How to run a business during lockdown

How three women overcame the obstacles faced during lockdown to continue smashing their business goals

Next up in our series, which speaks to three entrepreneurs who have either launched or sustained their businesses during lockdown, we hear from Fiona Aber Taruona. Fiona is a General Manager and Producer at Shubbak Festival, London’s largest biennial festival of contemporary Arab culture, bringing new and unexpected voices alongside established artists to London every two years. She is also the Founder of Visualise in Motion, a Community Interest Company which helps early stage creatives navigate the industry. As well as this, she recently launched a product-based business called Dolce Butter, which makes a range of sweet, flavoured butters. 

How has your business changed as a result of Covid-19?

To begin with, Visualise in Motion was going to be a real-life event. When I started to get serious about it, I was obsessed with online courses and programmes and how effective they were. I eventually decided that moving things online would be the best thing to do right now. As for Dolce Butter, there wasn’t much of a different approach as this was always going to be something I did online, as I liked the idea of selling directly to my customers.

How have you stayed motivated during lockdown?

It’s been really difficult! The productivity brigade was out in full force during the earlier days of lockdown, making people feel like they had to be productive in this difficult  time. I came to the conclusion that it was important for me to only do what I could; whether that was hours of productive work, or just 30 minutes. The moment I stopped applying too much pressure on myself, the easier it was to maintain motivation and productivity because I was working according to my abilities and energy, as opposed to others.

How do you balance running a business with other priorities?

I have a full time job alongside my two businesses, so it’s definitely a juggling act! It means that my evenings are spent mostly working on my businesses. I tend to go for a walk when I log out of my day job just to re-energise myself before jumping into my own work. I also currently work on my own businesses on a Saturday, be it testing out recipes or developing courses. The only thing I make sure is that Sunday is a laptop free day to give myself the opportunity to relax and do something mindless like binge a TV show or have a movie marathon.

What are your top three tips for young people keen to start their own business?

1. Don’t skip the foundational elements of entrepreneurship when you’re ready to take your ideas to a more official level. I know they aren’t as fun and that it’s quite overwhelming, but they are really important, and if not done or understood from the beginning, it could harm how you operate your business in the future. Have a search for business services in your local area, most councils have them. Or look for local organisations that might offer this service. One of the key things with Visualise in Motion was about being able to guide young people through the process of creative entrepreneurship by providing easy to digest information around elements like business registration, accounting, contracts and thinking about your brand, etc.   

2. Don’t let the idea of perfectionism stop you from actually taking action. For a long time, I would fuss over things that didn’t matter, that others probably wouldn’t even notice. In the end I realised that actually I was the one holding things up because I wasn’t brave enough to just go for it. Done is better than perfect. You have to remember that no one really knows what they are doing, but we’re all brave enough to simply give it a go.

3. Have fun with it and be open to learning and meeting new people. Look for people in your community – Facebook is a good place to start. Look for groups in your chosen area and join them. Once you’re in there, browse the posts, contribute answers to questions when you can, ask your own questions, share your product/service and generally put yourself out there. That’s how you build up connections with people, and before you know it, you’ve got yourself a tribe of business owners you can call upon.