Hi guys, it's me again before I proceed with today's blog, I want to say omoo(for those that wouldn't understand, 'omoo' is a short way of letting out a cry of pain).
Welcome back to my space, on today's post it is more or less personal. As most of you might know, I have an offline business and an online business, but with the situation of things in my country, more SMEs are already shutting down. Some are at the bridge of following that same pathway every passing day because the cost of things is skyrocketing and the major purpose of starting up the business is already going sideways. Sideways in the sense that instead of earning profits, they are collecting loans to sustain the business.
In 2023, there was a record of so many companies that had to shut down due to the economic challenges in the country. To explain the magnitude of this economic challenge, a large company was involved in this shutdown. Unilever, a very influential company with at least four sub-companies closed up last year making more than 6,000 people unemployed. I don't blame them though, it's better to move out than accumulate loans. But on hearing this, it made me wonder how the small, new businesses are doing. In as much as my business is just five months in and I'm still trying to keep it afloat, a new spot just opened up not so far from me and it made me think about how they are doing because one thing is sure, if the profits aren't coming in you are left to two options which are to either increase the price and maintain your standard or maintain your price and reduce your standard. Some will still reduce standards and increase their prices. These guys are the big issue of the country that I'm sure of.
My mother has always been an ambassador for offline businesses because she says it is secured and you know that at the end of the month, you are receiving your salary but with the issue of this country, can you rely on the salary gotten when before the end of the month numerous debits are waiting for you. I am also not saying that online is secured like that. Most times you are out of gigs for a long time especially those that fall into a congested field, leaving you to wonder if you are good at what you are doing.
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Looking at this type, I understood some amazing aspects people that fall into this enjoy. Things like flexibility with their timing and schedules but you should note that this doesn't support procrastination. If you deliver late, you end up losing your clientele. Something else that puts freelancers over others is that the expense of beginning isn't as costly, implying that all you want is something, to begin with, and as you develop and grow, you get the tools that make the work consistent and faster. There are so many other advantages of working from home over having a physical entrepreneur job they include; a balance between personal life and work life, they are specialists in their field, and they are not limited by their surroundings as their client base is global.
A physical entrepreneur job such as running a startup with a physical presence offers several advantages over freelancing some of which I get to experience each day, one of which is being present. Being present means people can rely on you more and the more tangible presence you give your physical business, the more people get to know and to try out your services. Another advantage over freelancing is more visibility. Although this is more dependent on the location since your business is out in the open, everyone gets to see that a particular service is being served here and even though they might not need the services at the moment they have it stored in their memory and when the need comes, just like Joseph, you get remembered. I have instances where a passerby saw my spot and later in the evening came back with a friend looking for what to eat for dinner.
Some other advantages are long-term investment, customer relationships, opportunity to expand amongst others. running a physical can also assist in being serious about what you do.
I did some research, and to top up the research made, I went further to ask people for their views regarding these two types of businesses out of 20 people that I reached out to, 70% went online because that is what they are into, 10% went for physical because their parents own a shop and the rest went for online because they have heard that it pays well.
In as much as the economy of this country doesn't encourage offline business entrepreneurs, please do not venture into freelancing out of frustration. If proper care is not taken, you can likewise be frustrated in no time. The major decision between freelancing and physical entrepreneurship is based on individual preferences, skills, goals, and proper guidance.
And because people say there is money in it you then cancel every other thing you have going for a fantasy you are not so sure about.
