The COVID-19-induced financial crisis took its toll on almost all business ventures. With customers barely walking in, for fear of the pandemic, many were forced to shut down. However, a few managed to survive and keep their businesses afloat by launching themselves online or refreshing the accounts they had before the pandemic hit.
Shaima, who runs a fancy shop at Koyilandy, suddenly shifted her focus to the online shop that she had started a year ago and succeeded in making both ends meet during the crisis. “Time was the only investment I needed; time that I would have otherwise wasted watching TV or browsing the Internet,” Ms. Shaima said.
Prompt delivery
She had joined an online retailer group a year ago and cultivated it through her own circle of acquaintances. What was at first just a side business turned into her major source of income once the lockdown began. “It was the people’s fear about going out that helped us expand our business. They could order stuff online and we would deliver at their doorstep. Prompt delivery and quality products was an added advantage,” Ms. Shaima said.
Her online group that started with 50 people now have over 90 members. “People who order once bring in their friends and acquaintances,” she said, adding that her small business of mainly clothes grew manifold during the pandemic era.
There are many entrepreneurs who made some quick bucks just by improving their activities on social media. Riswana and Jiji banked on their creative talent rather than entrepreneurial skills to survive the crisis.
Riswana is a jewellery maker/crafter who made the best use of the extra time she got during the lockdown to launch a social media page featuring handmade jewellery that clicked instantly. She claimed it was mainly owing to the quality content and affordable prices. “My clients are mostly local people, but I had some orders from faraway places, especially during the Id,” she said.
Jiji made dreamcatchers and sold it to her friends and classmates even as an undergraduate student. Now with the colleges closed, she had more time to dedicate to her social media page, which garnered more popularity. “My only problem was that I could not get enough supplies owing to the lockdown and since the imports from China stopped. But I could manage to keep my customers happy with what I had stocked up earlier,” Ms. Jiji said, adding how right pricing and prompt delivery were key to successful online businesses.