The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on people’s lives, and not all of it has been negative. It has forced us to get creative with how we spend our time, given that some activities like travel or going to the movies simply aren’t possible at the moment. If you’ve managed to use your time during the lockdown to learn a new skill or to sharpen an old one, then you might be sitting on a potential goldmine.
Turn your newfound skills into your next big moneymaker with the following tips, and make the time you’ve been spending indoors worth something.
Start with Yourself
As with most endeavors, starting a business takes a great deal of commitment, so if you have any doubts about whether or not you want to take your newly acquired skill in baking or pottery and turn it into a business venture, then maybe you should find some other way to generate additional income. Give some thought as to why you do what you’re doing; if it’s a form or stress release from work and you turn it into what’s effectively another job, how will you cope with stress then?
Taking an activity from a hobby to a profession is a big step and shouldn’t be undertaken lightly. Consult with friends and family who have experience doing this to get an idea of what’s involved before converting your pastime into a side hustle.
Have a Business Plan
If you’ve decided that turning your hobby into a business is the way to go, then the next thing you need to do is to set the course of your new business with a business plan. There are resources all throughout the internet that will help you prepare your business plan, with premade forms and templates that you can just fill in with the pertinent information. However because there are so many of them, choosing the right one for you and your business could be confusing.
To give you some ideas on where to start, your business plan tool should at least help you answer the following questions:
- What am I selling?
- How much am I charging for it?
- Who is my competition?
- Who is my ideal customer?
- How am I selling my product?
- How do I tell my ideal customer about my product?
- What equipment do I need to make my product? How much does this equipment cost?
- For how long do I intend to do this?
The answers to these questions will help you formulate your strategy for success, and will set your expectations as well. For example, if you know your competition’s product is overpriced, you can undercut them by offering a product of similar quality at a lower price. In general, this plan should enable you to identify possible advantages that you and your business can leverage.
Also, bear in mind that the above questions also apply to services as well as material or digital goods. If you have a marketable skill such as illustration, copywriting, or graphic design, the above list of questions will help you determine how you can turn your skills into a career.
Prepare an Operations Plan
This is another standard business strategy document with many templates you can pick from on the internet, but in general, this document will help you determine how your business will work. It should help you decide on operational details like your hours of operation, hours of business, delivery dates and times, delivery methods, and so on and so forth.
One particular aspect of operating your business that’s often overlooked is billing; specifically, how will you charge for your product or service, and how do you expect to be paid? Maya’s Digital Invoice is a service that makes billing a snap, even if you don’t have a website. As the leading payment gateway in the Philippines, Maya offers this convenient invoicing option that links to almost any messaging app, removing much of the friction associated with billing.
If you do decide to build a website and sell your products that way, then Maya’s Checkout Plugin will definitely help make transactions easier. Best of all, it works with all of the most widely used ecommerce platforms so compatibility shouldn’t be an issue.
You Can Try Mobile-Driven Strategies for Doing Business
Yet another opportunity for you to grow your business lies in using mobile technologies to increase your business presence. Many Filipino customers now transact with businesses using their mobile devices, as opposed to their computers or laptops. If you can adapt your business to be reachable to them via mobile technologies, you’ll be able to grow out of your current situation.
The extent of your strategy to become more mobile-driven depends on the infrastructure that you have. You can consider developing and launching your own app if you have the resources. If you don’t, you can find out how to get listed on a third-party app, for example for food delivery or same-day shopping. Find a platform that allows your business to be more accessible through mobile, and your profits may be all the better for it.
Revisit Your Plans Regularly
So let’s say you’ve started your business and have begun operating. Congratulations! You’re now officially an e-entrepreneur.
To make sure your business is meeting its goals and performing the way you want it to, you should definitely compare its performance against your business and operations plans on a regular basis. Has a new competitor entered your market? You’ll have to account for that, maybe with new pricing, a new product offering, or a change in how you advertise your products. Does it seem like customers buy on a particular day or at a certain time of day? Maybe you should move your hours of operation to accommodate this information.
Ultimately, you’ll be responsible for the success of your business, so being prepared will benefit you greatly. Consider some of the tips above to give your new enterprise the headstart it needs.
