“Discretionary options like dining out and travel were out, and demand for retail shifted online, where e-commerce sales hit $38.3 billion in 2020. Enterprising minds took advantage,” writes Bianca Bharti in a new article called The Capitalist Manifesto: The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well and the pandemic proved it.
The article features two entrepreneurs who started their businesses during the pandemic, and how social media has been boosting sales.
According to the article, new business openings were at a pandemic high of 64,000 in June 2020 which is a 46 per cent increase from the same time in 2019. Restrictions set in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 led to more free time for many people and some choose to pursue business ideas they may have had.
“All of those factors created the perfect environment in some ways,” says Charles St-Arnaud – Chief Economist at Alberta Central – in the article. “Had the pandemic happened 10 years ago … this wouldn’t have been as big of a phenomenon.”