Healthcare workers and caregivers are essential critical infrastructure workers during the pandemic. Nursing homes and assisted living centers continue to operate, although closed to visitors.
When gyms closed temporarily to stop the spread of Covid-19, people turned to online fitness trainers and videos.
As e-commerce soared, people went online even for grocery shopping. Many consumers shopped for products related to their specific health and wellness needs. For instance, they searched for products that are organic, non-GMO, cruelty-free, or sustainably grown. Those with certain illnesses sought products that are heart-healthy, low-sugar, or low-carb. Those who were on special diets looked for keto, paleo, or vegan products. Those with allergies needed products that are gluten-free, lactose-free, or peanut-free.
These are important things to know if you are thinking of starting a business in 2021. It is not a bad idea to become an entrepreneur now. According to an article from Bloomberg, applications for business start-ups in the last half of 2020 exceeded that of 2019 by 25 percent. Forbes also encourages entrepreneurs to start a business in 2021.
Assisted Living and Home Care
No one can stop people from aging and getting sick. There will always be a need for senior homes or assisted living centers or home care services.
A good senior healthcare franchise opportunity can be very lucrative. It will give you a sense of fulfillment in helping the elderly residents and their families. The advantage of a franchise is that you receive a proven business model and the necessary training for yourself and your staff. You will not be starting from scratch.
If you do not have enough capital for a franchise, you can do something by yourself. You can enroll in a caregiver course and then set up a small business that offers home care services to clients in their homes. Some of the elderly who still live at home only need a few hours of help each day.
As a health aide, you will help in personal tasks such as bathing, dressing, meal preparation, and giving medication reminders. Sometimes family members who act as primary caregivers just need someone to take over for a few hours each day so that they can attend to other things. You can divide your workday among several clients.
Online Health and Wellness
Most of those who applied to start new businesses are setting up online businesses. This is because apart from nursing homes, many brick-and-mortar businesses did not survive the pandemic.
One of the easiest ways to sell online is through drop shipping because you do not need to have the capital to buy the products in advance or rent a warehouse for storage. You only need to have an arrangement with your suppliers. Your main job is to market the products online and once you have a sale, you forward this and the payment to the supplier. The supplier takes care of shipping the product to the customer.
To tap the popularity of health and wellness products you can set up an online grocery store specializing in goods that are organic, non-GMO, cruelty-free, and sustainably grown. You must do the proper product descriptions and classifications so that consumers can easily search for the specific product types they need based on their health condition or preferences.
You can have a section selling all-natural supplements that people are looking for to strengthen their immune system against Covid-19.
You can expand your store to include a separate page selling home fitness equipment and tutorials. An article from the US Chamber of Commerce stated that even after the pandemic, people will more likely base much of their fitness activity on online resources and will do their workouts at home. They are therefore likely to invest in home gym equipment.
You can link up with content providers and sell tutorials for various types of aerobic and muscle-strengthening workouts. You can also sell tutorials for mind-and-body fitness, such as yoga, Pilates, and tai chi.
You can sell yoga mats, foam rollers, jump ropes, hula hoops, and resistance bands. You can offer different types of weights, weight benches, treadmills, exercise bikes, elliptical machines, and rowers. Make sure you also cater to those with small living spaces by having items that fold away.
Another section of your online store can sell workout wear for men and women. These days, with people staying home most of the time, these also double as daily wear. Your online store can be a regular go-to of your customers for all their health and wellness needs.
Minimal Investment, Maximum Gains
To set up your online store your capital investment will only be for setting up a website that works as a fully functional store. It must be attractive and user-friendly, with easy searchability. Hire information technology (IT) professionals to set up and maintain the website for you, based on your budget. Since this is the core of your business, get the best website you can afford.
Your next investment will be your own time and effort in marketing your store on social media. You must engage with your target market with regular, informative, and attractive posts that showcase your products. Make sure you reply immediately to queries. Link your social media pages to your website so that a visitor can seamlessly go and buy the product you are showcasing.
With a minimal capital investment and your full commitment of time and effort, your new online health and wellness business will bring in maximum gains.
