Online businesses have become synonymous with today’s economic fabric. The days of only shopping and looking for other services at brick and mortar stores are gone. Online based retailers and businesses such as Uber, Uber Eats, Amazon, Kickstarter, and a host of online businesses have found success in serving customers only online. Here are some tips on how to start an online business of your own.
Know the Stats
Statistics tell a story of rising numbers for such retailers, ranging from large to small online businesses. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) made up 9.9 percent of total retail sales in the United States, which was an increase from 9.1 percent during the previous year. Online shopping is utilized among all age groups. According to the US Department of Commerce, consumers spent $601.75 billion online with US merchants in 2019, up 14.9% from $523.64 billion in 2018.
Other statistics show that in 2019, retail e-commerce sales worldwide totaled $3.53 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues were projected to grow to 6.54 trillion US dollars in 2022. This solidifies that online retail shopping and e-commerce has become a huge component of today’s economic landscape.
Know Your Niche
An entrepreneur who wants to break into the online space, you want to capitalize on the accessibility to your services or product, which the internet provides to a worldwide audience. You won’t have to worry about the limitations of only being able to service a local base with a brick and mortar store.
As with any business, there are steps that need to be taken to ensure that you can be successful. At the end of the day, you don’t want to be that e-commerce provider who is now just an afterthought on the world wide web. The most important step is to find a niche.
Find something which people want, which will also bring in the largest opportunity for profitability. To waste your valuable time selling something which is already being provided or is not in demand at all can be very detrimental to your overall goal of being a successful entrepreneur.
Product Viability
Following on from the previous tips, you’ll also want to look into product viability. When you’re discussing product viability in product development terms, viability means that a product not only gets purchased, but it performs well enough to be recommended to others. The popularity of the product will then spread organically or virally.
Promote Your Brand
After you’ve established that people want the product or services that you’re offering, think of ways to promote your brand. This can be done by first writing marketing copy that sells. Some basic promoting tips include:
- Arouse interest with a compelling headline
- Describe the problem your product solves
- Establish your credibility as a solver of this problem
- Add testimonials from people who have used your product
- Talk about the product and how it benefits the user
- Make an offer
- Make a strong guarantee
- Create urgency
- Ask for the sale
Hire an Accountant
Find yourself a great accountant. To find an accountant who specifically specializes in ecommerce accounting can be invaluable as you navigate the economic framework of being an online retailer. There are accountants out there who specialize in e-commerce specific accounting topics like industry niche solutions, multi-sales channel operations, omnichannel marketing, and reconciliation of merchant accounts.
Set Up Your Website
Next on the list is setting up your website. As part of this website set-up process look to buy IPv4 which can ensure a clean reputation for your IPv4 address blocks. This will provide you with IPv4 address block reputation assurance. You’ll want to design and build a great website that will draw customers in. You’ve confirmed what product will sell and created great marketing which will keep help to spread your brand. When building your website, consider these five essential points:
- Only choose one or two plain fonts on a white background
- Try to make your navigation page clear and simple and keep it the same on every page
- Use graphics, audio, or video to enhance your message
- Include an option where people can provide their e-mail addresses
- Make the product easy to buy
- Make your website is as customer-friendly as possible
