3 things I wish I’d known before starting an online business

Life is full of extraordinary moments. For some women one of those moments will be deciding to start their own business. From the outside, it looks pretty glossy. Work for yourself, set your own hours. There are so many success stories out there! After 3 years running my small business ‘on the side’ I can tell you, it is incredibly time consuming and a very steep learning curve. However, it is also one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Having said that, I thought I’d share 3 things I wish I’d known before I started my online business that might have made the initial start up a bit easier: 1. Understand your tipping or breakeven point There are certain fixed costs to operating any business. To be able to cover those costs, and provide a return to yourself or salary, your turnover needs to reach a certain ‘tipping point’. That tipping point was quite a lot higher than I originally imagined. If you’re selling a product you need to forecast your cost of goods sold (including making or purchasing the item/s, shipping costs, customs and taxes, warehousing costs, etc). Your profit is then your sales profit, less your cost of goods sold, less your operating costs. To realistically estimate the costs of goods and the operating costs of the business I recommend talking to someone who is already running their own business. Access your networks to find a mentor, or someone with prior experience, who has a realistic idea of the costs involved. You can then backsolve to work out your required sales. 2. Have a realistic marketing plan The next step is working out how to generate that sales figure, and that brings us to marketing. You can’t open an online store and expect customers to magically find you. All of those articles you read about successful online stores that have found a niche and ‘just attracted’ a community of like minded followers actually involved a lot of hard work. You need to have a well thought out marketing and public relations plan, developed in conjunction with someone with experience in online marketing. At a minimum it should include your social media, content marketing, search engine optimisation and some plans for initially driving traffic to your website, such as paid advertising (e.g. Google Adwords, banner advertising, Facebook paid advertising, blog reviews etc), and any offline advertising (such as print advertising, flyers, market stalls if that’s your thing, networking functions etc). Understand your objectives, and measure your return on investment. You need to have a basic understanding of how the Google algorithm works for generating organic traffic longer term, and best practices for brands publishing content across social media platforms. The Google and Facebook Algorithms change regularly, so make sure you’ve subscribed to some useful marketing newsletters to stay on top of them. My favourites are Hubspot, Mari Smith on Facebook, and of course the wealth of information for ABN Premium Members! 3. Network, network, network! Successful online businesses also understand that, just like traditional business, one of the keys to success is developing and nurturing your community (members and subscribers to your eNewsletter, social media fans, and brand advocates), both online and offline. You need to develop positive relationships with your customers, your suppliers, and every business you come into contact with. Generating a buzz about your business can mean publishing articles on other people’s sites (people you know, people you advertise with, other bloggers are good places to start) and in print media where possible. It means developing great content that your customers are interested in and distributing it as widely as you can to attract more likeminded people, it means picking up the phone and talking to people whenever you can, rather than just emailing. In other words, networking is still one of the cornerstones to success, even online. A final note, opening your own business can be one of the scariest, most fulfilling moments of your life. Enjoy yourself and find your network of supporters to inspire and motivate you during your down times and to celebrate with you whenever you have successes!