Coronavirus: The women starting new businesses during lockdown
With lockdown restrictions easing further in England on 4th July, large numbers of people are returning to their jobs, but many are still on furlough and unable to go to work.
Rather than trying to soldier on until the crisis is over, many entrepreneurs have decided to start a new business entirely. Lockdown entrepreneurs can be nervous about setting up on their own and look to franchising as the ideal business-in-a-box solution where they can become their own boss, achieve job security, and make a lot of money.
Furthermore, franchise-owned businesses are more resilient in an economic downturn because they are based on a proven business model with many years of successful trading behind them, so it’s no wonder this is an attractive option for many.
One such example is Deborah Gatland who decided to join Lingotot, the international children’s language franchise. A classically trained violinist, Deborah decided to start using her modern foreign languages degree and diversify her offering by adding languages to her teaching portfolio.
She said: “I know that Lingotot is the right career choice for me, particularly because it means I can be my own boss and choose my own hours to fit in around my current schedule.”
She added: “I love how Lingotot is continually developing and moving with the times; I’m particularly looking forward to being able to run the Lingotot Forest School Programme that has been created during Lockdown, which means I can teach languages whilst adhering to current social distancing measures in an outdoor setting!”
And Deborah is not alone. Layla Riches has also joined Lingotot after years working for Coventry University. Layla had started researching the franchise before the coronavirus crisis, but was not put off despite the challenges.
“It actually gave me more motivation and in a way, time to learn to see how this would work remotely. Lingotot is very popular with face to face classes and it was great to see the smooth overnight transition into online learning. I launched my business in the 2nd month of lockdown.”
She continued: “I have my 7 year old and 3 year old at home and as they are not in their normal settings, it could potentially have caused me some stress. But I made it work and I had them get involved in my online classes.”
Lingotot’s founder and CEO, Angela Sterling, said: “Like many people Deborah and Layla have seen lockdown as an opportunity to reevaluate, complete their training and launch a new venture.”
She added: “Women in business are used to juggling things and adapting, coronavirus was just another thing to add to the list! Working with female entrepreneurs is a joy and I know Layla and Deborah will do an amazing job bringing languages to life for local children while also creating the ideal balance between work and family life.”
