If you want the easiest business possibility to get right for budding entrepreneurs, it’s ecommerce. Before we get into why this is, let’s explain e-commerce. Ecommerce used to be the sale of goods and services over the phone. Then the internet came along and opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Now, we can sell goods and services online, all over the world to literally massive audiences. You’ll make a profit too because no matter what you’re selling, there will always be a market. You just have to make sure you know how to target it directly and appeal to the audience in question.
A key example of this type of business venture would be Diapers.com. Diapers.com, as you may or may not be aware, was a business plan to sell diapers online at lower prices then you could get them in store. It’s fair to say that the plan wasn’t exactly a groundbreaking success. In fact, when the business opened it actually started at a loss. With each diaper sold, the company was losing money. Still, they stuck with it and eventually, they grew their audience to the point where they were able to make a fortune from their product. But they didn’t stop there. They then sold their ecommerce business to Amazon for a fantastic price and the rest, as they say, is history.
You would be right in thinking that this isn’t the rule, this is the exception. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s remarkably simple to set up an ecommerce business. Making it a success? Well, that’s where things get a tad more tricky. But let’s start at the beginning and think about the home point of your ecommerce company:
Setting The Site.
You should always start with the development and creation of your website. Immediately, you must avoid the mistake that most business owners make of setting up the website for free. You might be saving money, but you will definitely be losing the potential for profit. Instead, you shouldn’t be afraid to spend straight away.
For instance, everyone knows that the domain name of a site is important. What you probably don’t know is that most of the great domain names are owned. During the dot-com boom, a lot of investors bought up hundreds of thousands of domain names in the hope that someone would come knocking and desperately want to buy that specific domain. It worked too with certain cool domains coming with a price of nearly 10K.
Still, even that price tag might be worth paying if it’s unique and memorable enough. Remember, you want to make things as easy as possible for customers. If they can accidentally stumble on your site simply by typing a word + .com into the search bar, you’re already on the right track.
Of course, that’s not the only way you’ll need to spend money on your business. You need to think about the design as well. A fantastic website design agency can ensure that your ecommerce site stands out from the rest because it’s visually appealing and runs like an absolute dream.
You might have noticed something about the plan so far.
It’s Not DIY?
Absolutely not, and this is the biggest mistake that budding entrepreneurs make about the ecommerce industry. They think that the people who have come before them did it all by themselves as solo ventures. Even if it seems like this is the case, it probably isn’t, and the reason is quite simple. If you do it yourself, you won’t have the knowledge or the experience to get it right, and a key example of this is marketing.
Remember we mentioned that it doesn’t matter what you sell because everything has a market? Well, that’s absolutely, indisputably true but to do this, you have to know how to market to them. You’re probably not going to be able to do this by yourself. Instead, you need to look for the right marketing agency for your company. This is the defining difference between ecommerce business owners that rise and the ones that fall. Successful owners choose the right companies to work with that can catapult their company towards success.
Choosing the right companies is all about getting a feel for the market online. Make sure you understand what you need the business to deliver. Check around to see if they have helped similar companies to yours in the past. For instance, you might be selling to a niche market. You need to make sure that the business you are using is ready to find and capitalize on that particular audience demand.
Building The Brand.
Aside from choosing the right companies to work with when building your own online business, you also need to build your brand. Remember, customers don’t just want to see a name or a logo of a business. They want to understand and connect with the people behind it. For this reason, the figurehead or the individual at the head of the company is going to play a huge role in your business. If that’s you, you need to make sure that you are engaging with customers and clients, creating a fantastic rapport. Do this and you will earn their loyalty and that’s crucial because it will keep them coming back for more.
Building the brand can be as simple as remaining active on social media. Social networks are a key way that customers and clients interact with businesses on the modern market. The added perk is that by using social media effectively, you can also build up your website ranking online at the same time. You can do this by sharing content that you think they will find interesting and that they’ll share with other people online.
You might have noticed that we didn’t actually mention what you’ll be selling and that’s because it genuinely doesn’t matter. This business strategy will work with any product or service. You can sell absolutely anything online. You just need to find the right market for it.
