COVID-19 and the Future of Work for Indie Hackers
The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the nature of how we work, forcing decades of acceleration in just nine months. The silver lining? There has never been a better time in history to conceive and deliver innovative tools that can help companies navigate the chaos.
Now, how this ends is anyone's guess, but organizations are aware that few will ever return to the workplace we knew just a few months ago. And yet, with great change and uncertainty comes new opportunities to innovate, especially in designing more human-centric processes.
According to Business Insider, more than half of Americans want to continue working remotely after the pandemic, while two-thirds of companies may render their current work-from-home policies permanent. And that doesn't take into account the many thousands of businesses that will eventually resolve their approach to work into some kind of hybrid solution. Today, indie hackers have an opportunity they've always wanted – C-suite executives willing to reconsider the status quo and instead, evaluate innovative solutions, strategies, and tools.
So, what kind of products and services might appeal in the new reality? According to a recent analysis by Deloitte, organizations are growing increasingly concerned about the long term impact of the work-from-home economy on employee mental health and well-being, and the sustainability of company culture.
In a recent Indie Hackers podcast episode, Dan Pierson of Unsettled discussed how he pivoted the "Unsettled" startup in the midst of the pandemic to provide B2B custom solutions. Within one month he had already racked up over 60K of sales. Unsettled now offers a suite of services "to give businesses the opportunity to be successful", such as new self-assessment models to improve remote communications, employee engagement, and productivity.
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Throughout the pandemic, entrepreneurs have built solutions capable of supporting their clients through this once-in-a-lifetime anomaly — and ensured they are prepared to face the next one. Zoom, arguably the biggest success story of the pandemic, is experiencing some backlash against their utilitarian product interface and its impact — leading other indie hackers to design and offer plug-ins, extensions, and integrations for a wide range of applications. Social-focused products are experiencing a work-tuned renaissance, including virtual meeting places such as Gather Town.
With no-code tools, entrepreneurs can rapidly test, launch, and validate their solutions and tools with their early adopters. At the moment, companies are highly receptive to trying new ideas. And while large companies may have deeper pockets to support the development and acquisition of enterprise-level tools, smaller companies are seeking ways to emulate and match the larger-scale solutions for their own workforces, at lower costs.
At the bottom line, the future of work involves giving control of time vs output back to the individual employee.
Dan Pierson advises:
By attaching yourself to this giant movement and massive change in the future of work, you can start a mission-driven company... that can provide financial independence and a tailored work-life balance.
After all,
"No matter how much money you make, you can't buy time."
Bill Gates
