In the past couple of years, people have turned to online businesses and it is actually a good thing. There are countless ways to run an online business. Unfortunately, a lot of people are still afraid of running an online business because people don’t trust online shops as much as they should. There’s still the stereotype amongst people that they can’t trust someone if they can’t see them in person, even though online purchases are now safer than ever before and buyers are fully protected from any kind of fraud!
When it comes to buying products or services online, people have had all sorts of experiences where they ordered a full gaming PC and got a log of wood in a PC box. On the other hand, there were situations where people ordered a laptop and got 5 more free things with their order. As the technology evolved, so did online security, and buying online today is completely safe. There are scammer websites out there, but they’re easy to discover so even the most basic consumer can realize that something is off.
When it comes to sellers, starting and running an online business has its own risks, but no more than any other business you can think of. Actually, online businesses are even safer because they’re cheaper to run and faster to scale.
Table of Contents
What Type Of Online Business To Start?
Online businesses are thriving and every business owner is looking for new ways to make an online presence and create a business that can run completely or partly online. The most common business formats one will come across are eCommerce businesses, dropshipping sites, content creation businesses (written content, video or music), social media management business, or anything you can think of that you can run from anywhere in the world as long as you have internet access.
2020 is a very specific year because of the outbreak and a lot of businesses have decided to switch to working online because we’ve all spent more time at home than anywhere else. The businesses that didn’t invest in their online presence have missed out on a lot of potential business and some of them even had to close because of the lack of profit during these hard times.
When it comes to what works best, it’s all up to you. You need to look at all the opportunities you have and decide which one you’ll focus on the most. If it’s starting a YouTube channel, go for it, if it’s starting a dropshipping site, it’s also fine, but whatever you decide to choose, stick to it and don’t lose your focus. Building an online business takes time and the more time you put into it, the better the chances of success will be. In this current situation, content creation is probably your best bet. There are tons of ways you can start this type of online business and the great thing is that it’s usually free or with minimal investing required in equipment or video editing courses. You can start this as a freelancer and find jobs on popular freelance platforms, or you can do cold outreach to potential employers on Linkedin. Youtube is also a great way to start and all you need to do is choose a niche you’re interested in or an expert in to start creating content.
If you don’t see yourself as someone who is good at writing engaging stories and articles, a person who will stand in front of the camera with no stress, there are many other ways you can start an online business. A very popular online business is eCommerce and dropshipping. Even though these two are completely different types of businesses, the ultimate goal is the same – sales. These types of online businesses require more skills and resourcefulness but can be extremely rewarding. Before you decide to start your online business where sales are the only goal, make sure to check out the legal side because different countries have different laws when it comes to online sales.
No matter which online business you’re interested in starting, it’s extremely important to do the research about legalities you might come across during your career. You can also think about your short-term and long-term plans and create a “business plan” for yourself so you won’t get caught up in too many ideas in the very beginning!
The Most Common Mistakes People Make When Starting Their Online Business
Starting any sort of online business is easy and it’s usually pretty fast, but at the same time, the majority of online businesses don’t live to see the first year. This isn’t because the market is bad or because there’s too much competition. It’s actually because people make HUGE mistakes that are pretty obvious to bystanders.
Some of the mistakes can ruin an online business in one day while other mistakes slowly eat the business from the inside. The first mistake people make when starting an online business, but any other business as well is that they don’t have a business plan they’ll follow. Starting a business is easy, but running it and making it successful is something not everyone can do. In order to make your online business successful, you need to have a plan of action. You must know what to do and how to do it in order to achieve any kind of result. If you start a company and expect money to start rolling into your bank account, you’re about to realize that it isn’t as easy as you thought. When you have a business plan or any kind of plan actually, you’ll know what to do and how to do it under specific circumstances.
The second mistake people make when it comes to online business is that they’re not present on social media. Just creating a Facebook page or an Instagram account won’t cut it. You need to engage your customers and interact with them in every situation you can. When people find your website, they found a company, but when they get a comment from your company on social media or get a question answered in a minute or two, that’s amazing customer service! Posting regularly on every social media platform is crucial for any online business, and interaction with clients is what makes them return to you.
Focusing only on one thing is also a huge mistake people make when they start an online business. The ultimate goal is getting sales, but to get to sales, you need to work on your website, on marketing, on social media, on your offer, and many more things! People who start online businesses usually tend to focus only on one thing, ignoring other things that can bring in more customers and eventually more sales. Many online businesses focus on social media and it’s a great thing because they create a massive audience around their brand but once the potential customers visit their site, they’re left on their own with an empty website that’s not completely finished or working. Running an online business is as hard as running a regular one, if not even harder because there’s much more to take care of when you’re working only via the internet.
One thing that’s not actually business-related, but is a huge mistake people make when starting their own business is not having any kind of insurance. Regular health insurance is not what we’re talking about, but insurance in case the owner, and usually the only employee is unable to work due to an injury. As an online business owner, you won’t be running everything from your office. You’ll need to meet suppliers, accountants, all sorts of government employees, and in case you get injured, there won’t be anyone that would be able to run the business for you. That’s why it’s really important to think about injury loans or any kind of business funding that will help you keep things running smoothly even if you’re not available to work. This is something most people overlook and in case anything happened to them, the business would go down as well. Unfortunately, running your own business is really tough and if you’re not willing to put in the hours and sacrifice your time to make it work, your competition will run you over just like that!
Tip&Tricks To Run A Successful Online Business
In order to run any kind of online business successfully, you need to surround yourself with quality people that will help you go forward and thrive at every moment. Having the support of your family and friends is extremely important, but having incredible business partners that will do everything they can to help you is even more important. Your family and friends are there to be moral support and recommend you to their friends, thus bringing you more sales along the way, but it’s up to you and your customer service to keep them returning back. Having business partners you can count on at any given moment is probably the most important thing if you’re running an eCommerce or dropshipping business and it’s crucial to do the research and talk to as many manufacturers or suppliers as you can before you actually start your own company.
Another thing that’s important to do before registering your company and starting your website is to determine exactly what your company will be about. If you’re offering services, which services will it be, and is there a big enough demand for those services. If you’re thinking about sales, what kind of products will you be selling, and at what price? There’s a lot of things you need to do before you start your business that will determine whether you’ll be successful or not. Small things can make a massive difference so thinking everything through and planning ahead is crucial for any online business. When you pick out what your business will be about, stick to it, and become an authority. Always try to improve every aspect of the user experience because it’s the most important thing for any customer you might have.
The thing a lot of people oversee is the time when to start scaling. A lot of online businesses reach a point and stop improving after that because adding another person to the team would be financially irresponsible. For some niches, maybe, but in order to make a big brand and create a truly successful online business, sometimes you need to invest to get more back. Whether it’s investing in office space, equipment or employees, investing is a part of any business and it shouldn’t frighten you because, if done right, it can bring you the success you’ve only dreamt about!