Entrepreneurship 101: Steps to Starting an Online Business

By James McAllister

The road to starting a business online is long and littered with difficult decisions and numerous obstacles. To ensure success on your journey, it is important to be as thorough as possible during the early stages.

The first few years of a business’s life can often prove to be the most difficult, but planning out your decisions and steps can help you make decisions with confidence, and improve your chances of success. Here are some important steps that must be covered when starting up an online business:

Come up with a great idea for your online business

Every business starts with an idea. It may come to you in a flash of inspiration or after hours of deliberation; either way, it’s important to be critical of your initial idea and make sure it is water tight. After all, you will be developing your whole business model on the basis of this idea, and you don’t want to get six months down the line before realizing it is fundamentally flawed.

Top Tip: Talk through your ideas with family and friends. It is possible that they could perceive your idea from an angle that you have not previously considered.

Develop a business plan

Once you have your idea, you need to plan out how you’re going to turn it into a working business model. Obviously this is a crucial step, so you should take your time to ensure that any forecasts are accurate and you cover every possible eventuality. Being unrealistic in your business plan by embellishing expectations you have for your new business may make for impressive reading, but you only stand to fool yourself.

Top Tip: Don’t write your business plan with the sole purpose of attracting investors. Your business plan should be an ever evolving representation of your business, so revisit it regularly.

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Do your research

Once you’ve turned your idea into a plan, it’s time to do some research. You should pay close attention to your target market and competitors, taking note of habits, prices and anything else that will help you construct a clear picture of your potential marketplace. It can also help to list what you like and dislike about your competitors, as this will help to inform future decisions about your own business. Finally, you should build a profile of your ideal customer which will help with your business marketing efforts.

Top Tip: Collecting secondary data from places like the Census Bureau is a great way to save time when conducting your market research. However, it is important to make sure the data you’re collecting is relevant.

Build a website for your online business

Much like an offline business has a store, an online business has a website. Your website is a critical platform used not only to sell your goods, but also as a way to represent your business. If you’re unfamiliar with web design, it is highly recommended that you budget for a designer. Not only will this allow you to get a site that looks unique and professional, but a designer can also offer valuable tips and advice about the day to day running of your website.

Top Tip: Take your time when designing your website’s layout; even the smallest details can have a large impact on conversion and sales figures.

Begin marketing your online business

Once you have a website in place, it’s time to start spreading the word! When running a website, there are a number of digital marketing strategies that can improve the authority and visibility of your site online. Basic SEO techniques such as link building and content marketing are a good place to start.

However, it is also important to not neglect offline marketing techniques, including print advertisements for niche markets, as well as exposure in the mainstream media. Often, these techniques can work just as well for driving traffic to your website.

Top Tip: What works for your competitors in marketing may not work for you. You should make your marketing decisions based on your own circumstances, such as budget and target audience.

Coming up with a solid idea is the first step on the long road to a successful business. But, you should also remember: A great business idea does not always guarantee success. Your idea could pass every test and stand up to the toughest scrutiny, but without hard work and determination, you will find it hard to succeed.

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