By creating new expectations and new needs, crises open up the field of opportunity for daring entrepreneurs. They stimulate innovation and accelerate the development of agile start-ups.
Philippe Deljurie confirms it: ideas for making boxes, he currently has about ten! His ideas, this entrepreneur, co-founder of Meteojob and seasoned business angel, says he draws them “in relation to the flaws of the current context”, characterized by the health crisis and the limitations of physical distance. If he were to launch a start-up today, it might be for “Digitize short circuits”.
After a period of bewilderment that froze most business creation projects, the time will come for the emergence of new ideas. The health and economic crises are certainly synonymous with many restrictions, but they are also new needs arise. They open a period of opportunity, innovation and the conquest of new markets.
Sniffing opportunities
“Entrepreneurs will succeed in finding niches or developing their activity in the direction of what they were afraid to do before”, confirms Sophie Jalabert. However, the general representative of the support network for the creation and development of BGE companies does not want “Selling Dreams”. The future won’t be bright for everyone : it expects 30% bankruptcies among French entrepreneurs due to the economic downturn.
Others will be able to smell the air of time… “Some will be able to transform the way they produce their services and gain market share where they didn’t”, supports Bénédicte Sanson. The General Delegate of the Mentor Association for Young Entrepreneurs Moovjee quotes the example of the young shoot Edusignwhich provides a digital timesheet signing service for training organizations. “She’s a hit. The current context has accelerated its prominence and visibility. »
Players in the business creation support ecosystem cite several sectors of opportunity arising from the crisis: connected health, video conferencing, last-mile logistics, quality food, short circuits or even cybersecurity…
“And if it works today, in an area of maximum stress, it will be much easier afterwards”assures Philippe Deljurie.
The entrepreneur knows what he is talking about! In 2007 he co-founded the job site Meteojob. In the second half of the following year, the recruitment market collapsed. Meteojob then decided to diversify by selling its technology, ie its platform, in addition to its service. A choice “very pragmatic”remembers Philippe Deljurie.
Economically rethinking its business model
The current crisis affects another start-up, Time2Scale, which he helped create in 2017, as an investor. Initially, the company will provide recruiters on a timeshare basis to small businesses that have difficulty hiring. The crisis prompted Time2Scale to: “capture the weak signals of his prospects to come up with new offers”, explains Philippe Deljurie by way of advice. This is how the start-up now offers to increase the skills of employees responsible for recruitment.
These experiences, Philippe Deljurie considers them opportunities to be a good ” mood “ enterprising. For him, times of crisis make it possible to assimilate reflexes by giving back “smart, economical and economical”for example, to spend less money to attract a customer.
The crisis period can finally be used by entrepreneurs to network, building customer loyalty through communicationor, according to Sophie Jalabert, “rethink their business model and sales strategy”. Two things they don’t have “sometimes not the time, or not wanting, to do in normal times”.