How to successfully open an online business:- www.deekpay.com

Harbouring dreams of becoming an entrepreneur? Planning to start an online business?

"I firmly believe that half the difference between successful and unsuccessful entrepreneurs is pure perseverance." -- Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc. Whether you're starting a small business or pursuing bigger goals, successful business has nothing to do with the size or platform of your business. It only has to do with real marketing facts, innovative and achievable ideas, and a strong sense of energy.

With O2O (offline to online) soaring at an alarming rate, competition has peaked. How do you stand out in this wave of competition? Let's understand this through an example: you wish to start your own online business, an e-commerce fashion accessories website.

Step 1: Discovering the need

Maybe you've planned your business, products and other details, but have you considered what your audience is looking for? Knowing your audience is a misnomer. Often times, what they want and what you offer are the exact opposite.

Accurately capture market demand! That's exactly what Apple did when they first introduced the iPod. People wanted to listen to music and Sony's Walkman was very popular. Apple recognised the need for music and therefore introduced a product that was more complete and of higher quality. The question is: how do you find that demand? Since you're planning to launch an online site, make the most of the following online tools:

Social Media Poll: Facebook has a fantastic built-in tool that helps marketers win a majority by voting. You can ask your question in the form of a poll on your wall or related business page.

Email Surveys: people do read emails! According to Smart Insights, ecommerce emails have an open rate of 16.751 TP3T.Conducting product surveys via email, MailChimp will provide you with clear insights into...

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): log on to Google keywords to get accurate ideas. For example, if you search for e-commerce, carefully note down all the searches that pop up.

Step 2: Review your product

If you think the results of the first step match your business idea, then move on. However, if the audience has different needs, it is advisable to focus on their needs first rather than trying to push and sell your idea. Focus on your audience and the likelihood of your business growing dramatically is very high.

Step 3: Effective planning

After completing steps one and two, setting up your product or marketing plan should be less painful. It's important to design your product (your website, display products, etc.) in a way that is easy for everyone to use.

Creating an effective communication plan is also important. What communication channels will you use to reach your target audience? What will you communicate? There are many other questions that need to be asked, answered and planned for effectively. Here are some key words or terms you might consider:

blog (loanword)

social media

node

email

online game

mobile telephone

forum (for discussion)

video

text messaging

Step 4: Financing Your Startup

Now is the time to market your intellectual property! This is a major step for your online business, as growth in both product and marketing will depend on the amount of money you are able to raise. Before you start counting the available or "I need this much" money, learn about the different types of financing or investment:

Self-funding or self-financing: as the founder of an e-commerce website, equip it with most or all of the money in your pocket. Self-financing is the key to launching your business journey. It is considered to be the most efficient and cost-effective way to ensure positive cash flow for your business.

Friends & Family: Here you reach out to your inner circle of people to get them to invest in your idea/online business. However, it's best not to have too many people in your investor group initially. Reliability is key.

Seed financing/seed capital: This is the initial stage of raising funds or investment from outside sources. Seed financing can be done by individuals or groups of investors, often referred to as angel investors (semi-professionals who are or have been founders of the company).

VENTURE CAPITAL: In this round of investment, your company is either the most profitable or can revive all of its negative cash flow. With these possibilities in mind, venture capitalists will pump money into your company's system.

Mezzanine Financing: This is the last round of financing before going public. Here your company grows not only in resources but also in business operations. It is worth more than millions or even billions. Most startups sell before they get to this stage.

Initial Public Offering (IPO): The first sale of a company's stock to the public. After the IPO offering, the company becomes a public company and is no longer privately owned. In order to grow and expand, companies raise large amounts of money through public offerings. This is not the ultimate goal of all startups.

You can also pitch your business idea directly at top networking events like CodeUp and UpStart.

Step 5: Choose your business type

Whether you own a partnership, a private limited company or a sole proprietorship, you can refer to the regulations and norms of the Government of India for business rights. Here is a quick overview of the process of registering a new company:

Choose at least one suitable and unique company name.

Apply online with the relevant ROC to ensure availability of the company name.

Complete and file Forms 1, 18 and 32 within 60 days of approval of the company name.

Drafting, reviewing and printing of Articles of Incorporation and Memorandum of Association by attorneys.

Arrange for appropriate stamp duty.

Signed by at least two subscribers with specific information.

Check all the details - dates, signatures, seals, etc.

Login to the portal and submit the form along with other mandatory documents.

Step 6: Register your domain name

The domain name is the face of your e-commerce site. For example, www.xyz.com/in/net等. XYZ could be your brand name or its abbreviation.

Tip: Make your domain name relevant, short and easy to remember. This will increase brand recall, visibility to your audience and therefore increase sales; expanding your online business opportunities and reach.

Step 7: Web Hosting

As mentioned earlier, online business is escalating rapidly and as a result there are many web hosting services available for free. If you really intend to run an online business for the long term, then it's best to purchase your own hosting service. A custom or paid service is flexible enough to provide you with everything you need for your website - templates, structural preferences, writing your own programmes, etc. Choose a service that allows you to grow - with regular upgrades or updates.

Step 8: Create your online shop and mobile apps

At this stage, work needs to be done to create the main face or storefront of your website. The entire user interface and user experience (UI, UX) is planned, agreed and implemented. Here is the checklist:

Select a template

Design of the homepage (colour scheme, fonts, etc.)

Integration landing page

Display high-resolution and realistic product images

Select category (earrings, men's, women's, children's, footwear, etc.)

Updating of related products (according to classification)

Synchronising shopping carts

Choosing a Trustworthy Online Payment Gateway

One of the main advantages of an online business is - it can be accessed anytime, anywhere. Make the most of this advantage and make your website mobile friendly.

Step 9: Marketing Tools

Now that your online business is ready to launch in the market, follow these most cost-effective marketing tips to make your marketing efforts bear fruit. Some of the tools include:

Social media marketing: promote your business on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

Content marketing: make the most of blogs, videos, images, etc. to raise awareness about your business.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): SEM is a paid form of search engine optimisation. It targets any organic search presented as top results, depending on which keywords you wish to target.

Viral marketing: this is a combination of referral marketing and influence marketing. Your customers will influence their friends to buy on your website and in return you give them some incentives such as vouchers, cash back offers, free gifts etc.

Email marketing: it is the way to communicate directly with your audience.

Step 10: Analysis

You won't know your success unless you measure it. Who views your e-commerce site or web application? How many times and for how long? Google Analytics is the key factor, followed and trusted by all. Business analytics gives you a broader, clearer view of what works and what doesn't. This information helps you strengthen your online business and guides you along the right path without incurring major losses.

Step 11: Feedback

The cycle doesn't end until there is valuable feedback. Seeking feedback always makes you stand taller as a learner and a quality businessman. Your customers feel open and cared for when you give them some space to voice their opinions on your product or business. Treat your audience with respect and the rewards you get are absolutely priceless!

Starting an online business and grabbing the ladder of success to rise upright is an option. There are many businesses that are born and die out before their lifespan expires. But the businesses that manage to stay afloat are smart players who want to create bigger and better things for themselves and everyone else.

So, which one are you?