How To Start An Online Business

Table of contents

1. How To Start A Business Online
2. Start Up Cost – Less Than $1,000
3. Select The Product or Service
4. Digital Marketing 101
5. Launch The Business 

1- How To Start A Business Online 

Starting an online business begins with “The Roadmap to Success.” Once you start on this path you may have the foundation to live a life of financial freedom. As we look at the world today, we must realize shopping habits are changing. Today, E-commerce accounts for 20% of retail sales and will continue to grow. E-commerce share of total retail sales | Statista This could be your chance to make a difference in the world. The first thing that you should ask yourself before starting a business is: What global product or service can I offer? The key to starting a successful business is to offer a solution to a problem and be able to solve the problem in a unique way that separates you from your competition. Your strategy may also be to service the customer faster and easier than your competitors. You have a skillset that no one else has. Customize It, Personalize It, and Monetize It!

Since inflation is a factor in business and real estate costs are unpredictable, an online business is a viable option to keep costs low. Some of the highest costs of any brick-and-mortar business may include rent and employees – remove that from your business model and you can have a business with high profit margins. Making money online will give you flexibility in life. This will allow you to spend more quality time with family, friends and travel the world.

2- Start Up Costs Budget – Less than $1,000.

When calculating startup costs, we must use supplies we already possess. Let us start with a laptop or computer. A laptop is preferred, over a desktop because it will give you access to data remotely – anywhere in the world. All you need is an internet connection. The next step would be getting a domain name. A domain name will be registered to identify the owner. An example would be my website One Finance Coach. A domain name can be purchased for about $10 – $15. Once you purchase a domain name, you will then need to find a hosting company. The monthly costs for hosting could range between $2.99 – $50 per month depending on your needs. Here are some great options.

Bluehost (a leader in hosting and domain names – 3M users, professional with 24/7 support)

Green Geeks (If you are environmentally conscious, you may want to go with an Eco-friendly hosting option)

Name Cheap (affordable rates and an excellent choice for beginners, customer service ready to assist you – 2 M accounts).

As you explore your business options, there are tools available to determine what key words people are searching for around the globe. You can use unpaid tools to keep your costs low. These free tools can help us analyze what’s trending Google Trends (hyperlink) and Word Stream (hyperlink). Use these keywords to finalize your product or service idea.

https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=US

Free Keyword Tool

3- Select The Product or Service.

Now let us select a product! Digital Products are the best when creating a constant flow of cash, with little to no effort. Many small businesses are creating E-books, templates, and workbooks. These types of products can sell on websites like Etsy, where high income earners are making $10,000 per month. Another option would be to sell online courses. In addition, to selling courses, creators offer coaching, consulting, membership, and subscriptions. The monthly pricing ranges from ($0 to $499). Thinkific, Teachable, and Learworlds are great options. All these platforms offer a launch event periodically (usually with for paid membership) which may help you launch and start making money online quickly.

1. Thinkific (Well know platform, create courses and interface data quickly) 

1. Teachable (A leader in E-learning – easily create an online course or coaching business)

Learnworlds (Great features and flexibility for all levels)

Dropping is an alternative online business option. It is supply chain management method in which the wholesaler ships goods directly to the customer instead of the product going to the retailer than then shipped out. Shipping is critical when in comes to the retail business. You want to make sure the customer is happy, they get their goods to them on time, and you make a profit. Purchase products with a high profit margin. For example, if you found a wholesaler/distributor who would sell you a t-shirt for $10 and the suggested retail price is $20, then you would make a 50% profit on each item sold. If you sold 1,000 t-shirts per month, you would have a gross profit of $10,000. You would have to keep in mind refunds and return and estimate that at 5%- 10%, but a nice profit if you understand your audience and what they want. You can create you online store with Shopify and use Spockets as the wholesaler/distributor. A great combination for drop shipping.

Shopify (Create your online store using templates)

Spockets  (Use for US and EU Drop shipping, start with selling top products – buy from wholesale)

4- Marketing 

Once you have created your amazing product or service, you must market it! Finding Your Niche! Kindly determine who would be your ideal customer and develop marketing strategy.

When it comes to marketing start with your immediate circle. Would your friends or family members be interested in your product or service? Then you would look at social media- Linked-In, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, an email list that you may have collected. Blogging is also a great low-cost way to get customers. You can now move on to paid advertising like Google Ads or Facebook Ads.

As your business grows, focus on your niche, organize the customer data, and nurture your audience with business software. Use Converkit or Active Campaign as your Client Relationship Manager Software (CRM).

Convert Kit (Great for beginners, send newsletters, create landing pages)

Active Campaign (an email marketing tool, create newsletters, send messages to subscribers, a robust platform with templates.

5- Partnerships

Your business will expand when you put in the hard work. Once that happens, you will need a team. An amazing resource to use is Fiverr (http://www.fiverr.com/s2/749b8c88b4), a platform of thousands of freelancers ready to assist you any time. You want people on your team who are going to support your dream and help you move to the next level. Mindset and Movement!!

The last step would be receiving your passive income.