With economy stagnating courtesy of the Covid-19 pandemic, reality is setting in and more people are coming to the realization that their office jobs are simply not enough to earn a decent living. As such, online business has become a popular alternative source of income due to its convenience and ease.
However, just like any other business, it is not all rosy as many online businesses fail as soon as they launch. There are things that you need to do to ensure that you’re successful at what you do.
Here are some tips on how to launch and maintain a successful online business.
1. Identify A Niche
Once you’ve established what kind of business you want to launch, do your research. Know who the target market is and if you’re solving a problem. Look for a niche that doesn’t have many solutions so as to capitalize on the high demand. For instance, if you’re launching a food vending business, go for specialties that aren’t saturated but have a potential market.
2. Choose A Good Brand Name
This is usually one of the hardest parts of starting any kind of business since you can’t keep
changing your business name. Additionally, branding plays a major role in an online business.
It’s, therefore, important to choose a name that is memorable, essentially a name that is easily remembered because it is special or unusual. A good example of this is BigFish and MohWings. Don’t be in a rush to name your business, try to consult among your friends and family before committing to a name.
3. Have A Website
There’s nothing wrong with starting your business on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, it’s a good idea to have a website for your business. Websites look more professional and you’ll be able to handle heavy traffic better. Additionally, websites show your visitors your business model earning you more loyal customers.
4. Show Customer Reviews
Customer reviews makes your business more trustworthy which is important for an online
business. Encourage your customers to leave reviews then have a dedicated section to display the reviews on both your website and social media account. If you receive a negative review, learn how to take criticism and improve on it.
5. Respond Promptly
One of the basics to launch a successful online business is to respond to queries in a timely
manner. You can lose potential clients and earn a bad reputation due to poor customer service. People always remember how long it took to get a response and might not want to buy anything if they’ve been kept waiting no matter how good your products are.
6. Stay Active On Social Media
Promote your products on social media and make your presence more visible so as to attract
customers. If possible, you can work with influencers to market your business. However, don’t
delegate your business’ social media account to another person. It’s important that you play an active role in managing the accounts especially in its initial stages. One business that has been able to gain popularity on the socials which has resulted in more customers has to be BigFish. This goes to show how important social media is to a business.
7. Build Relationships With Customers
Having a relationship with your customers helps establish trust in the business. However, it’s
hard to build relationships with customers when running an online business since there’s little
face to face interactions. You can make customers online feel appreciated by posting them in
your products. Additionally, you can offer something free to a returning customer.
8. Have An Aesthetic
Most popular social media accounts have a specific aesthetic. Having an aesthetic brings
consistency to your brand hence telling a story. Therefore, when taking pictures for your
business, ensure that you have a theme. Keeping the colours, texture and style similar throughout your feed also makes your account look neater and more eye-catching.
9. Have A Clear Delivery Service
Delivery is key in an online business. However, most business cannot afford same day delivery
let alone door to door delivery especially when starting off. This shouldn’t be an excuse to keep your customers waiting for days so as to get their products. If you don’t have door to door delivery, you can have a pickup point instead.
10. Track Your Progress
You can set up Google Analytics to track your business’s progress. This should let you know how many visitors you received, the most popular products and the conversion rate. Additionally, you can manually track your progress by recording your sales statistics in a spreadsheet.