The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immense toll on businesses worldwide. Mobility has been restricted, turning the travel sector into a virtually inert industry. Production of cultural products has been severely decreased, such as movies that lack safe venues for screening and therefore have to go straight to videos-on-demand if they’re lucky enough to get produced in the first place. Countless restaurants have to close because customers willing to dine in and risk contracting the virus are for good reasons too few and far between.
The effects of COVID-19 spared no industry. This has led to the global economy shrinking at historic lows. According to the World Bank, in 2020, the global GDP will see a 5.2 percent contraction. That number is staggering and will reverberate in all aspects of modern living for years to come.
Still, there’s nothing wrong with looking for silver linings. There are dozens of COVID-19 vaccines in development, and soon they will be ready for distribution worldwide. Once the majority of the world population has been vaccinated, things will slowly go back to the old normal. And the global economy will begin to heal itself.
If you wish to take part in the rebuilding of the economy, here are business ideas you may pursue post-pandemic.
1. Insurance provider
The travel industry alone has heightened its requirement for travelers to acquire some kind of insurance before they are allowed to travel, and will continue to do so. That is regardless of the purpose of travel, whether for business or leisure.
This is the best time to study the insurance industry, which according to Statista was worth $5.3 trillion in 2018, before the pandemic. This value will inevitably increase in the following years, meaning there’s a bigger pie to partake in. There might be a piece in there for you.
There is a wide array of products sold within the insurance umbrella. The most alluded to right now, because of the pandemic, is health insurance. On top of that, you can also sell accident insurance, liability insurance, and life insurance, among others. To ensure that your business prospers, you must enlist the service of top-notch insurance brokers.
2. Box subscriptions
Box subscriptions refer to those services offering prepared boxes of specific products delivered straight to the subscriber’s home or any registered address. This type of business was already gaining steam before COVID-19 forced everyone to stay indoors and restricted their ability to shop for themselves.
The usual products offered include healthy meals prepared specifically with the subscriber’s dietary requirements. There are also boxes of cosmetics and beauty products expertly curated by beauty experts. To join this business venture, you must have an interesting product proposition. Keep in mind that you’re competing for a still limited, albeit loyal and paying market.
3. Errand services
Again, this is closely linked to people’s limited mobility due to the pandemic. Even after a vaccine has been widely distributed, and it’s once again safe to go out even without masks on, chances are, some aspects of pandemic culture will increasingly factor into the new normal. That includes people favoring outsourcing tasks, such as running errands.
That is where this business proposition comes in. You can build an app-based startup that will charge subscribers for services ranging from walking their dogs to grocery shopping.
You can even zero in your services to a specific consumer market, for example, the elderly. You can visit the pharmacy on their behalf, among other services.
4. Online marketing firm
If there’s one industry that grew amid the pandemic, it’s e-commerce. The more people stayed at home, and the longer they stayed at home, the better for e-commerce. That is where an online marketing firm comes in.
Businesses need to stand out online. And the competition’s quite stiff. So they need an online marketing firm to design a foolproof marketing strategy for them. Here you need to enlist the help of SEO consultants, social media experts, graphic artists, writers, and the like. A pool of creative employees will be your bread and butter. With a winning team, you can steadily gain loyal clients that’ll pay heftily for your services.
The usual production of vaccines takes at least ten years. However, joint efforts from various government bodies and the private sector seek to expedite the process. For instance, the World Health Organization’s goal is to distribute two billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine before the end of 2021.
As part of the business sector, you must actively support these efforts. In the end, you will reap the benefits of a once-again COVID-free world.
