Online business is booming, and there is never a better time to build one. And with today’s tech development, there are many options to start with. So in this article, we will discuss why it’s the perfect time to start an online business.
What Is an Online Business, Really?
First of all, let’s understand what an online business is.
Online business is considered any business activity that consists of buying and selling products or services online.
Nowadays, anyone offering unique products or services can start an online business. And with the help of online services and strategies, you can find a way to sell those products/services instantly.
There are three branches of online business that you may need to know:
- Business to Consumer (B2C) — the business owner directly sells to the end user, think your local online clothing shop.
- Business to Business (B2B) — as the name implies, it’s where businesses deal with other businesses, so if you’re an end user, you won’t be able to enjoy these sort of businesses. Think companies that manufacture internal electronics for electronic devices.
- Consumer to Consumer (C2C) — another popular option of online business these days, especially with the development of marketplaces is direct consumer to consumer, think sites such as eBay and Gumtree.
First of all, you need to pick what type of business you’re aiming to run. That’s because each business type has a different value proposition, models and operations.
After that, just like the traditional “bricks-and-mortar” business, you can start to build your online storefront, that will hook and appeal to future customers.
Unlike a traditional store, an online business store is much more flexible and customizable.
It is recommended to build a website or establish an online shop for the purpose of branding, as it’s a proven strategy to increase your brand value.
There are some concerns that you have to quit your full-time job to start an online business. Well, you don’t have to.
You can conveniently run an online business while at the same time having a day job.
Although dedicating all your time and staying focused on your goal might prove fruitful. That’s for you to decide.
The Reasons Why Online Business Is a No-Brainer
There are many reasons why you should start an online business, and among the popular ones are
1. Cheap
Unlike a traditional store, building an online business store is dirt cheap. You don’t need to buy or rent any building space. And especially in a housing bubble as we see today, renting a building can be very expensive, that’s not even including things like maintenance and staff.
2. Simple
Creating an online business store is simple too. There’s no paperwork involved, you don’t need to get permits and the mentioned rent documents. You also don’t need to pay recurring services like electricity and water. We’re going to discuss how you can build an online store in the upcoming section.
3. Profitable
The two previous reasons can already guarantee your profitability when doing an online business. That’s because all of your sales revenue can go directly to your bank account instead of to other expenses, like rent and utilities. As well as not having to pay for the delivery of goods or a warehouse to store the goods in.
Why Today Is the Perfect Time to Build a Business?
So, you know the reason why online business is a great venture, now let’s dive into why today is the perfect time for you to build one.
1. Affordable Hosting Prices
Even though a physical storefront is not required, we still need to find the website a place to say. However, comparing prices to a storefront is almost laughable. And that’s where the hosting providers step in. They provide all the means such as the address and place for your online business to thrive.
It has never been easier to set up a hosting service these days and get it for a really cheap price so just give some time checking the offers and grab the best one!
2. Growth
The world faced a huge surge of growing online shops all around the world. That’s because more people prefer to shop online than go to a physical store.
An estimate from Statista reported that 1.90 billion people (and the trend keeps growing) over the year are doing online transactions in 2019. To put that in context, there are over 7.7 billion people in the world today, so the online shoppers account for a quarter of the human population. That’s insane potential for a market share for someone with a keen entrepreneur spirit.
3. Content Management Systems are Mostly Free
Content Management System (CMS) is there to help you with creating and managing your website or online store. Additionally, most of CMS will also make your site mobile responsive.
And again, there’s a massive selection of CMS nowadays. WordPress is the most popular (and free) CMS available. It’s a great option to scale your business as well, as you have full control of your site. And if you pair WordPress with WooCommerce, there’s nothing stopping you from becoming an online powerhouse.
There are countless other CMSs out there but it’s a safe bet to stick with WordPress.
4. Less Financial Commitment
An online business requires low startup cost. Not only that online business eliminates long-term financial commitment, but it can also help you to remove financial constraint for stocking inventory.
Your only expense probably will be around web hosting and ecommerce apps. And if you’re not ready to keep products stocked, you can always arrange drop shipping agreements or outsource products from vendors, from sites such as AliExpress.
5. Work Anywhere in the World
And lastly, the benefit of online business is that you can always work anywhere you want.
If you do online business for a side hustle, you can also gain profit while you’re working on your day job. Either way, you certainly have more freedom compared than working in a storefront.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article helped you decide on whether you should actually start an online business. The industry is steadily growing, you can jump-start your business with the help of hosting providers and CMS, the startup cost is also lower, and most importantly, you can work anywhere you want.
So, are you ready to get cracking?
Mary is a passionate blogger and the chief editor at her own content marketing company PRable.com. Since college, she’s been interested in break-through technology and technical writing about innovative products and services that change our everyday lives for the better. She’s also interested in web design and photography.