in the pandemic.

She told us:

“I have always wanted to source and sell products that I love. And having a little shop has crossed my mind before. But in order to make sure we were unaffected by covid, we had to go online. Ecommerce gives us scale, of course. And the ability to serve customers from outside our local area. But online retailers have also been unaffected by Covid closures here in the UK, so it felt like a relatively safe option.”

Be Aware of Trends

For some businesses, Covid has had a positive impact on their bottom line. We’re looking at you, Zoom. But online retailers and health brands are amongst many who’ve seen increased trading.

Mina Khan launched her supplements brand, Formulate Health, a couple of months ago and comments:

“I was always planning to launch a supplements brand. Always. And as the pandemic has dragged on I’ve wondered whether now is the right time. But actually, the timing couldn’t have been better in many ways. Yes, our supply chain was a little slower than we might have liked at the beginning. But with a pandemic raging we saw a trend for an increase in people searching in Google for supplements and help to improve their immune system.

As such, we prioritised our immune system formula, Immunium, and have been able to get it to market.”

Have a Financial Cushion

It’s sensible advice for starting a business any time, but arguably more so during such uncertain times as these.

Having a financial cushion (enough in the bank to pay your bills for a few months at least) means that even if your trade is affected by the pandemic or, worse, you have to close altogether because of restrictions, you will have breathing space.

Investigate What Support Might be Available

Even for start ups, some Governments have made grants and loans accessible to help through the pandemic. And while some might be specifically available to existing businesses, others apply to businesses that started trading only recently.

So visit your Government or local authority website and find out whether there might be some support available to help you.

It’s never the perfect time

There’s never really a perfect time to launch a business, is there? And while a pandemic might seem like a particularly terrible time to some people, with careful planning you might get to the end of a pandemic with a fledgling business you simply love running.

This is a sponsored feature