Establishing An Online Business – Part 1
Sometimes you could be mistaken for thinking that all that was required to start an online business was a web site. In actual fact, your website is only one component of your online business and there is plenty to do before you even have a website.
The most fundamental question to ask yourself when considering an online business is WHY. There are any number of good reasons to include or start an online presence. Some of these may include:
- Sell directly to customers on line rather than through a bricks and mortar shop;
- Obtain a broader customer base including international;
- Provide a more efficient and cost effective service to customers;
- To utilize the public relations aspects of social marketing and blogs;
- Reduce sales costs.
There are many more valid reasons for establishing an online business. What is important is to identify YOUR reasons for establishing the presence. Once you have a clear understanding of why, you can start to formulate some objectives and long term goals.
The first set of objectives is to define:
- Who your target audience is
- What your target audiences online habits are
- What you want from your target audience
- How you intend to market your site
- How you intend to keep them on your site and to keep them coming back
- How you will fulfill your side of the deal
Answering these questions will require research. Search the internet, use search engines, visit social sites and directories, particularly business directories, to see what sort of competition you will face.
One of the important aspects of starting an online business is to treat as you would a bricks and mortar business. If you already have a shop front, consider everything that would be required to open a second shop front in a new area. If you don’t already have a business, then as this will be a completely new business, you will need business plans, goals and budgets.
Your next step is to consider your domain name and website. We cover those aspects in our next post.
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