Author: Anthony Carranza / Source: Lifehack
There are thousands and thousands of free guides available online on how to start an online business.
However, the most valuable lesson they probably never discuss is that starting a new business online is probably going to fail. Successful professionals that excel at some point with a venture never gave up, had a passion about creating a meaningful service or product idea, and never stopped trying.
Starting a business is a great opportunity for anyone with a passion to work on something you never get tired of. If people like coming to you for advise or to help them with work-related tasks, then you have the necessary skills and experience to start a business.
In addition, if you have a curiosity on how services and products, maybe you have the capacity and capabilities to create something more innovative.
In the next section, we will examine comprehensively a thorough approach about what are the core elements to start a business. It will not necessarily catapult you to create Google, Facebook or Apple, yet guide you to create a successful business.
1. Remember the likelihood of your business failing are high
Building a product or service is a process that takes a lot of time, so do not think that successful CEOs did it with a snap of their fingers.
According to the Small Business Association (SBA), only 30 percent of businesses will fail in the first two years and 50 percent will probably stay open in the first five years.[1] It is something to think about when launching your online business.
However, this does not mean you should be discouraged, and it’s actually a valuable lesson to fail since it will give you clues on what to do right the next time.
2. Focus on your audience and targeted niche market
One of the most difficult things to figure is who your customer is and how to tailor your product or service. Depending on your available resources and the size of your network, the scale of your venture will be contingent on this.
If you are launching a business, will you go the retail route or create an online store? Will your service satisfy the needs of a startup, small business, enterprise or a corporation? There is no right or wrong answer.
Think about your audience and what the size of your customer base will be. Without knowing your customers, you cannot start a business.
3. Conduct a lot of research and examine the segment of your potential market
Depending on the sort of business, you will have to do hours of research and ask a lot of questions. It helps a lot to look at specific companies or businesses to get an idea on how they go started.
This may be a daunting task for some and there are other avenues to explore to assist you with building a business. The web has tons of resources and you can check out Fundera’s list of 50 tools to help grow your business.
In addition, you must tap into a reliable business networking list of people to guide your journey to creating an online business.
4. Tap into the reach of social media and expand your message
Gone are the days of paying expensive advertising budgets. Thanks to social channels like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, businesses can advertise for free. On the other hand, you can spend and create marketing campaigns on those different platforms.
Figure out which one is best suited to your needs and where that audience is active. When your online business has figured out where its message has the most impact and at the same time customers are responding to your message, then you know you are in the right place.
5. Network with influencers and brand your company on an optimized blog
Depending on the size of the organization and the number of employees, you may need to consider networking in the initial phases.
Social media is a valuable tool and you can reach out to brand influencers depending on the line of products or services you wish to promote.
Gone are the days of just putting an advertisement campaign and expecting a big return. Instead you will have to create partnerships and blog about your branded efforts.
Make sure you have an optimized blog with search engine optimization (SEO) tools built-in, so you can focus on attracting customers and followers.
6. Create monetization plan…
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