What You Should Know Before Starting an Online Business

Starting any kind of business has it’s pros and cons. Having your own business means you will have a lot of freedom in what you do and will be the master of your own destiny. It will also be a lot of hard work and will likely consume an unbelievable amount of time and resources.

Starting an online business will require the same work and sacrifices, and it will give you similar rewards, but there are some advantages and disadvantages that are completely unique to ecommerce. 

Overhead and Barrier of Entry

Online businesses offer a lower overhead than their brick and mortar counterparts and almost no barrier to entry. You can literally start a business online with the sweat of your brow and not much else. Unfortunately, the downside to this is that it is just as easy for an unscrupulous stranger to set up a scam front. This means that you will have to work very diligently to establish credibility with your customers. Building great relationships, excellent customer service and positive reviews are a great way to combat this problem. 

The Marketplace 

Another trade off is the size of the marketplace. An online business has access to literally, the whole world! Your products and services will be available to be seen and purchased by people from everywhere there is internet available. The trouble with this is that they have to know you exist. You will have to have a good marketing strategy and strong brand presence. There are free online tools that you can use to help you with this like Logo Creator (to create your logo), Projector (for graphic design) and MailChimp (for email marketing).

Customer Service

Customer service can be a challenge, but it doesn’t have to be. You will always find people who want to speak to someone directly face to face, but generally speaking if you are prompt, courteous and are interested in making sure you have happy customers, you should be able to handle the challenge. Done correctly ecommerce should actually produce more satisfied customers because customers are able to feel in control by choosing from a vast variety of options that would never be available in a store. 

Inventory

A major advantage for some people is that online businesses have the ability to function with much less inventory or in some cases none at all. Brick and mortar stores can sometimes have issues with having all of their money tied up in inventory, inventory loss or inventory that is hard to move. With the dropshipping options available today from companies like Sunrise Wholesale and Oberlo you can actually run a business with no inventory needed.

Payment Processing

Before you start trading, you'll have to establish how you're going to take payments from your customers. Luckily it is very easy to set up your online store with an integrated payment gateway system, so you can start accepting credit and debit card payments from customers around the world. There may be dozens of different payment providers depending on your geographical location. Where the different platforms vary is their transaction fees, flexibility and advanced features such as the ability to accept recurring payments, but with a little research it shouldn't be hard to find the right option for your business.

Adaptability

As a business owner you will need to be adaptable to make your business survive and thrive. Online businesses by their nature are also very adaptable. If you can leverage this quality to your advantage you will be able to stay at the forefront of the market and weather any storms that come your way. As with the COVID-19 crisis, many brick and mortar shops and businesses found themselves unable to change to accommodate business during a pandemic. Online businesses have thrived because of their adaptability. 

Conclusion

At the end of the day, just like with a brick and mortar business, and online business takes work and dedication. You will get back what you are willing to put into it. A low barrier of entry simply means that anyone can set up an online business, it does not mean that just anyone will be able to grow it and help it to thrive and be successful. Your time, hard work and skills will still have to be the foundation of your business.