- With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting the business climate, established companies are adopting startup strategies to survive
- Entrepreneurs return to “fail fast” approach to test different ideas and quickly abandon them if they don’t prove successful
- Updated strategies have also driven investments in e-commerce, equipment, and other areas
Starting up a business is a hectic time. In addition to the many steps you need to take to register the company, find customers, and otherwise lay the groundwork for selling your products and services, you’ll often need to change your approach as you go. There are plenty of examples of entrepreneurs who decided to pivot from their original idea and found it much lucrative.
Once your company is more firmly established, you can enjoy the comparatively easy process of managing it from day to day. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the business world, affecting everything from product demand to capacity locations at physical locations. Many business owners are discovering that returning to a startup approach is allowing them to endure the pandemic and set them up for long-term success.
A recent story in the New York Times explores how several small business owners have changed their companies since the start of the pandemic last spring, sometimes going through multiple changes along the way. They often followed a “fail fast” strategy, a common philosophy in business startups where an entrepreneur tries a tactic and quickly moves on to something else if it doesn’t prove successful.
This approach can often dictate significant changes to existing companies. These may include the introduction of new products or services, a more robust e-commerce platform, or new investments in equipment or facilities.