The pandemic came crashing into our lives in the past year. With it, came many changes, but not all of them were bad. Many took this as an opportunity to go after their passion and start their own business — 4.4 million businesses to be exact, as reported by the Census Bureau.
However, the interesting thing about this situation is not the volume of new companies but the industries people choose to pursue. Their products and services greatly varied, ranging from starting a crystal store to a chicken franchise.
Custom Jewelry
When you’re forced to stay at home, a lot of things become restricted. One of the activities people turned to was online shopping. As a result, custom jewelry became one of the most popular things to create and sell online.
The reason behind this is that making jewelry is a relatively low investment venture. You have the option to do things by hand if you don’t have the budget to purchase machinery. Plus, it doesn’t take a lot of skill to complete a piece.
It looks like a saturated market on the surface, but there is still room for niche pieces. People also take it as a chance to challenge their creativity. Instead of just normal beads, some utilize resin, clay, and more.
Another reason behind the success of custom jewelry is the flexibility of the product. Customers can personalize their orders to their heart’s content, which increases the appeal of this type of product. Being one-of-a-kind, handcrafted products also make for great gifts to loved ones.
Food
The food industry has and will always be prevalent when it comes to business. However, what’s unique about it now is how creative people are getting.
Thanks to platforms like Facebook and TikTok, many business owners have the opportunity to show off their delicious creations.
A trend this year was hyper-realistic cakes, which kept people guessing if the objects in the video were really objects or, in fact, cake. There was even one TikTok user who went as far as making a life-sized cake of Jason Derulo.
Once again, the ability to customize orders is part of the reason this venture is successful. People are more inclined to make a purchase when personalization is available, according to a study by Epilson.
Healing Crystals
In the past years, alternative healing and wellness became increasingly widespread—and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon.
One of its effects is making crystals popular. People believe that these beautiful stones have healing abilities for the mind, body, and soul. There are many types of crystals available, and each of them has its benefits.
Here is a rundown of some popular crystals.
Amethyst
A purple stone that is meant for protection, healing, and purifying. You use these stones when you want to ward off negative energy while promoting sobriety, humility, sincerity, and spiritual wisdom.
People also use this for better sleep, saying it can help you understand your dreams better. Physically, having this stone can boost hormone production, cleanse the blood, and relieve pain and stress.
Rose Quartz
This beautiful stone comes in pink and ties in with love for all kinds of relationships, not just in a romantic sense. Rose quartz is meant to bring trust and harmony to your social links while further enriching existing close connections.
Apart from that, this pink stone is meant to improve your relationship with yourself, promoting love, respect, trust, and worth when it’s around.
Citrine
When you require positivity and empowerment in your life, citrine can help. It is meant to bring joy, wonder, and enthusiasm into one’s life.
Citrine releases negative traits like fear while simultaneously promoting optimism, warmth, motivation, and clarity. Mentally, it also enhances creativity and concentration.
There is an abundance of crystals available, so you can see why this venture has boomed.
Self-Defense Tools
In the United States, it was reported that an estimated 5.2 million people get physically assaulted every year. This makes the need for self-defense tools clear.
Marketing self-defense accessories isn’t new, but this year people got more creative than pepper sprays. They revamped these tools and created bedazzled ones, such as:
- Keychains with metal rings and sharp edges
- Pens that, when popped open, are actually knives
- Lipstick tubes that hide tasers
It’s quite interesting to see that with social media, almost any business idea is possible. People are getting more creative, and it seems like they’ll only be supported along the way.
