The time when online business was only for tech companies is long gone. Nowadays everybody can take advantage of global audience that can be reached on the internet. You just need to be determined and tenacious, and of course to have a viable business idea.
When starting an online business you need to cover a lot of ground in order to succeed. If you want to do everything right there are number of areas in which you need to acquire some knowledge so that you can achieve your goals.
Starting an online business – need a guideline?
Here are six steps that can guide you in starting-up an online business in an infographic, courtesy of ucraft.com:
More details, please…
First thing you need to do is build your website. Figure out what are the features that your website must have and based on that decide do you need to hire a developer or if your website can be created with some easy website builder. Whichever you decide, be mindful of the design. Research the current designer trends to get some inspiration, but don’t go too far. Don’t overcrowd your website with text and images, when in doubt, remember – less is more.
Now that you are all set with your online presentation it’s time to think about customers. To attract possible prospects first you need to tidy everything on your end. Keep your website up to date in terms of content and information. Take your time to learn about SEO, it will pay off. When you optimize everything, now it’s time to tend to your social media profiles. Find the social channel where your audience is, and then utilize that platform to acquire new customers.
All is well – but how to turn those leads into dollars? Ah, now you need to find the monetization methods of your website, as well as the ways to make money from your business. There are many ways you can try, but one thing for sure, you should implement the best practices and testing; and testing; and testing. Got it?
Not all your effort should be directed at client acquisition. It’s much better and cheaper to invest in client retention. This means that you need to shift your focus from selling and reaching new markets, to taking care of your existing customers. The use of various services, such as answering service, chatbot, and so on can help you a great deal. Indeed, it’s easier to nurture existing relationship with someone who already did business with you, than to establish new connections.
Feeling overwhelmed with all the client relationship and business management? Maybe it’s the right time to build a business team. Perhaps you should hire admin staffs to do the administrative works for you; or a coder to banish those pesky bugs (and hackers); or someone who will actually promote your website and market your products/services.
Getting your business machine works like a well oiled one is quite a feat. But there will be times when you feel that you’ve bumped your head on the ceiling quite often; you feel that your business should grow bigger, faster than it’s right now. If so, then you may want to formalize things – set up a real business structure for your online business and start getting proper funding from accelerators, angel investors, or perhaps VCs.
Your call; you decide.
Takeaway
In whatever industry you are doing business, remember to take matters into your own hands. Don’t wait for the perfect opportunity to achieve your goals, be on the lookout for the latest trends and never stop learning new things. Find the way to always be up-to-date with new business expertise and know-hows, don’t let yourself become obsolete.
Although there are a lot of similarities between brick-and-mortar and online business, there are some major differences that you need to explore in order to craft your strategy. This useful guide will give you the essential checklist of activities that you need to master before entering an online market. On the road to success it’s important to map out your steps in advance, so that way you can reduce risk and better anticipate the future.
