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2020 Visions: Creating and Launching Small Businesses Amid the Pandemic

Andrew December 22, 2020
20,213 Comments

For Ian Oestreich, 2020 has been quite the ride. The 26-year-old in Madison, WI, was laid off from his fitness-training job in March. A month later, he put his side-hustle skills of fixing bicycles—and $1,000 of his own money—into a business that now earns him more than personal training ever did. Backyard Bicycles, the mobile bike-repair shop that Oestreich started, is an example of the millions of small businesses that launched this year, even as storefronts shuttered across the country.

“It’s honestly kind of unfathomable,” Oestreich told The Wall Street Journal. “It feels like I built a rocket and lit it—and now I’m just holding on to the tail and waiting for it to fizzle out at the end of the season.” So far, with the help of virtual marketing, he’s rolling. In fact, when the gym called this summer to offer him his old job back, he declined.

The pandemic has no doubt been hard on many small companies. And yet Americans are actually starting businesses at the fastest clip in more than a decade, according to The U.S. Census Bureau. More than 1.5 million business applications were submitted in the third quarter of 2020. That’s an 82% increase compared to Q3 2019 and a 77% increase from the previous quarter.

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The uptick in applications points to the surprising fact that even as Covid-19 cases reach 18 million in the U.S. and 77 million worldwide, and even as the U.S. unemployment rate sits at 6.7%, “2020 vision” might as well be a reference to small business ideas transforming into small business ventures this year.

Small businesses are vital to the U.S. economy, creating two-thirds of net new jobs and accounting for 44% of economic activity, according to a January 2019 Small Business Administration Report. “This useful benchmark shows us that small businesses continue to be big contributors to the U.S. economy,” Acting Chief Counsel for Advocacy Major L. Clark said in the report.

However, the report also indicates that small businesses’ overall share of the U.S. economy has declined in recent years. This trend comes as a handful of tech companies control more and more American wealth. An August New York Timesarticle reported that five companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft—accounted for 20% of the stock market’s total value. What’s more, as these companies’ stock prices rose 37% in the first seven months of 2020, the rest of the S&P 500 fell a combined 6%.

“There are really two Americas right now,” Scott Galloway, a marketing professor at the New York University Stern School of Business and author of “The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google” told The Washington Post. “There is Big Tech and there is everyone else. They can do what very few companies can do, which is play offense in the middle of a pandemic.”

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Fortunately, the obvious inequity has yielded bipartisan support for small businesses. In separate releases announcing economic relief packages, California Governor Gavin Newsom said, “California’s small businesses embody the best of the California Dream, and we can’t let this pandemic take that away,” and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem said, “These folks are the lifeblood of our communities and economy, and it’s our turn to give back to them.”

So, while there is reason to fret about the current state of the economy, there is also reason to see opportunity. Oestreich, the bike mechanic in Wisconsin, is a great example. So too is Nic Bryon in Tampa Bay, Fl. When Bryon, a chef, lost his restaurant job due to the pandemic, he decided to start Pasta Packs, a meal-kit delivery service, The Wall Street Journal reported.

This kind of creative thinking and re-framing is exactly the kind of innovative business that can arise from a world-changing event like a pandemic. In fact, box subscription services such as Pasta Packs are on the list of business types that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expects to thrive during and after the pandemic. Commercial cleaning, errand services, cybersecurity consulting, telehealth and virtual personal training also make that list. Digital marketing, graphic design, app development and accounting services are other industries expected to soar in 2021.

Joyre Montgomery started her online therapy business this spring, and now, “It’s almost at a point where I have to say I’m not accepting new clients,” she told The Wall Street Journal.

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If you’re looking to get a business off the ground, many resources can help you build your online marketplace. For instance, Shopify can enhance search optimization and integrate your products into Amazon’s offerings. Squarespace provides social media integration and 100 design templates. Square Online lists products on Facebook and Instagram and provides encrypted payment data. Additional helpful resources include Big Commerce, Network Solutions and Oracle NetSuite.

Banks and other organizations can cover startup costs, with special services available for women and minorities. Individuals in these groups can take advantage of loans like the Small Business Association Community Advantage, the SBA Microloan Program and the Business Consortium Fund Loan. Companies such as Kabbage, BlueVine and Fundbox can help you assess and acquire the right business loan.

Other funding options for disadvantaged groups include Union Bank’s Business Diversity Lending Program, which is designed to provide loans to minority business owners of up to $2.5 million, and the nonprofit Accion, which offers term loans for minorities ranging from $300 to $1,000,000 for both established and new businesses.

So even though it might seem counterintuitive to start a business during a pandemic, now is the perfect time to dream. After all, economic downturn has long been a catalyst for growth in this country, with companies like General Motors, Trader Joe’s, Electronic Arts and Uber all getting their starts during recessions. There’s no reason your business can’t be next.

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