Why 2023 HAS to Be Your Year | Making the most of the New Year

The majority of people think last year was a disastrous year, and they're not completely wrong. A global pandemic, a potential civil war in the United States, a global recession, basically the end of the world, which surprisingly was actually predicted for last year. As a result, almost everyone thinks that becoming successful this year is pure madness. But they are wrong. In this video, we're going to show you how 2020 changed a lot of people's lives in a very positive way. And maybe we will convince you that 2021 can be your year too. Let's get right into it. Is 2021 a good moment to start a business? With a global recession like the one we're all experiencing right now, many businesses are battening down the hatches and hoping to weather the storm. But for agile entrepreneurs with an appetite for innovation, this year could be the perfect time to start a business of your own. So if you've been thinking about what your life will look like after the pandemic, don't rule out becoming your own boss. Tim Chen, CEO and co-founder of $500 million personal finance company NerdWallet, says he's weathering the coronavirus storm, just like other businesses. But he's still optimistic. Chen told CNBC Make It that there is a real silver lining here, and that now is the best time ever to build a company. He also believes there's an opportunity for the next generation of entrepreneurs. Tim Chen's Experience During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Tim was laid off from his job at a hedge fund. Chen surely was devastated, but despite this setback, he took the opportunity to become an entrepreneur, something he always dreamed of doing. Chen says that he got the idea for NerdWallet during a few months into his unemployment when his sister, who was living in Australia, emailed him a question about finding a credit card with lower foreign transaction fees. He decided to create his own list since he couldn't easily find an answer. That list inspired the idea for his company. Today, Tim Chen's NerdWallet has more than 10 million monthly visitors and is valued at more than half a billion dollars. Coronavirus and Booming Industries The biggest impact on the economy and social life currently is none other than the coronavirus. It's affecting many businesses around the world, and most of these businesses are suffering as a result of it. However, there are a number of industries and companies that are booming thanks to the virus. Let me give you some examples. 1. Delivery Services Industry Since most people have been stuck at home due to the quarantine ordered by world governments, most folks couldn't go outside unless it's an emergency or if you needed to go to the supermarket or get medical services. So, people started to buy more things online, from things they needed to things to pass the time, like puzzles or coloring books. Moreover, restaurants and fast foods only did delivery services, so people had no choice but to order food online. 2. Medical Products Industry Of course, this industry is booming and thriving thanks mainly to the pandemic, so anything that's related to curing or preventing the coronavirus is being produced and sold more than before. We're talking about masks, hand sanitizers, latex gloves, and so on. This industry is really great, not only to make a profit, but because it could save a lot of people's lives. 3. Software Industry The software industry has always been growing for many years, but in this particular moment of our lives, in which it's important to keep our distances and avoid big gatherings, this industry is really thriving, especially for software that helps people to connect or work remotely, like Zoom or Skype. The majority of the people work through their computers during quarantine, and somebody is still using gathering software to do meetings or give important work communications. 4. Successful Business Started In A Recession An economic downturn can cause a range of unexpected opportunities for entrepreneurs who want innovation. Did you know that some of the biggest brands in the world have started during a recession? Here are some examples. 1. Burger King In the 1950s, after the Korean War laid the United States economy low, two brothers in Louisiana thought that it would have been comfortable having fast, affordable food, so they maximized the public appetite for their product by selling franchises of their business. 2. Microsoft The global tech giant Microsoft started in 1975 in a period of high unemployment, rising inflation, and stagnant gross domestic product, GDP in America. 3. FedEx Have you ever seen Castaway? In this movie, Tom Hanks is the operational manager of FedEx, an American multinational delivery services company. Did you know that FedEx began as a university project for Fred Smith during the 1969-71 depression and turned into a business with almost $70 billion revenue? Why is recession a great time to start a business? There are a lot of reasons why a recession can actually be good for business startups. We should not pretend that every business will succeed in the current climate of financial uncertainty, but here are some reasons why a recession can be good for new startups. 1. Competition is lower Since competitors struggle to restart after the pandemic, many businesses will find themselves with less competition. But this can be an advantage, when they are back in the marketplace, for those who are able to innovate or borrow something if they survive the storm. When Chen launched NerdWallet, there was virtually no one else trying to start a personal finance company, and if there were existing competitors, they were too hamstrung because they were laying off staff. In a recession, Chen affirms, you don't have to race against some well-funded competitors to go after a market, but there are just a lot of fewer competitors coming in the next couple of years. 2. Top talent is available A sad fact of a pandemic is that a lot of great people are going to find themselves out of work. But while that is something bad for them, it's something good for business, which can snap up top talent that's usually not available. Chen says now it's the time to snatch up top talent. Chen said that the cost of a great talent drops in recessions, and it's actually easier to hire them. Moreover, finding better talent for cheaper rates allows entrepreneurs to create a better product for less money. He also suggests looking internationally for talents. It can be daunting, but once you do and figure out recruiting, onboarding, and operations, hiring internationally is much less expensive, Chen says. 3. Necessity drives innovation People say that necessity is the mother of invention, and that's particularly true during a financial downturn. Recessions cause problems that people need to solve as fast as possible, and the coronavirus has caused a very specific set of problems that startups are clamoring to cure. The current pandemic has seen a big number of innovations, such as small businesses filling gaps left by bigger businesses, like local food deliveries when supermarkets can't meet demand, and the offer of new services like online courses. Basically, startup businesses begin to pop up, which is good because it's exactly what the world needs right now because they're innovative and agile. 4. Marketing is cheap Chen says that during COVID-19, he's already seen ad rates decline drastically, so it's basically a chance to build your brand for less while we're in a recession. In Chen's opinion, startups should look for cheaper opportunities on news platforms, such as Twitch, and avoid the bigger-name advertising platforms like Facebook or Google. The reason is that these platforms are very efficient, and all the big companies are so good at doing quantitative analysis to figure out how to buy and own those ads. And if you don't have a budget for marketing yet, a good tactic during a recession is organic marketing. That means getting customers to come to your business naturally over time, or through word of mouth, rather than through other methods. In NerdWallet's case, organic marketing was very easy during the financial crisis because the site focused on helping people do things like figuring out how to get a free checking account. 5. Negotiating power is in your hands With many businesses actively looking for new customers, now it's a good time to negotiate for better terms and lower prices. If you're in a positive cash position, you could start buying up other businesses or their assets if they've decided to stop trading. New businesses are nimble Chen invited entrepreneurs to think differently when developing new businesses or products, since the world's not going to be the same when we come out of this pandemic. The advantage that new companies have is that they can move much more quickly, are more nimble, and respond to these opportunities better than the incumbents who are now currently trying to fire people or worry about the future. However, Tim urges new entrepreneurs to take things slow when launching a new company or product during a crisis. He likes to describe the situation with an analogy of a tortoise and a hare. During a recession, the tortoise schemes an edge over the hare, so there's way less capital being invested in companies and your competitors. That means that you're actually doing better. You think about slowing down and building a good foundation, and you think about efficiency rather than just optimizing for speed and then scaling as quickly as possible. Finally, he urges startups to raise as little money as possible and figure out how to be highly efficient on small amounts of cash. I hope you've enjoyed the video. We've been working very hard on this content lately, and we're actually developing awesome content that will help you make more money and improve yourself faster. We want you to tell us what you need help with and what you'd like to see next. To participate, click the link in the description and take the short survey. It's very quick. It won't take you longer than two minutes, and it will improve our community. So this is it. Let us know if this video convinced you to start your business and how by commenting down below. Here on Practical Wisdom, we create content for future millionaires on finance, business, entrepreneurship, money management, and more. If you're interested in one of these, or maybe all of them, why don't you join our family by subscribing to the channel? That way, you won't miss any of our new content. Also, leave a like if you enjoyed the video, and see you in the next one.