Why Now Is The Right Time To Start A Business
Yes, in the turmoil of 2020.
We are living in strange times. Businesses are going bankrupt, restaurants are closed and everyone is confined to their own homes. But through these dark times, we have found a purpose to rise above and get together for our communities. We volunteer our time to sew masks, we send care packages to those more vulnerable and we help our neighbours with their groceries.
And so why do we do that? Is it for the prestige? For a brand? For the friends we make? I’d say it’s for a very simple fundamental reason. Each of us wants to be seen. We want to be part of something bigger than ourselves to feel value for the contributions we bring to our communities. It is a fundamental human need to want to be valued, and often we derive that value by being of service to others.
And so then what does this have to do with business? Business in the same light is radical empathy. Marketing guru Seth Godin is known for his work on business and marketing but if you really dive deep into his work he’s really teaching us how to be the best version of ourselves. Sales is often viewed as dirty or aggressive but when done right, it’s merely a story well told with empathy for our customer. And just like we bring value to our communities, starting a business is merely an exchange of money for serving value to your customer. It’s really not that different.
For those of you who are already in business, there are opportunities to accelerate your business even during the time of turmoil we find ourselves in. For those of you who are happy in your jobs, that is amazing. It is truly a gift to be in a place where you are happy but I hope there is something here for you to take away. And for many of you who have cushy corporate jobs, which are often too comfortable to leave but you want to start a business, I was exactly in your shoes.
Let me tell you my story. Six years ago I left my tech job without any other offer in hand. I was unhappy despite having a great job because I knew I was made for something better. I had this burning itch to do something but I didn’t know what. I was in Calgary at the time and through unplanned circumstances, I decided to resign and come back home to Toronto to pursue something new. There are far too many people who will tell you to quit your job and build the business of your dreams, I am not here to tell you that. I am actually going to say quite the opposite. Because I learned the hard way. Billion-dollar business ideas don’t pay bills.
Long story short, I was on my way to Montréal one Thanksgiving with my now-husband with a bunch of dry cleaning lying around in our trunk. And then it dawned on me — why the heck is it such a nuisance to have your garment care taken care of? We can get meals at home, a cab at home but what about laundry and dry cleaning? And this is what gave birth to Vaundry — a company I founded and ran for the last few years. We grew to several thousand customers and raised money to grow our team and offer our customers an experience they’d remember. And it all started with me picking up people’s dirty clothes from their doors and soliciting around buildings with flyers. Can you imagine what it felt like to leave a multi six-figure job and suddenly be doing this dirty work? Well, guess what? I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything because of how much I learned.
Here are three reasons why now is the right time to start a business.
#1: This is an opportunity for personal growth
Being an entrepreneur will bring you to the best version of yourself. Even if you don’t want to start a company, I’d encourage all of you to try building something from scratch — even a small at-home cookie business. Let me tell you why. We talked about empathy earlier in this article. There is nothing like learning empathy the hard way by doing the things yourself as most entrepreneurs often start. You’ll become way more empathetic. And that will serve you well in life. Empathetic people know how to sell without seeming like they are. Most of my family and friends tell me I have changed 180 since I started a business.
Think about it. How often as a consumer do you want things now and cheap. And with a promo code? I know how it feels to be a business owner making hardly any margin on early sales and having customers want everything dirt cheap. When you put yourself in their shoes you start to see the extreme value in each offer out there. Of course, there are exceptions but each and every day we exchange value by means of money to gain access to products and services. Being able to do the same thing yourselves will change the way you see the world around you in leaps and bounds. And in the current Covid world we can all learn to be a bit more empathetic.
#2: We have more problems than ever before
The pandemic sucks. Jobs are not stable. Economies are in shambles. But there is more abundance in one area than ever before. What do you ask? Problems. We have more problems than ever before to solve. And entrepreneurs are master problem solvers. So what you ask? This is a golden opportunity to bring new approaches to the way the world is run. Restaurants have to reinvent themselves with meal kits. Airbnb operators are focused on longer-term stays. Real estate is shifting towards suburban projects. There is an opportunity at every corner to reinvent the wheel.
The companies we often idolize be it Uber or Airbnb were born out of the last recession. If you can build up a happy clientele in a downturn you will only be able to get more clients in the good times. Recessions force you to be scrappy, entrepreneurs are scrappy and being able to be resourceful and succeed right now makes you more appetizing to any investor out there. The odds are actually stacked for you since fewer companies are starting at the moment because everyone is scared and wants to hold onto their job for dear life. As the world shifts and companies are forced to reinvent themselves for good no job is truly stable, having a side-hustle can bring you the confidence and a backup plan to thrive no matter what happens.
#3: Life is fragile so do what you really want
The pandemic has shown us what really matters. What life we really want. That ultimately we are all fragile and dependent on our own health, which we often take for granted. And it has made us realize that life is extremely unpredictable. Nobody would ever guess the most successful restaurants would go bust this year. Or that our favourite shops would move exclusively online.
The pandemic has expedited our age to the future tenfold than if we didn’t have this crisis. The world will never be the same again. Yes, we will travel. Yes, we will enjoy drinks at a bar. But so much will never look the same. And so this is your opportunity to step out of the normal rat race of life and take a stab at something new. So often we expect the life of our dreams when one day someone knocks on the door and asks us to go write a book or come on tv. Life doesn’t work like that.
I’d like to close with the story of the third door from a book I recently read of the same name.
Imagine you are in the line at a nightclub. There is the main line of people waiting to get in the normal way. Then there is the VIP line, where those privileged and rich people get to hop in through. And then? The third door? This is the path that nobody normally tries. The door at the back. The door where if you bang 1,000 times you might get in. This is the path most successful people take. And it often takes a tonne of tries and failures but when they get in, oh boy are they winning. Successful people don’t wait to take action. Because action yields clarity. No matter how much you think you’ll never find the fulfillment of doing your own business if you don’t just try something. You can do it with no money. And this is the beauty of the side-hustle.
Start to see your employer as an investor. Take the money you make to try experiments in the business you are trying to get off the ground. Take it slow. Entrepreneurship is a long journey. You can’t think yourself to be the person you want to be but you can take action and start. One step after another. If you can create something means you’ll have learned to swing through the ups and downs of life with such ease. And sometimes it doesn’t work out.
I built a second business earlier this year with the wrong people and I took a step back and started on a journey to educate others who hope to leave their job on how to make that transition. If you want a sidekick for your side-hustle I’d be happy to help you even if you don’t know what that might be! You can make money from the skills you already have but don’t often recognize. We are often too close to our zone of genius.
Now is the time to start. Remember even a big business once started small.
