Starting an online business is in many ways similar to setting up a brick-and-mortar store. You must firs identify a need and a market for it, draw a strategic and practicable business blueprint, arrange for funding, develop a unique and value added product and get to work on branding and marketing for sales and profits.
However, there a few unique differences when running an online-online outfit you need to consider as an entrepreneur.
- Plan your business
Like every serious business, you need a roadmap that draws up the path that originates with your vision up to your mission and expectations. Your business plan will include a market analysis, your funding plans, as well as a SWOT analysis to properly position to gain market leadership.
- Write your business plan
After you’ve come up with a unique business concept and plan, you will need to write it down. It’s also important to keep your business plan lean, except of course if you’re planning to get a big loan from the bank. A lean business plan is easier and quicker to write and breaks done the plan to basics.
- Register your domain name and set up your website
Next is to create a brand-able and a keyword-rich domain name and register it using the right TLD, most preferably .com or your country-specific TLD, such as co.uk to achieve better market visibility and recognition.
- Make it legal and insured
There a number of guidelines to legalising and insuring your business. It is also important to get the right insurance cover to ultimately protect the business to ensure it outlasts any crisis or even the owner.
Generally, the same rules and principles apply, but there are still a few subtle differences you should take note of.
In online entrepreneurship, the most important legal requirement is the online business law which essentially aims to protect customer’s personal data, as well as their privacy and intellectual propriety.
Make sure to get yourself familiar with the aspects of business law applies to you.
5. Don’t hesitate too long to launch a product/service
There’s a common rut a lot of online budding entrepreneurs fall into when setting up their business outfits: They get stuck for months and are unable to produce or create something the market needs.
Many entrepreneurs make several excuses forgetting hung-up, but whatever those reasons are which may also resonate with you, shake it off quickly and create value and make sure your product has a solid USP and with a tangible market.
Understandably, your first attempts at creating a product or service may have some flaws, but it gets better with time, along with its money-earning prospects. It’s important to remember that success is not something that comes instantly. Many of our greatest business minds have only been able to get into the positions that they’re in today after making a series of failures, learning from their mistakes, and building a business that is successful.