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While entrepreneurship is a dream for many, it’s also a risk, and starting a business on the internet brings a unique set of challenges. What are those challenges? How can they be overcome?
Starting an online business can be daunting for any Entrepreneur. There are so many wrong ways to do it. However, there are many right ways to do it as well. There are so many different online business models, different types of marketing, and many technical issues you will come across. It would take an entire course on how to start an online business to even scratch the surface of the topic. Therefore, in this article, we will summarize where to start and discuss some of the basics of what needs to be done.
An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The process of setting up a business is known as entrepreneurship. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures.
Entrepreneurs play a key role in any economy, using the skills and initiative necessary to anticipate needs and bring good new ideas to market. Entrepreneurship that proves to be successful in taking on the risks of creating a startup is rewarded with profits, fame, and continued growth opportunities. Entrepreneurship that fails results in losses and less prevalence in the markets for those involved.
Here are the steps you can take to become an online entrepreneur:
New businesses typically start with identifying a problem and developing a way to address that problem. If you're thinking about starting an online business, consider what areas align with your knowledge base, skill set and interests. Finding a business niche that uses your strengths can help you stay motivated and leverage your prior training and experience.
Online entrepreneurs must invest time in becoming knowledgeable about their sector and the resources available to them. This might entail learning:
Speaking with other entrepreneurs concerning their favorite goods, preferred distribution channels, glories, and difficulties may be helpful as well.
Through the consumption of content across multiple channels, an aspiring entrepreneur is able to identify various problems to solve. One business adage dictates that a company's product or service needs to solve a specific pain point; either for another business or for a consumer group. Through the identification of a problem, an aspiring entrepreneur is able to build a business around solving that problem.
It is important to combine steps three and four so it is possible to identify a problem to solve by looking at various industries as an outsider. This often provides an aspiring entrepreneur with the ability to see a problem others might not.
Successful startups solve a specific pain point for other companies or for the public. This is known as "adding value within the problem." Only through adding value to a specific problem or pain point does an entrepreneur become successful.
Say, for example, you identify the process for making a dentist appointment is complicated for patients, and dentists are losing customers as a result. The value could be to build an online appointment system that makes it easier to book appointments.
Most entrepreneurs can't do it alone. The business world is a cutthroat one and getting any help you can will always help and reduce the time it takes to achieve a successful business. Networking is critical for any new entrepreneur. Meeting the right people that can introduce you to contacts in your industry, such as the right suppliers, financiers, and even mentors can be the difference between success and failure.
Attending conferences, emailing and calling people in the industry, speaking to your cousin's friend's brother who is in a similar business, will help you get out into the world and discover people that can guide you. Once you have your foot in the door with the right people, conducting a business becomes a lot easier.
Every entrepreneur needs to be a leader within their company. Simply doing the day-to-day requirements will not lead to success. A leader needs to work hard, motivate, and inspire their employees to reach their best potential, which will lead to the success of the company.
Look at some of the greatest and most successful companies; all of them have had great leaders. Apple and Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Microsoft, Bob Iger and Disney, and so on. Study these people and read their books to see how to be a great leader and become the leader that your employees can follow by the example you set.
Given the riskiness of a new venture, the acquisition of capital funding is particularly challenging, and many entrepreneurs deal with it via bootstrapping: financing a business using methods such as using their own money, providing sweet equity to reduce labor costs, minimizing inventory, and factoring receivables.
While some entrepreneurs are lone players struggling to get small businesses off the ground on a shoestring others take on partners armed with greater access to capital and other resources. In these situations, new firms may acquire financing from venture capitalists, angel investors, hedge funds, crowdfunding, or through more traditional sources such as bank loans.
There are a variety of financing resources for entrepreneurs starting their own businesses. Obtaining a small business loan through the Small Business Administration (SBA) can help entrepreneurs get the business off the ground with affordable loans. SBA helps connect businesses to loan providers.
If entrepreneurs are willing to give up a piece of equity in their business, then they may find financing in the form of angel investors and venture capitalists. These types of investors also provide guidance, mentorship, and connections in addition to just capital.
Crowdfunding has also become a popular way for entrepreneurs to raise capital, particularly through Kickstarter. An entrepreneur creates a page for their product and a monetary goal to reach while promising certain givebacks to those who donate, such as products or experiences.
You’ll want to make your online business website as professional and appealing as possible. Start by choosing a suitable domain name – and note that fees for this vary depending on the provider. You can then choose a web hosting company to provide the services needed for your website.
And now you get to the fun bit…
Time to design and plan a content strategy. Consider implementing search engine optimization (SEO) techniques in the build of your website. Although SEO alone will not rank you in Google, it is absolutely essential.
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While you may know the basics of starting an online business, as an entrepreneur you will want to take on risks in the hope of generating profit. With that in mind, here are three important steps to online business success.
This is without a doubt one of the most important factors for any online business entrepreneur. Marketing is a great (and arguably essential) way to grow your business. You should consider creating a marketing plan and within it, implementing a digital and social media strategy.
Growing your audience is so important… It might be the most important thing in the entire world of online business.
If your business is online, you will need to take steps to attract potential customers. This could be as simple as SEO-based blog posts (content marketing) or taking active steps to generate word of mouth through reviews or influencer marketing.
Although content marketing is still the #1 marketing strategy online, word of mouth can be hugely beneficial to online businesses as well. Research shows that it builds consumer trust and loyalty and can sway buying decisions.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos famously said, “If you’re going to invent, you’re going to disrupt”. To succeed with your business, you’ll need to set yourself apart from your audience and this may involve disrupting your target market.
In the early stages of planning your online businesses, you could conduct a SWOT analysis. This will not only tell you about external factors impacting your business, but it will also help to identify opportunities that others aren’t on top of.
Your strengths will shine when your business idea is based on something you know about. When you are building a business that you are passionate about, it will be easier if you’re an expert in the area and know the competition and standards you would expect.
It’s equally as important to love what you are selling. If you sell something that you would be willing to buy, then it will be a lot easier to sell.
As an online entrepreneur, you will be relying on your digital presence to sell your business. It’s important to make sure your website and social media accounts are informative, of the best quality, and look inviting.
Technology changes all the time so it’s a good idea to keep up and be aware of the ever-changing trends. It’s equally vital to keep your social accounts organized so that they slot in with your digital and social media marketing strategy.
5. Choose a Save Network
Markethive is the first Social Market Network on Blockchain
Markethive is the Epicentre of the Entrepreneurs of the World. It delivers a complete ecosystem all built within the blockchain.
The Divine mission of Markethive, the blockchain-driven social market network, was developed to fill the vacuum for the world's entrepreneurs. MarketHive is an entrepreneurial social marketing platform with the combined strength of LinkedIn, Amazon, Facebook and Marketo.
If you have an online business, the Markethive system has all the free tools you need to grow your business.
6. Conclusion
Anyone can be an online business entrepreneur… and it can be extremely rewarding. But while it may sound like the dream life, the hard truth is that it takes hard work, investment, and determination to make it a success.
To your success!
Andries van Tonder
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Serial Entrepreneur/investor since 2013.
South Africa.
Follow me on FaceBook, Twitter, WebTalk, Instagram & Markethive
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