As COVID Cases Rise so Does Entrepreneurship

In 2016, Anna Brown landed her dream job at StubHub company as a digital marketer. She was one of the many graduates of her university graduating class to enter the workforce with high hopes and promises of a somewhat stable career in the technology industry. “I was told all of my life that if you wanted to have job security you should go into STEM,” Name said. “But I’m horrible at math, so I figured I would do the next best thing: get a job in the STEM industry doing something I loved.” When StubHub called and offered her a digital marketing position within their Chicago division she was thrilled. “I felt really lucky. Like there was actually a chance for me to get a house and pay off some school debts.”

When Covid-19 entered the scene in January 2020, Anna wasn’t immediately worried about her job. She along with her coworkers were sure that their industry would be able to handle the setbacks caused by the pandemic. “I figured COVID just was going to be something we’d have handled in a few months, like some other countries,” Anna said. Unfortunately, as the pandemic raged on, her worries began to rise. And four months later, Anna was furloughed with 650 other workers from her company indefinitely. “At first it felt like a gut punch. How could we not be able to handle business-changing without people losing their jobs? It felt like we had been lied to.”

But once the shock of her furlough wore off Anna realized she wasn’t interested in returning back to the traditional corporate world. She was surprised to learn that she was feeling better mentally, emotionally, and physically being at home versus being in the office. So she decided to try to her opening own business instead, offering her digital marketing services to other entrepreneurs. “Being quarantined really forced me to sit down and think about what I wanted to do with my life,” Anna said. “And I realized that job security is a myth.”

Anna isn’t the only one who is thinking that way. In 2019, 33% of Americans reported themselves as self-employed. By April 2020 the number had increased by 12.7%. As of today, there is a whopping 16 million Americans who report themselves as self-employed. And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. So why are so many of us turning to self-employment?

One reason, of course, is because of the public health hazards caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial uncertainty caused by the global economic crisis. As of August, 55 million Americans have filed for unemployment, a number that has broken all previous records. Businesses are being hit particularly hard in the service industry, but other industries are suffering as well as local politicians struggle to balance new hot spot outbreaks with protecting their local economies. Because of the decline in sales, many businesses across various industries have started furloughing and laying off their employees.

[Online shopping has increased by dramatically over the previous year, while most other industries are in the decline]

In response to Covid-19, consumers are turning to online shopping preferring this method over visiting stores that have reopened since the pandemic began. This sudden change in shopping trends is proving to be positive for small business owners capable of providing their services online. Since beginning in May, Anna has replaced the amount of money she was receiving on unemployment insurance with sales from her new business. She expects to replace her entire income by December. “I’m really blessed that I was able to find clients so fast,” she said. “I put the word out that I was for hire and leaned on my industry contacts to get my first few jobs. But really, there’s so much work out there right now. I have a few friends that have done something similar [start their own businesses] and got clients without any referrals. The market is hot.”

Dr. Manasi Deshpande, Assistant Professor in Economics from the University of Chicago agrees. “Our studies are showing that the entrepreneur market will have grown by 16% by this time next year,” Dr. Deshpande said. “It’s really remarkable and a testament to that American grit we all have ingrained in us. We’re seeing people makes lemonade out of lemons in these times of financial adversity.” IBIS World reported that car sharing, courier delivery services, and digital marketing are a few of the self-employed industries that will see growth above during the pandemic.

As for Anna, she’s not as positive on how long the market will remain booming due to the uncertainty of these times but is optimistic that she can handle anything that comes her way now. “I’ve learned so much about myself during this COVID pandemic. I really cherish being able to set my own schedule and take time for my self-care each week. So I’m committed to reshaping my lifestyle with those in mind from now own, even if that means never returning back to the corporate world. I’m okay with that.”

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