It’s easier to start your own online business than ever before these days. Compared to starting a physical retail store, the costs are almost nonexistent. An online store that has similar sales numbers could earn up to $100,000 more each year than a retail location.
This speaks to the price of physical infrastructure versus online infrastructure. For something as niche and physical as office furniture, you might expect main street stores to dominate. Well, online office furniture is already a $12 billion industry, so perhaps not.
Still, while costs might be lower, it doesn’t mean there aren’t some serious barriers to entry. To make it big time in the online business world, you need to make every dollar spent a dollar well spent. Here are some tips for doing just that.
Host Your Website For Less
The days of expensive yearly contracts have all but disappeared in the domain hosting market. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been dominating in this field for the last few years, and hosting a website on their servers should only cost you between $10 and $50 per year depending on the size of the site.
Perfect Your Brand
Branding is a state of mind. It is the face, idea, and desire of your company. Most of the work in branding must come from within your business. You must decide why your company does what it does. Things like logos, names, and designs can come later. Don’t spend money that could be better applied elsewhere on someone who wants to tell you who you are. Instead, invest in a solid graphic designer. Failing that, hit up Fiverr for some down and dirty logo design work. If you don’t like the result, you have only spent five bucks.
Hone Your Marketing
This is where a lot of your budget will end up. You might not like it, especially since marketing is a bit of an invisible expense, but there are too many websites doing the same thing as you to skimp on the marketing budget. Still, there are a few ways to reduce costs. First, target search engines. An estimated 82.6% of internet users rely on search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an inbound lead generation tactic that aims to place your website higher in Google’s results page. The more people see your product, the greater a chance they buy it. As an aside, Statista has data to suggest that 61.2% of internet traffic will come from mobile devices in 2018, so make sure your site is mobile friendly.<
Establish Inventory Storage
Establishing your storage solutions will depend heavily on what you are selling. If it’s office furniture, you certainly can’t keep it in your home. If you sell pocket squares, you’ll probably have room in your home office. Weigh your spatial needs with care and opt for the least costly option that doesn’t clutter your house beyond reason.
Read Entrepreneurial Books
Knowledge is power and there is some powerful knowledge in these entrepreneurial books. In a fast-paced online marketplace, you need to adapt quickly and learn how to make split-second decisions. Equip yourself with these tools today and you will have a better tomorrow.
The online marketplace is competitive no matter what you sell. The internet is about freedom and opportunity and a lot of people are already taking advantage of it. To claim your niche, you need to be nimble, resilient, and level-headed with your money. Everything else will follow.
