Even though the pandemic has ended, its long-lasting impact has brought a change in people’s lifestyle.
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected everything from businesses to people's buying habits. It also caused harm to some people, leaving them jobless because their companies were trying to cut costs by firing employees. To cope with boredom or unemployment, numerous people started small scale businesses.
Starting a small scale business can be challenging. It requires tons of effort and patience. However, small scale businesses don't need massive capital, which is a plus point for anyone wanting to start a small scale business but doesn't have a considerable investment.
Below we've discussed how to start a small scale business, its types, and some new small scale business ideas to start post-pandemic.
What is Small Scale Business?
Like other companies, small scale businesses make money by selling their products or services to their target audience. The difference is between the investment and employees. Small scale businesses require low investment and fewer employees. Moreover, they don't generate massive income but enough for a person to pay bills and take care of their family.
Types of Small Scale Businesses
Image taken from Strikingly
This pandemic has given rise to numerous types of small scale businesses. We've listed a few of those kinds below to see which category your business idea belongs to.
1. Online Business
Since people were stuck at home because of the lockdown, online businesses have risen dramatically. Not just that, existing businesses prioritized their online presence seeing how viral this type of business went. Online business is further divided into two types:
- Freelancing
Freelancing refers to selling your services, such as graphic designing, content writing, website development, video editing, etc., to clients online. Unlike regular employees, a freelancer is paid per project or hour, depending on the agreement between them and the client. Freelancers have the privilege of choosing their working hours.
If you want to start your freelancing career, there are numerous platforms you can begin with. Some of the most popular freelancing platforms are:
a. Fiverr
b. Upwork
c. Freelancer
d. Guru
e. PeoplePerHour
f. Truelancer
g. Toptal
You can also explore social media platforms for freelance projects. You will find freelance job groups for various categories.
- DIY Business
DIY business refers to manufacturing your products at home and selling them online. The options are endless when it comes to DIY business ideas. You can manufacture sweet treats such as brownies or cupcakes if you're into baking, jewelry if the concept of creating necklaces, earrings, etc., fascinates you, or you can also go toward bath supplies such as scented soaps, bath bombs, etc.
You can sell your products online through social media platforms and online stores. While getting an online store website seems expensive, we've devised a cost-effective alternative.
Hiring a web developer doesn't only require a lot of money but also takes months to publish your website. But you can skip this and build your e-commerce store yourself. But how is that possible when you don't know how to code? With website builders. Website-building tools enable you to create a website without programming, which too way quicker than coding a site.
What website builder should you go for to create your online store? Strikingly. It is a beginner-friendly website builder that lets you make gorgeous, responsive websites hassle-free. Strikingly offers more than 200 free website templates for each kind of site (blog, store, portfolio, etc.). You must edit your chosen template in the intuitive site editor using the drag-and-drop feature, and your website will be ready to be published.
Image taken from Strikingly’s user’s website
Strikingly's Simple Store feature makes selling your DIY products easier than ever. You can add the online store as a section and sell more than 500 products.
Here is a list of features Strikingly's Simple Store offers:
- Product filter and categorization.
- Custom checkout forms.
- Coupons for returning customers.
- Ability to display product reviews.
- Multiple payment options for receiving money from buyers.
- Ability to sell digital products.
- Store analytics to see how your products are doing and what are the most minor and most popular products.
2. Home Service
As the name suggests, a home service business refers to providing your services to people in their homes. It covers various services, from home improvements, cleaning, tutoring, and pet/babysitting.
3. Retail Business
One of the most popular small scale businesses is the retail business. It's pretty simple and requires less effort and time than manufacturing. You purchase products from wholesalers and sell them in your store as a retail business owner.
For your retail business, you only have to find a supplier who will supply you with the goods to sell, packaged accordingly. To sell your products online, you must partner with a courier service or hire riders to deliver packages.
Tips to Get Started with Your Small Scale Business
Regardless of the size, every business requires you to implement strategies to make it a success. Here, we've discussed ten tips you can implement to make your small scale business successful.
1. Come up with an Idea
Profitable businesses are based on great ideas. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is to come up with an idea. To develop a business idea, research the market and look for trends, gaps in the existing products, and your skills and interests.
2. Research Your Target Market
Once you've thought of an idea, it's time to research your target market. It will help you make crucial decisions, such as what features your products should include, what marketing strategies will result in increased sales, and how your brand elements should appear.
3. Digitize as Much as Possible
Digitizing parts of your business can reduce your workload and fulfill your need for human workers. A great example of digitization is a CRM tool. It lets you store customers' contact details, manage marketing campaigns, and more, all from one place.
Another example is using accounting software to automate your daily financial records.
4. Protect Your Ideas and Designs
When selling your unique products and services in the market, competitors risk copying your designs. This will drive your customers to your competitors and affect your brand's reputation. You can protect your unique products and design by getting them trademarked or patented.
5. Launch Your Business on Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms do an exceptional job of getting business people's attention. You can run social media ads, engage with your potential customer through comments and messages, and create valuable content for your target audience. This builds a positive image of your brand, making it credible in people's eyes.
6. Get a Website
Image taken from Strikingly’s user’s website
Social media platforms are crucial for a healthy online presence, but they're not enough. People tend to trust brands with a website easily because creating a site requires time and money, which tells your audience about your authenticity. You can sell your products on your website, update people about the latest addition to your product list, and tell your target audience about your upcoming sales or events.
7. Study Analytics
Website, social media, and marketing analytics provide you with essential information that helps you improve your products/services and marketing strategies. They also tell you about your customers' preferences that can help you manufacture your products accordingly. When you care about your customer's preferences, it gives them a sense of value, expanding your consumer base.
8. Make Customer Support Your Priority
Excellent customer support is essential to create a great customer experience. If your products are outstanding but don't respond to your users promptly, you may lose your customers in the future. People don't want to shop from a business where they don't feel valued.
9. Go Omnichannel
Image taken from Strikingly’s Pinterest Page
Omnichannel is a marketing strategy where brands launch their business on as many social media platforms as possible. Omnichannel marketing is about creating a good customer experience by reaching out to potential buyers on a platform that is accessible to them.
10. Create a Business Plan
Even small scale businesses require plans to stay organized. Your business plan will contain all the information about your business, from the budget and structure to your legal documents. You can find numerous business plan formats on the internet, to begin with.
Small Scale Business Ideas for Post-Pandemic
We've compiled a list of small scale business ideas considering the changes brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Cloud Kitchen
A cloud kitchen refers to a food business with no space for sitting. It's only a kitchen where the food is prepared and delivered to the buyer's house. Because of the lockdown, ordering food at home has become popular. Cloud kitchens require less investment cost than a dine-in restaurant.
- Tutoring Business
One of the best small scale business ideas is a tutoring business because anyone can start it. If you're a High school graduate, you can teach high school kids because you would've studied everything they're learning now. The tutoring business doesn't require investment. You're getting paid for the knowledge you gained over the years of studying.
- Launch Your Book
If you love writing, it's time to convert your passion into a career. There are two ways to become a published author, one is by getting your book published traditionally, and the other is going for indie publishing.
Indie publishing is now made hassle-free and cost-effective Amazon KDP, where you don't have to spend money upfront for your book to be printed. Amazon will publish your book for you and take a commission from the sales you make.
Establishing a small business may require little capital, but it requires time and effort. But once your business thrives, you will see that it was worth the effort.
