Ask HN: Is it financial suicide for me to start a business during this pandemic? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Is it financial suicide for me to start a business during this pandemic?

4 pointsCluelesspro7 comments

I need advice. I have a 10K emergency fund and nothing to my name besides that. I live with my parents, both of which recently got laid off and are using their emergency fund to pay for bills such as food and rent. I've been wanting to make a biz for myself (web dev and programming for other biz small and big; I'll know how to market and sell my services with the books I've read). I'd be the only employee in my company and my total costs would be roughly $600~ to start the business. Been wanting to start it since Jan but some things came up that impacted my life. Now with this pandemic of an illness, I'm scared and also feel I shouldn't take any money from my emergency fund. Am I insane for wanting to do this? Should I take the plunge and do it before this illness gets worse or should I completely forget it and save my money? The pandemic has me worried but supporting my family so their emergency doesn't run out also has me worried

Don't do it. Things are going to get worst, before they get better. Your potential customers are seeing their current customers canceling orders, canceling projects, etc. As you said both your parents were recently laid off... And under this climate it's going to be at least 6 months before they find a new job.

Being an adult means having the capability to delay what we desire... In order to fulfill our responsibilities.

Does that $600 make a large difference in your budget?

Realistically, a one man operation shouldn't be too affected by this pandemic, depending on the market you are going for. Obviously industries such as hospitality are getting hit a lot harder than others.

Outside of you personally getting sick and causing it to halt development, I don't think it should be much of a concern.

I've always had a scarcity mindset due to my past growing up so I believe that is why I think $600 is a lot of money. I've always worked for others (unpaid internships, uni work, etc) and never did anything really entrepreneurial. Not out of lack of skills but fear and thoughts of having a job is more safe than making the money. I'm asking folks at HN because everyone here is a lot more considerably wiser than I am. I've never been put in this position and my parents being laid off is something I nor they could've ever seen coming.

Thank you for your response, means a lot

I completely get that! I grew up in a large low income family, so I completely get that mindset of having a job above all else.

What would your plans be if you weren't to strike out on this business? Another option is to always moonlight your startup while working somewhere else. That gives you a bit more of a cushion if your business idea doesn't turn out.

It may seem like everyone is wiser than you, but that isn't true! Often times you will have a better understanding than you think :)

> Should I take the plunge and do it before this illness gets worse

It seems to be getting worse every hour. The companies you want to sell your services to may currently be in panic mode and, if so, the last thing they'd want to do is spend money on new projects. I'd sit tight and wait for the pandemic to abate.

Not suicide perhaps but you should take care to evaluate the likelihood of getting paying customers in the current environment if things turn out as bad as they seem to be shaping up to become. I expect both consumers and businesses to be curtailing spending sharply for quite some time.

The 6 month outlook for a new business is pretty poor. The 5 year outlook is probably not much worse than at any other time.

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