Research predicts that e-commerce would capture 95% of all purchases by 2040. Having your own business is the dream of many entrepreneurs. In this rapidly expanding ecommerce era, progressive entrepreneurs prefer having their business online. Online business has many benefits. Such as,
- Online businesses have cheaper set up cost compared to traditional brick-and-mortar business
- It takes full advantage of geographical exposure. You can reach customers globally through your online business.
- Internet users have increased dramatically. It brings high success potential for online businesses.
- Online businesses can operate 24 hours.
However, starting an online business sounds fun, but it also comes with a lot of complications. Virtual assistant services assist online business owners to overcome such complications. If you consider becoming an entrepreneur and having your own online business, this article is for you.
Many questions arise when starting an online business, such as what to offer, where to sell it, who your rivals are, and what your marketing approach will be. You need a thorough plan so that you don’t get caught with unwanted errors in the middle.
Steps to Start an Online Business
- Plan Your Pproduct or Service
The first important deciding factor is what type of product or service you want to sell. Your product strategy should give a clear picture of the problem you are trying to solve. Remember, your product won’t succeed simply because you see the market has demand. The business niche has to aim to make a difference.
How to Find a Business Niche?
A business niche is a specialized area that you plan to focus on. Consider your interests and passions as part of your niche planning. Then, how are you going to solve a particular problem in the market through your business? The unique selling points of your business niche attract customers to make purchases.
Set goals for what you expect from your product. For example, you want to make 1 million dollars in profit from selling your product within a year. Since your business is online, you have to consider a few factors.
- Does the market have sufficient demand for your product?
- Will your product meet customer demands?
- What is your unique selling point?
- How are you going to deliver your product?
- What will be your delivery channels?
Once your product idea is set, you move to the next planning stage which is “ Market Research”.
- Do Your Market Research
Market research helps you learn about the target market. Thus, you can prepare a more personalized “go-to-market” strategy. For many businesses, market research is the first stage of business planning.
Online business market research is comparatively easier than for traditional businesses. You do not have to go door to door to learn about your customers’ preferences. Technology has brought all the research tools at your fingertips.
Some common online business market research techniques are,
- Keyword Research
Keyword research shows what type of products or services people are searching for on the internet.
- Social Media Research
Social media platforms have all the analytical tools to show businesses the projected growth opportunities of a product or service.
- Analyzing Competitor’s Website
A competitor website analysis is the process of evaluating your competitors’ online presence to understand their marketing tactics and find potential business opportunities.
- Create a Business Plan
A business plan centralizes all plans for how you start a business. A business plan is important since it enables entrepreneurs, small business owners, and their staff to outline their goals and monitor their success as the company expands.
Prepare a detailed business plan before starting an online business.
A business plan should include:
- Detailed market analysis findings
- Product plans
- Competitive analysis
- Target market demographics
- Prospected growth plan
- Delivery and logistics
- Prepare for Online Channels
Online businesses have plenty of sales channels. You have to decide which channels you prefer to use to market your products.
You can choose a single or multiple channels to sell your products. You should select your best sales channels based on your product and customer demographics.
- Ecommerce Website
Many merchants of online businesses get confused whether to have their own web platform or sell on a marketplace. Having your own website lets you communicate with your customers directly. It will straighten your brand and build customer loyalty.
- Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a type of ecommerce. Dropshipping is excellent as a startup online business since it requires less financial support to operate a store than the conventional retail model. Select your dropshipping channels. For example, ebay, Amazon, AliExpress, sprocket etc.
- Social Media Commerce
Social media networks enable eCommerce firms to be accessible, expanding your brand’s exposure and client base. Almost all businesses nowadays have social media platforms, either for direct selling or marketing purposes.
- Content Planning
The workflow of delivering your message to clients via social channels is known as content planning. When it comes to online business, content should get maximum priority. Customers have many alternatives while selecting a product or service.
Whoever has the best content grabs the attention of customers.Thus, you need to plan your contents prior to starting your online business.
Content planning checklist
- What type of content will be published?
- When will the contents be published?
- Where are you sharing the content?
- What are your expectations from the content?
How Virtual Assistants Help to Start Online Businesses?
At the beginning of any business, it is common that you may not be able to keep up with the deadlines, set appointments on time, handle customer services, update databases etc. This phrase is very critical.
A simple smart move may drive your business to success, while a small mistake could collapse the entire strategy. Hiring a virtual assistant is the best strategy to ensure operational excellence.
A few startup tasks a virtual assistant can help you with:
- Calendar management
- Appointment scheduling
- Product research
- Pre-launch marketing
- Product listing
- Responding to calls and emails
- Website management
- Data entry related tasks
- Graphics support
- Content strategy and scheduling
End Note
Once you have planned all the things explained above, you are 70% ready to start your own online business. Make sure your online business is able to provide data security for your customers and follow tax laws.
Hire a virtual assistant if you feel that it will be burdensome to get done with all the tasks related to your business. You will be able to kick-start your business and reach your goals fast.
