As a young entrepreneur, you are given a chance to leverage the opportunities offered by the digital landscape. Start a business without worrying about the cost of a brick and mortar shop because you can always set up shop online. There are countless ways to get the word out about your business, and your advantage is that most of it is free and easy to learn.
However, one of the biggest mishaps stem from underestimating the amount of work that goes into marketing an online business. Sure, you can study all the materials you want and execute them. But if you do not strategise your online efforts well, then it will all be moot.
To avoid falling into the traps of starting an online business, here are some of the most common mistakes you should try very hard not to experience.
Not doing market research
Passion for your products and your business is good, but that will not drive the sales. What matters in business is knowing the audience that you will cater to. If you do not do market research, then who are you making your content for? Who are really selling your product to and why should they care?
You should know your key demographic, their buying behaviour, their interests, and what they can afford in general. Craft a business plan out of what you will find out and then use this to guide your decisions in the next steps to come.
Focusing on insignificant tasks
Remember that the first thing you need to focus on is actually getting the business off the ground. Do not worry about other things like what your business cards will look like, what tagline you should have, or indeed what your logo is going to be. Instead, focus on operations and manufacturing first.
Inconsistent branding
Once everything you need to start the business has been laid out, like manufacturing and market data, then that is when you can focus on the aesthetics and vibe.
Note that branding is not merely about the colours and typography you choose. It is about the emotions your business incites, the response it gets from your customers. This is an amalgamation of your design choices as well as your tone of voice.
Some new brands mistake trends in language as an effective way to capture the market. That is not the case especially if your key demographic does not speak in that way. Using your market data, make sure your tone of voice and language appeals to the age demographic of your industry. From the domain up until the copy that will go on your website, these must all sound cohesive and consistent to the customer.
In the event that your chosen name is taken, you can always check domain name prices to see if your options are still within your budget. You can also do a domain WHOIS lookup to see if you can contact the owner and negotiate with them.
Undervaluing your products
With the way the current economy works, it is tempting to make sure your key demographic can actually afford what you are offering. But do remember that you have to take a lot of factors into account when you are slashing price. The price per product you sell covers manufacturing, labour, shipping, and profit. If you are going to lower prices, make sure that none of those will be affected.
Note that if your product does what it promises, people will buy it no matter the price. By hiring professional strategic business advisory services, your business can become significantly more attractive to buyers.
No financial plan
Just because an online business is much more affordable does not mean you should not worry about money. Producing your products and targeted ads all cost money, not to mention if you hired a team to help you with your daily operations. Avoid scrambling for funds at the last minute by creating a financial plan and sticking to it until your business is earning significant profit.
Any business, whether online or not, will take time to get the attention it needs to keep afloat. Keep working hard on your search engine optimisation efforts and continue churning relevant content so you can build credibility and brand retention. The old adage “Rome was not build in a day” applies in online businesses, and it would be wise to keep that in mind.
