Top Radical Business Ideas to Kick Start Amidst COVID-19 Crisis

“Necessity is the mother of all inventions”, goes the old saying and life post-COVID-19 pandemic will see the advent of various online businesses.

We have seen many financial recessions in the current and past centuries; however, few budding entrepreneurs took the tide on their side and emerged as great businessmen during those crises. HP was started soon after the recession of 1937-38, Fed-Ex overcame the challenges of promoting a new and unheard concept of that time and became the pioneers of courier services right after the recession of 1969-70, whereas Hyatt was launched during the recession of 1958 when travel was at its lowest due to tough economic times. These and many other companies across the globe are inspiring examples of entrepreneurship that started during acute crisis.

Similarly, COVID crisis appears to be staying for long and has also transformed the way we live our life, our habits, our thinking and so on. Hence, if you too have a business plan and are waiting for COVID to end or fear to take the step at all then you are simply wasting your time because online is today’s way and is going to be the future too.

The emergence of online businesses amidst pandemics

The current pandemic has also triggered a global recession but one cannot forget that while China was fighting the SARS Pandemic of 2002-04. Ali Baba group which was a small eCommerce store at that time emerged as the biggest retailer in Asia. Its growth was accelerated by the fear of human contact, quite similar to the situation we are facing today.

The world is expecting to see technology replacing the physical movement of people in the upcoming months or maybe years until the spread of the virus is contained fully. Therefore, companies that choose to capitalize on the inevitable changes post lockdown will be the ones climbing the ladder of success. Taking a shift from brick and mortar business system to online business will be the key factor of staying relevant in these changing times.

Why shift to the online business model?

A lot of IT and non-IT companies have started giving work from home guidelines to employees as they do not want to take risks with their lives. Many fun activities like playing board games and even visiting a bar have been developed as apps to minimize boredom in this isolation period. Shopping online for everything under the sun has also risen in the past decade. All these apps have been well received by people, especially the millennial. A reasonably good section of the older population also has started using social media and shopping apps. This trend will catch pace in the post lockdown phase as people prefer to stay at home as much as possible.

With most of the businesses trying to reach their customers amid this challenging situation, new ways of functioning will start. It may be possible that we see online appointments being made for almost every service so that crowding can be avoided or services being delivered at the customer’s homes itself. Either way, technology will play an integral role in the future of business. So, we have made a list of top business ideas that are most likely to catch up in the online market post lockdown phase.

Online grocery shopping app– Groceries is a part of our daily essentials. Most of us buy our groceries from super and hypermarkets which have the maximum number of people at any given point of time. It is where you are likely to get in touch with a lot of people, which is why; people are showing more interest in getting home delivery of groceries, veggies, dairy products and all other daily usage items.

With a supermarket app, you can turn out to be a life-saviour by providing them with features like doorstep contactless deliveries of groceries, digital payments etc. Therefore, grocery shopping app development for supermarket or even single shop owners is one and top-most business that you may see a boost very soon.

Recommended Blog: COVID-19 Effects: Time to Switch to Grocery eCommerce from Offline Grocery Business?

Online pharmacy app– With a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food choices, health problems have increased amongst the people. Medicines, therefore, have become a necessity for all age groups, not just elderly people. If access to medicines is not made available to people on time, it could be life-threatening for many. Therefore, if you are a medical shop owner, online pharmacy app development can make you have a wider reach of customers. You will be able to deliver medicines and other essentials to your customers right at their doorstep or even take orders online so that they don’t have to stand for a long time with other customers in front of your shop.

Online automotive ecommerce solution- This is a great option adopted by the automotive industry for its customers. Features like finding parts of the vehicle, VIN search, wholesale order tracking and garage management have now become online services which can be accessed by customers without coming physically to the shop. A robust online automotive ecommerce solution will be the thing customers will be looking forward to and which can bring in more benefits for all as well.

On-demand professionals– Be it doctors, nurses, plumbers, electricians or even salon experts- getting their services at your home will be a common thing in the future to avoid unnecessary human contact. A common app can be built to book any of these professionals or for a particular industry like a beauty salon mobile app solution to provide the professional service safely at home.

Online food delivery– With restaurants being one of the hardest-hit sectors by the coronavirus pandemic, shifting to online food delivery will be the wisest way to sustain and gradually progress too. Even after upliftment of the lockdown, places, where major crowds gather like restaurants, will take time to start functioning fully. People might be not coming to your restaurant but they are definitely craving for that unique and favourite dish of your eatery. So why not start delivering your dishes to their homes by developing an on-demand food delivery app and satisfy their taste buds?

Wrapping up 

We all know how badly this global pandemic has taken a toll on our lives but, this doesn’t mean things won’t change and you have to give up on all hope. Getting an online business developed can be done easily while you are at home and hence; you make use of this time to prepare for the future. So, whether you are running a business already or have plans to invest for better tomorrow, the above-mentioned business ideas can work great for you in the future whose development you can leave at the hands of the experts like Mobicommerce.

Dipika Jadwani

Dipika is a skilled marketer who manages marketing communications at MobiCommerce. From content and social media to branding and PR, Dipika overlooks all aspects of digital marketing meticulously at MobiCommerce. She collaborates extensively with the sales and operations teams to bring more business and build a loyal customer base.