2020 has seen many of our career paths change drastically. At the start of the year, many of us were in stable nine to five jobs. We’d commute in the mornings and after work. We’d engage with colleagues on a face to face basis. We’d have a set routine that we stuck to most days. But the coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has changed all sorts of things. Right now, many of us have found ourselves out of work. Whether that’s because the company we worked for has gone under, we have been made redundant, or we simply realised that we wanted a change of career path when we had more time to think during lockdown. If you’ve found yourself in this situation, and you’ve decided to become your own boss by setting up your own business, you need to know the basics to get your business up and off the ground. Here are a few areas of focus that should really help you along the way.
Settle on a Business Concept
If you’re going to have a business, you’re going to have to have something to sell. Take your time when coming up with a product or service. You need to have a good idea and you need to make sure that it will sell. It’s a good idea to carry out plenty of market research and product testing to make sure you’re onto something good before investing!
Focus on E-Commerce
For the current pandemic, at least, you need to focus on operating online. Brick and mortar stores are too risky right now. You never know whether your local area might be put back into lockdown, meaning you’d be forking out commercial rent without being able to let people through your doors. E-commerce is the way forward. However, this means focusing on the following areas:
- Setting up a website – if you’re going to operate online, you need a website. Make sure to work with a professional web designer and web developer to make sure that your site looks great and works properly. You may also want to work with a UX designer who will ensure people on your page have a great user experience.
- SEO campaigns – there’s no point having a great website if nobody ever makes their way onto it. Featuring highly in search engine results can pass more traffic through your page, meaning you can make more sales. Use a professional SEO Service to achieve this!
Protect Your Ideas
Once you’re all set up and selling, it’s a good idea to make sure that you protect your ideas. This will involve copyrighting, trademarking, or even patenting. Doing this will ensure that others can’t steal your ideas and profit from them. If someone does, you can send out a cease and desist, and then pursue legal action.
Sure, there will be other elements of setting your business up that you’ll find yourself focusing on. But some of the areas outlined above will make sure you get off to a good start!
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