Ideas for businesses can sprout just about anywhere at any time. And during this pandemic when many jobs have been lost and the need for alternative means of income is growing, having an online business can be a lucrative way to increase your income. Whether you are starting your online business full time or as a “side hustle” – we have compiled the top 5 mistakes people tend to make when embarking on starting an online business and how to avoid them.
Mistake 1: Having no passion for what the business is offering.
Every business starts from an idea and ideally that idea is linked to something you are passionate about. Running your own online business, whether it is your full-time job or doing part time, takes a lot of time and effort. If you are not passionate about what your business – all this time and effort is will most likely be wasted as you progress, and more than likely lose interest in the business. Passion helps you get through the long days, the difficult days, and the days you want to quit. Passion also helps you sell your business and ideas to potential customers and partners.
Mistake 2: Having no business plan.
Having a business requires a lot of planning, forecasting, and budgeting and without a business plan, the likelihood of failure is high as issues and mistakes crop up that you did not account or prepare for. Once you have your idea, create a business plan (it does not have to be overly complicated) to help you structure your plan of action, targets, identifying the target market and competition, the details of the products or services being offered, and how to go about marketing the business.
Mistake 3: Poor Competitor Research.
Competition drives the market. There will always be competition, so it is important to make sure that your product or service has something that sets it apart from the rest. The only way to ensure this is if you have done your business plan as mentioned above and completed thorough competitive research. If your product is like someone else’s, you must find another way to differentiate yourself from them – whether this is in delivery time, customer service, small perks, price, additional support, there are many ways you can ensure that your product/service is different from the competition. And once you have decided upon your differentiating factor, make sure that your potential customers are aware of it and how it benefits them.
Mistake 4: Not having a good strategy for marketing the business.
You have your idea that you are passionate about, you have written your business plan and done thorough competitor analysis, now is the time to get your marketing plan ready. A marketing plan for the online business is a must. It is the bridge that would connect the business to potential customers so knowing how to go about this is important. Having an email subscription option would be great to regularly update customers about the business. Social media pages would also be a great thing to have. The website should also have been optimized for search engines. Business owners can also make use of guest posting, paid ads, and video marketing among many other strategies.
Mistake 5: Delaying the launch of the business.
A lot of people prepare their websites or platforms for their online business and have it ready but take a long time to launch it, whether it is because you are waiting for the “perfect time” or for a certain number of likes on a post – there will never be a perfect time. After you have completed the steps suggested above, it’s safe to say you’re on track to launch your business. The longer you wait the longer it takes for you to start making sales and generating revenue (the thing that will keep your business afloat). Equally importantly, the longer you wait to launch, the more time you give other people the opportunity to create a business like or, even better than yours. By waiting to long, you are by default increasing your competition and losing potential customers. Accept that there will never be the perfect time, that you will make mistakes along the way – and launch your business today! Like the old saying goes, “if you’re not in, you can’t win.”
So, there you have it, the top five mistakes to avoid when starting your own business, ensure that you are passionate about your business and what it offers, that you do your due diligence and make a business plan including comprehensive competitor research and a strong marketing strategy and finally don’t delay in launching your business! Remember, it’s ok to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them!
published under Business Address Guides
