With everything to consider when starting your own company, timing may not come first to mind, since it's not easy to control time in retrospect - but timing is of vital importance to every new business's start. Many people falsely think it's impossible to pursue entrepreneurship in a time of business uncertainty, because launching a successful startup is admittedly very difficult in even the best of circumstances. However, starting a business during an economic downturn is not at all impossible - and may actually be the most suitable time to get started building. The surprisingly-common result can be a business that is ready to scale-up and meet the demand when growth returns, and not only survives but goes on to thrive beyond the circumstances of the recessionary period.
Founder Institute's Co-Founder and Head of Marketing, Jonathan Greechan, recently joined Entrepreneur.com as an expert guest on 'Start Your Own Business,' an e-course powered by Gro Academy, to help guide entrepreneurs on this topic. Starting from the Great Ression in 2009, Greechan has scaled the Founder Institute from an idea to an organization whose global network of startup accelerator programs are now located in 225+ cities across 65+ countries - which all started out during the last economic downturn.
In this video from Jonathan’s special guest appearance on the 'SYOB' series, he discusses key insights and resources for starting and optimizing your business during times of economic uncertainty.
Key highlights include:
- How to identify evolving business trends during an economic downturn
- How to exploit new business opportunities
- Investor insights during a financial crisis
- Establishing a time horizon for your business
- Free or low-cost opportunities for your business and customers
- Essential customer discovery tips
- How and what to delegate as a founder of a business
- Intellectual property tips for early-stage startups
- How to balance creative insight with market demands
- Capital raising in a Covid-19 environment
Top Take Away:
Greechan shares the importance of shifting your perceptions to identify positive opportunities in a negative situation, saying,
"If you look at all of the companies that were built between the 2008-2011 time frame. They're all of the companies that defined at least technology over that last ten years. You're going to see fintech, the Squares, Venmos, Dollar Shave Clubs, and Warby Parkers. These companies started when our financial system was in ruins…now we have this new world, with all of these new opportunities.
