The entrepreneur industry is booming. From Shopify startups to Etsy boutiques, many people around the world are saying goodbye to the confines of a traditional workspace to create their own careers. While it’s true you can start your own company in just one day, there’s more to online success than you might think. We’ve all seen products online and thought, “I could make that,” and that may be very well true. But having the ability to design a good t-shirt or build an enticing e-commerce store is one small piece of the pie. To really find the success that’s sustainable as a digital entrepreneur, you need to spend time and likely money investing in your business to help it grow. These five strategies will help you get your idea off the ground more easily and boost your odds of long-term profitability.
Don’t Think About Getting Rich Quick
While you will be surprised at how much money you can earn after you secure a steady stream of sales, online businesses don’t magically take off unless you already have a large following of potential buyers. If you’re starting without a presence, it will take time, consistency, and patience to set up your store and produce content that entices customers online. You might make a few sales here and there, but you likely won’t immediately open shop and be earning enough each month to quit your day job.
Some people fall prey to wholesale dropshipping schemes that require them to dump a large sum of money upfront for products that are guaranteed to generate a massive profit. What usually happens is that you make a few sales and are left with a massive stock of products that catered to a trend or niche market that has had its need fulfilled. Remember the old adage about how slow and steady wins the race, especially as you develop your business strategy. Focus on long-term value, profitability, and potential for expansion rather than just trying to generate as much revenue as possible in a short period of time.
Research Your Audience
You need to understand not only audience demographics but psychographics as well. These are character traits, values, interests, and behaviors you can use to predict their buying habits. You should actively follow and engage with profiles online that are in your target audience. You should also thoroughly assess the competition and see what you can learn from what they post and what their customers have to say about their products. Never assume that you know best; the customers are the ones you have to impress, and it’s their opinion that ultimately makes or breaks your business.
Assess Your Pain Points
In business and marketing, pain points are specific problems that affect a company’s operations or a customer’s experience. You likely won’t know yours entirely until you make your first few sales, but you can easily identify what pain points you are facing as an entrepreneur. One of the biggest and most common pain points for new businesses is not having enough money to get started. Whether you can’t afford to order products you want to sell or are unable to pay for the advertising your brand needs to get seen, no money means no business. Some common pain points for small startups are:
- Not having any money for advertising
- Lack of design experience to produce high-quality web content
- Poor knowledge of social media and internet best practices
- Setting prices too low so they don’t generate any ROI
- Difficulty identifying an audience
- Struggling to pinpoint a niche and diversify business strategy
The key is to look for ways to resolve these pain points before they become a bigger problem down the line. In terms of financing, which pretty much puts your entire company at a halt until it’s rectified, focus on your budget and savings. If you have a lot of bills, particularly debt, look for ways to lower payments. Refinancing your student debt from Earnest.com can help you ease some of the burdens without having to defer payments, which will allow you to free up some room in your budget to put toward your business expenses.
Research Your Suppliers Well
Do you want to package and ship products from your own home, or would you rather they arrive on customers’ doorsteps without so much as a packing peanut gracing your bedroom? If countless trips to the post office, cardboard boxes, and mailing envelopes don’t bother you, then wholesale or making your own products will be fine. But for those who would like to minimize expenses, both monetary and temporal, you should research suppliers. They can make products directly at their facilities and ship them to your customers.
To create a personal touch, look for suppliers who not only offer a diverse range of products but also accommodate your custom packaging design. You’re better off working with one good supplier who has a slightly higher rate than one who is unreliable, frequently out-of-stock, or has negative reviews. Don’t just trust a good website; look for reviews online from real business owners who have worked with each company. You can even choose Polythene UK sustainable packaging, which would be highly appreciated and accepted by most of your clients
Claim Your Name on Socials
Few things look as unprofessional in digital society as a brand with five different names across various social media platforms. In order to project an aura of professionalism and expertise, your audience can trust, make sure that your entire online presence is unified under a cohesive brand identity. First, make sure you research the name you want to go with and ensure no other business is actively using it. If another company has the same name, you run the risk of copyrighting a trademark or simply having your own brand constantly misconstrued for one with a stronger presence.
Once you have an original name, choose social media platforms that match your audience’s behavior. This means straying free from platforms just for the sake of using them and tapping into the communities your ideal customers actively participate in. Ensure your usernames are all identical or extremely similar, for example, offset by an underscore or dash when the original spelling is unavailable.
