It would be easy to assume that the world being in lockdown would be the worst time to launch a business, and you would be correct for many industries. That said, it certainly isn’t a blanket rule across the board for every sector. In fact, many people leaped faith and started a business during the pandemic. We know that starting a new business is always a tough decision to make and that many companies will fail in their first year; so choosing to create one during one of the most challenging times for our economy could be seen as a mistake; but here are some industries where it worked out.
Food and Drink
Much of the hospitality industry was closed for long periods, and there is no doubt this period was really tough for many of them. However, food and drink companies that were able to adapt (or launch new sides to their business) did exceptionally well during the lockdown period throughout the UK. With people being told to stay at home, consumers were looking for new ways to be entertained and eat excellent food. This means that those businesses that could offer reliable food delivery services could help fill the gap in the market that was created when people could no longer go out for dinner.
It isn’t just food delivery services that did well during this time – we saw an increase in popularity for bake-at-home kits, bespoke baked items, and unusual flavours of sweets, etc. People wanted something different, and those who weren’t baking their own banana bread still wanted to taste something nice to remind them of the outside world they were missing.
Technology
Technology is an industry that has been thriving for a number of years, but lockdown certainly helped. With people forced to work from home, it was more important than ever that they had access to reliable and adaptable technology. This is evident in just how popular Zoom became during the months that we were locked down.
Any company that could offer technology-based products did well during this time, as people looked for ways to improve the technology they had at home. Even fun products like ways to video call with friends, send e-messages to people, and generally have fun online were all ones that consumers snapped up during this time.
Online Entertainment
With the option to go out and socialise with friends taken away, people turned to the internet for ways to be entertained. Some of this surrounded the technology offerings that businesses offered – for example, video calling with friends, pub quizzes they could do together, etc., but some of it was online gaming and ways to be entertained on their own. The gambling industry saw record numbers of new punters and revenue created during 2020 as people turned to the internet to find ways to be entertained and have fun.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate marketing has been a way for people to make money for several years, but during the lockdown, this increased for many people. As the number of hours people were spending each day online rose, so did the opportunity for people to make money from this traffic. We know that platforms such as TikTok saw a rise in the number of big-name influencers that started to use their platform, and with that came the opportunity for them to make money – especially with the launch of the TikTok Creator fund. One way that these newly found social media influencers made money was via affiliate links. Online affiliate links can take all shapes and forms across a range of industries.
One prominent example from iGaming is TopRatedCasinos – we already know that the gambling and casino industry saw increased amounts of traffic, so using affiliate links during this time just made sense. Social media influencers can also use affiliate links to promote fashion products, travel, and any range of related products that they feel their readers/viewers will relate to and potential purchase.
Starting a New Business During the Global Pandemic
For those who decided to launch a new business during a global pandemic or even change what their company offers, it was essential to be able to adapt and keep up with changes. During the throes of the worldwide pandemic, the UK saw various stages of lockdown restrictions which affected how businesses could operate from one week to the next. As such, any company that wanted to be successful during this time needed to be able to keep up – and that is especially true for new businesses that had not yet generated a loyal customer base.
Those that were most successful tended to be the ones that embraced technology – for example, taking to creating Instagram stories to reach new businesses or launching an app that made ordering from them as easy as possible. People were making use of online services more than ever during these times, and as such, whether you were promoting affiliate links, launching a food delivery service, or starting a new online casino, it was important you made your brand as visible as possible via the technology available to you.
Was It Successful?
Although it is hard to see exact stats as it is very early days when the UK began to come out of lockdown at the start of 2021, it was widely predicted that a record number of businesses would be starting up – great news when you consider that around 396,000 businesses closed during 2020.
We know that there was a shift for business during this time, and there is no denying that for many industries, times were tough and continue to be even to this day. However, for those industries that were able to embrace technology and make the most of the opportunity, they were able to thrive even during the most difficult of times.
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