Entrepreneurship In Times Of COVID 19

Entrepreneurship In Times Of COVID 19

The quote ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ has proven to be right during the COVID 19 pandemic as the unprecedented situation led to new entrepreneurial solutions for everyday problems. Many businesses crashed while several new ventures took birth during this time. COVID19 forced many people to think differently and the digital medium aided them in it. It is worth taking a note that despite many challenges, people came up with innovative solutions to make people’s lives better while navigating through the lockdowns, shutdowns and the new social rules. My City Links takes a look at some of these new businesses and how they have ushered us into a new world.

Chef Junction

Chef Junction is a joint venture between Suryansu Panda and Epari Pritam. It is a platform where home-chefs get a chance to make some money while satisfying your hunger pangs. During the pandemic people were hesitant to order from restaurants. There was an urgency and need for hygienic and healthy food. “During the pandemic, it was tiresome for people working from home to cook food. So this gave birth to our brainchild for the home chefs to join in and cater to the ‘ghar ka khana’ demand of people,” said Suryansu. Being pocket-friendly as well, their business took up instantly.

Mo-Basket

Mo-Basket is a venture initiated by AKP Enterprises that commenced in 2018, but remained stagnant due to his unavailability to promote it. It is basically a start-up which deals in grocery items that are organic. “This pandemic gave me a chance to make this happen. I bought bigger and newer machines to derive oil from mustard, coconut, etc. People are welcome to check out the production process and buy,” said Akash. He boasts of having a strong customer base who are mostly doctors and homemakers.

Pickup Ninja

Pickup Ninja is a pickup and drop service co-founded by Sambit Swarup and Rohan Raj Panda. They have delivery valets or ninjas as they call them who deliver goods from one point to another. “Although we conceived the idea back in 2018, all the formalities and legalities were wrapped up in August 2020. This is when we commenced our business and the lockdown period served as a great means to grab the attention of people,” said Sambit. Their customers mostly consist of home bakers, restaurants and small garment businesses.

BOB’s Baked Co

BOB’s Baked Co is all about baking. “I was actually working on a different project previously that didn’t work out. So this lockdown gave me an opportunity to take a sabbatical and start my own venture and give full time to it,” said Pratik Kumar, its founder. He further added that the series of events post lockdown has only convinced him that Bhubaneswar/ Odisha has immense potential in the coming years because of the dynamic shift happening in consumer behavior now.

Soaps by Toaster

Soaps by Toaster is a hobby turned into a business venture by Satakshee Patnaik. Working from home gave her a lot of free time which she utilized by learning soap making. Her products were so well appreciated by her closed ones that she decided to start her own venture. “I learnt soap-making as I have very sensitive skin and need to use the right products. My soaps are light and devoid of any hard chemicals, especially SLS. I have just begun this and am operating it through WhatsApp and hope to learn better to expand it,” she said.

In such unsettling times, it is motivating to see how entrepreneurship is evolving and playing an important role in rebuilding the economy.