or: Why I Now Have An Online Store

This lockdown officially ended at 6am Saturday 1 May 2021.

So I looked over what I’d hoped to achieve for this lockdown. I was helped by it being extended one month to make a total of two months. That said, we’re still not allowed to run the dive centre so while we’re all allowed out and about, there are still quite a few restrictions.

Anyway, I’ve done some, not done others and did one big thing that wasn’t even on the list.

I’m happy with it all since I’ve done the major things I left last time or thought I hadn’t done so well before, namely contacting more people that I hadn’t spoken to or written with for a long time. It’s a shame I needed to be lockdown to do this so I’m working out how to make this easier for me to continue doing.

My one big thing was starting an online store. It wasn’t initially on my list as I hadn’t seriously considered it until this point. I’d been trying to work out how to bring more money into our household when I’m not able to work and was just letting thoughts percolate.

I’d been watching various YouTube videos over the years, read books on passive income, being an entrepreneur (this has to be one of the world’s most overused words at this point), social media and about a billion other topics too. Nothing with a particular focus except occasionally how it could help the dive centre. They were more topics that I happened to be interested in or wanted to know more about.

Anyway, over this lockdown I started to think that this wasn’t going to be our last lockdown. I had naively thought that our first would be our only as we’d gone so long without any cases given the strict quarantine measures in place for new arrivals. I hadn’t realised that some people could by-pass those. Maybe there are other ways for the virus to take hold too.

When we had cases in the community again, I thought the government was trying to track down where they originated so they could avoid the same thing happening again next time. If they do know, they haven’t shared it. If they don’t know, then there’s no way of stopping the same thing happening again.

In either case, this would lead to another lockdown in the future.

Each lockdown means there is little opportunity for the dive centre to operate except through some online courses which will then need the practical part completed when the centre is allowed to operate again.

Two lockdowns later, it seems like any water-based activity isn’t allowed for even longer than when other places are allowed to open. I’m guessing it’s because the government is worried about people gathering at the beach when we’re allowed no more than ten people.

In the last 18 months, the dive centre has been allowed to operate for 11 months. Of those 11, only two have been at full capacity with tourists, as this was the start of 2020, just before the first lockdown.

I can complain about this as much as I like but that doesn’t change anything except probably making me miserable, disappointed and angry. It’s better to focus on what I can do rather than what I can’t. It’s always better for me to take some kind of action.

I realise now there are going to be ongoing large chunks where I’m not going to be able to dive and the dive centre isn’t going to be able to operate. I don’t know when these will happen and I don’t know how long they will last each time.

Time to think about how to be prepared for next time.

First part was the financial aspect. I started to think about how else I could gain income when I’m not able to leave my home. What else could I do even when the dive centre is running that could help build a bigger financial buffer for the next lockdown?

This meant it had to be something online.

And then it hit me. An e-commerce store.

Just one problem, I had no idea what to sell.

That’s when the next round of research began. Now I have plenty of options and it will take some time to get my store to the stage where I want it to be. The first step was the actual setting up of the store and some early products so that Google can start to register it and it can begin to rank. This can happen while I sort out Phase 2 – more products and actively marketing.

I’m not expecting to sell anything straightaway. This is a long-term project that will build slowly, slowly.

Like most things.

The second part is how to be prepared for the dive centre. I’m going to need more photos for our social media and be a bit more organised for this part. I’ve started to do this already (except for the photos since I’m not allowed in the water yet!). A plan is starting to come together for this too.

The third part is my own mental health.

What’s worked well for me this time was having my Lockdown Manifesto and Lockdown 2021 Goals List. It’s allowed me to be flexible with ticking items off as I’ve only planned my days based on how I’m feeling rather than what I need to get done. I wouldn’t normally work this way however I knew at the start I was going to have at least a month of not being able to do much else so this approach was ok. It’s not a normal circumstance so it needed not a normal way of using a To Do List. This flexibility helped me a lot.

Also having a larger scale project like setting up my online store. This was great as I could break it into various mini-projects and could easily see when I was making progress. It was also fun and exciting to do especially since I was also learning something new.

My house parties continued too…

I do need to work out how to get a bit more incidental exercise in for each lockdown. I don’t move enough and this isn’t great. I’m don’t enjoy exercising at home. I’d rather go out for a run however this is not possible. This one needs further thought.

It’s a bit mad out there at the moment as it seems, now that lockdown is over, people mostly want to go shopping.

And here I am, inside, working on my online store.

Maybe a run this afternoon…

Thanks to Grinderman for this tune. Nick Cave has had a few projects over the years!