Whether you’re an individual or a small business owner, you can do your part to prepare for and mitigate the effects of a pandemic by planning and getting ahead of potential problems. But what if you’re not ready to do that yet? What if the very moment you start to panic and wonder if you’ll have enough time to prepare? You don’t have time to think. You have to act. That’s why you need to get started with your business plan or other preparations as soon as possible. You need to do better.

You see, the pandemic could happen very soon and if it does, it will be a disaster that will take a lot of lives and businesses. It will affect us all, no matter where we live, work and go to school. The pandemic will affect everyone, regardless of age, occupation, or education level. It will affect everyone who owns a business and a home as well. So, how do you start a business during a pandemic? What if you’re the sole proprietor and you don’t have anyone to help you?

Well, fear not, for there is help for business owners who want to get started sooner. There is a lot you can do to

Change your business plan

While it’s important to write your business plan as if you’re starting a business now, you don’t have to do that exactly. You can adjust your plan as your business grows, enables you to handle more clients, provides more revenue, and takes you further down the road to financial success.

For example, if you’re initially going to be taking on only a few small clients at a time, you don’t have to plan out every aspect of your business plan by the yardstick. Instead, you can keep it simple and focus on just one or two key elements. As your business grows, you can add more details to make your business plan more specific and realistic.

Set up a meeting with your bank

When it comes to starting a business during the pandemic, you’ll likely be dealing with banks. Many banks have been offering assistance to small and medium-sized businesses for some time now, so you’ll likely be able to get a meeting with a banker or two and get some assistance with your plans. This could be a great way to get your feet wet with banks and get a feel for their level of assistance and helpfulness. Once you get some experience under your belt, you can try again with a different bank if you need help with your next venture. There are a lot of ways to go about this.

Use your e-mail list

Another way to get your feet wet with banks and get some experience is by marketing to your e-mail list. You can either build your list through social media or the content you create for your e-mail list. The key here is to be consistent.

Set up business cards

Think of all the ways you can set yourself apart from the competition. Business cards are an important part of that. You don’t have to go overboard with the cards just yet. Cards are a great way to get your name out to the right people and let them know who you are. If you want to start an e-commerce business, you can market more directly on your cards. If you own a food business, you can market directly through your cards. You can even sell travel cards if you’re interested in visiting different parts of the country or the world.

Offer a free webinar or class

Another way to get your feet wet is to offer a free webinar or class. You can do that for several topics. You can offer to teach a class on a certain topic or give a webinar on a specific topic related to your business. Once again, be consistent with how you promote the class or webinar. You don’t want to promote it once and for all and then decide you don’t want to do another one.

Offer to sell products or services

Another way to get your feet wet when it comes to starting a business during the pandemic is by offering to sell products or services. This could be a great way to try out several different products before deciding which ones you want to keep. You can offer free samples, paid offers, or a combination of both. The key here is to be consistent with how you market the products. You don’t want to promote a product once and then decide you don’t want to do another one. You have to follow that same consistent strategy with your other marketing efforts.

Offer to help out around the house

When you get started with your business plan or other preparations, you’ll likely want to start thinking about ways to help out around the house. This could be anything from setting up a little business on the side to handling household chores. The key here is to be consistent with how you offer to help out around the house. You don’t want to start small and then decide you don’t want to do anymore. You have to start with something as simple as dusting for leaves and then work your way up to more challenging tasks.

Conclusion

The pandemic will weaken as the year progresses and by the end of the year, it will be done. If you’re like most people, you’re going to have to start thinking about starting a business during this time. You don’t have to do it all at once, but it’s helpful to get some ground moving, so to speak, before the storm. You can do that by changing your business plan, getting on the right track with your bank, and meeting with your local banks to discuss your finances and plans for the future.