JUPITER, Fla. — COVID-19 has taken a toll on displaced workers, but it has also created -- and even boosted -- entrepreneurial ventures for others. In particular, for those helping people adjust to what some call the “new normal.”
It’s mid-week and Karen Croke is overseeing a fence being installed at one home, and across town she is checking pool levels, pipes and windows on another. But there’s also vehicles to run, circuit breakers and mail to check.
It’s all in a days work for the owner of Karen’s House Watch LLC in Jupiter.
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“I would say that probably 50 percent of the people that live in our community are seasonal, they’re snowbirds. So, I do think that there is a big need,” said Croke.
And the unpredictability of COVID-19 has only increased her client base.
”I have some clients that have not been able to come down [from other states] because of COVID-19. They have health issues, and they’re afraid to leave,” said Croke. “They’ve put their trust in my service.”
Tom Essaye, president of Sevens Report Research, said COVID-19 has both created and rebooted business opportunities for those who are flexible and willing to find problems that aren’t being adequately solved in the current marketplace.
”Be on the lookout. Out of every crisis there are opportunities, and this will be no different,” Essaye said. “If you’re going to start a business, you have to have a skill. There has to be a problem that this skill will solve. And you have to have a way to market it in the new world."
Croke offers this advice to soon-to-be entrepreneurs in South Florida.
“Just follow your passion. It’s given us a lot of time to consider things," said Croke.
Essaye added those wanting to start a new business venture should heavily study the “new normal.” Expect new services in delivery, personal care, health care and sanitation.
Click here to learn more about Karen’s House Watch LLC.