We all have dreams and aspirations in life but to succeed in business, you need strong work ethics, dedication and motivation. Before leaping feet first, into the great abyss of the unknown, consider asking yourself the bare basics of online business.
Much like writing a press release, when developing an online business, it is suggested to go through the motions of asking the who, what, where, when concept to ensure that you’ve grasped your intended business model and processed the way in which to approach it to the best of your ability.
- Who is your target audience?
- What products or services are you offering?
- Where will your revenue be generated from?
- When can you expect to launch your business?
- Why is your product or service unique?
These may seem like common sense questions, but realistically these seamlessly easy questions are more often harder to answer than you realize.
Having assisted a multitude of startup businesses find their way in an eCommerce world, my experiences lead me to ask these questions and then clarify for those whom not grasped the realm for which they’re entering.
1. Who is your target audience?
When determining this, you need to factor in demographics, relevance to product/services and whether the demographic you intend to target can afford what you’re offering? Example, if you’re selling toys geared towards 5 – 10-year old’s, the physical, demographic to target is men and woman aged between 25 to 40 years old as that age range is more likely to have children within the scope that is interested in your product.
Be sure to think this over, understand what your audience is potentially looking for and ensure that you are delivering the right message when addressing your audience.
2. What products or services are you offering?
The options are endless as the internet has provided a market for anything and everything you can think of, but beware, if your market is limited, your revenue, over time, will be too!
Construct a plan of attack for how to deliver your products/services to consumers. For example, you can have your beauty products shipped directly to your customers if you are in the business of selling beauty products. Think of all the things that your online business will require to be operational and ensure that your product/services are of top quality because quality, or lack thereof, is the primary explanation as to why an online business venture falls flat.
From purchasing a domain to, website development, acquiring payment processing to implementing the images and copy that ultimately describe your product in a way that will appeal to your consumer. All these factors and many more come into play when understanding “what products or services are you offering” cause obviously, if you don’t require a checkout page, you won’t be needing a payment provider, but then leads into the next question.
3. Where will your revenue be generated from?
Obviously you can’t whip up a website, toss it online and simply sit back and expect for sales to flood in.
The harsh reality of eCommerce is that in order to be successful you need to lay the right foundation to grow upon. Sure, having a website built is a great start, but if you’re selling hard goods online, how are you going to process those sales? There are numerous options for online credit card processing, like MobiusPay, to choose from. You must find the service provider that best fits your processing needs and can provide you with quality service.
Now, is it your intent to build up the traffic to your website via social media, SEO, advertising and other means, and then sell advertising placements on your website to generate revenue?
This aspect is a different playing field than if you were selling something on your site. When selling advertising space on your website, you need to determine where interested advertisers are going to come from and what the value of your traffic is worth. This is not something easily accomplished as you must first have sufficient amount of traffic being delivered to your website to be able to profit off of it.
If solely intending to sell products/services on your site, then you need to evaluate exactly how you’re going to drive traffic to your site to encourage sales?
4. When can you expect to launch your business?
Launching an online business is a grueling process. I personally consider it like coordinating a wedding where nothing ever goes according to plan, and random obstacles are thrown before you unexpectedly.
When mapping out your business plan, it’s vital to include an intended launch date, but it’s just as important to reassure yourself that if problems arise, you will find a solution to resolve it as quickly as possible within a reasonable time. Identifying problems and understanding that they can cause delays are often damaging to your morale, but if you recognize this before they occur, you’re more likely to keep your morale positive and succeed.
5. Why is your product or service unique?
This is usually the hardest question to answer because it’s not uncommon for one product or service to resemble another that’s being offered elsewhere. However, coming up with this answer will greatly help you market your product or service once you’re ready to launch as your definition of why your product is unique will become a primary focus to separate you from your competitors.
The uniqueness can be as simplistic as offering 24/7 customer support, or the product being hand crafted in the USA. Regardless of the product or service, what defines your business will be your competitive edge. As so many industry giants have proven, offering discounts, free shipping, variety and reliability all possess a dramatic impact on retention of sales and productivity of a consumer following through to your checkout.
Amazon started in a garage while Walmart was already shipping products to the masses, but what placed Amazon on the fast track to global success was their introduction of 2-day shipping, mass variety and ability for anyone to sell their items online therefore opening the gateway to not just Amazon’s success but success to small businesses just like yours!
No Comments