The past few months of 2020 have shown the world the importance of being able to operate online. If you own a small business, you’re probably considering taking it partly or wholly online, and if you’re thinking about starting a business, you may want to consider skipping the brick-and-mortar step altogether.
Should you start an online business? Here’s 5 reasons that say yes:
1. 24/7 Availability
A key benefit to e-commerce is that your business will be open and accepting payments 24/7. This means you earn money even while you sleep.
Your customers are always going to be able to browse your products and make orders, which increases the likelihood of sales being made.
2. Better Customer Relations
With an online presence, you provide a more personal experience for your customers. You can respond to their inquiries faster, give instant updates on new products and increase your customer interaction with a wider audience.
You can even use social media trends to gain extra marketing such as hashtags, online giveaway competitions and live Q&A sessions with your clients.
If you do this right, you can ensure your customers feel valued and keep coming back for more of what you offer.
3. Very Low Start-up and Operation Cost
Starting off online is much cheaper than having a physical store. You don’t have to worry about getting the capital to construct or rent a physical building, hire extra staff or spend time packing items on shelves to display.
You can simply have a website built or use your social media and start selling!
The heavy operation costs associated with maintaining a physical store will now be replaced with low online maintenance fees such as e-commerce transaction fees for payment processing. This means you don’t have to sell your products at too high a cost in order to turn a profit – something your customers will appreciate.
4. Mobility Perks
Having an online business means that as long as you have a solid internet connection you can live and work from anywhere.
With few exceptions, the internet reduces your need to “be” somewhere. Live where you want to, and let your business adapt to your lifestyle instead of the other way around.
5. Wider Target Market
With a brick-and-mortar business you are limited to customers who can physically find and visit your store. With an online store, hundreds of people can visit at once, from any location, at any time. This greatly increases your business’ target market as you can now begin selling to more people.