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Last Updated on July 15, 2020 by Work In My Pajamas
Running an online business is an attractive concept. However, beneath the grandeur of web-based entrepreneurship, there are the technical, financial, and legal challenges that must be addressed before profits can start coming in consistently. Here are five tips to successfully run your online business.
In This Post:
1. Find a Mentor
Enrolling in a mentorship program for entrepreneurs is one way to get professional guidance. However, it usually takes a stringent and selective admission process, and some even charge a fee for it. Another option is to simply go out and look for industry experts in social events. A mentor can be of great help, especially during the early stages of your business. They can point out what you need, how to execute tasks, and ways to resolve specific challenges.
2. Pick Up the Pace
Online businesses have the advantage of being able to scale quite rapidly compared to traditional brick and mortar businesses. Capitalize on this unique quality by taking off quick and keeping the momentum going. A good way to expedite an online business is to sign up with eMerchant Club. You can quickly launch your store in a cost-effective way.
3. Identify a Gap and Fill it
Following a trend is a lazy way to run a business. While it does offer short-term profitability, businesses that adopt this strategy of following the herd tend to be short-lived. Instead, focus on a specific industry or market niche and look for a necessity that has yet to be fulfilled by a business.
4. Build a Professional Online Presence
Having a good web-based presence is essential to building a brand. One way you can achieve this is finding a good website designer that can start an online store. You can either learn and master good web design practices or hire a professional to create a fully functioning website in a matter of days.
5. Focus on Customers
Always have customers in mind when making business decisions and profits will follow. For instance, if your online business is creating marketing content for your clients, ask yourself what type of marketing videos will best complement your client’s business and not just going after the simplest route.
Succeeding in your chosen online business will require hours of work and unwavering dedication to your entrepreneurial endeavor. Keep in mind that running an online business is analogous to a marathon, and not a sprint or a get rich scheme.
Hello Anita and thanks for this enlightening post about running an online business.
Totally agree with you re the critical importance of having a mentor – for a long time I ignored this opportunity thinking I could do it all on my own. What stupid thinking in hindsight! When I finally woke up to the need I had for a mentor my business almost tripled!
If we can identify a real gap in the market and fill it with our own unique content solutions then for sure you’ll definitely have a winner. My only caution here is to make sure you you really do know who your audience is first and what are the major “pain pints”/frustrations, struggles/problems. These are what you need to focus on with your uniqwue content solutions.
Could not agree more with the idea of having a focus on your customers – ignore this at your peril!
Many thanks for sharing this great article Anite.
Best wishes from a remote Thai village blogger.
Peter
Nice tips, but in pratice, finding mentor can be pretty hard. I don’t know very many successful persons that would share their knowledge with a beginer.
In my case, my “mentor” was Brad Geddes, I learned 50% from what I know from his books. The rest of 50% I learned by testing and trying to improve what I learned from Brad’s Books. 🙂
Investing in book and courses should be a 6th tip on the list 😛