Thinking of transferring elements of your business online?

Here are 6 things you need, to make an online business work for you!

By creating an online presence for your small business, you are effectively creating a ‘shop window’ that is accessible to anyone, at all times.  When you have an online business, you are no longer hindered by capacity, location, or time constraints.

With the disruption caused to businesses during the global pandemic, we see the importance of having an element of your business online, so that no matter what is happening in the outside world, you can remain flexible during uncertain times. An online presence also means that you can continue to connect with your existing customers and provide products and services to many others further afield.

The uncertainty during 2020/21 demonstrated the benefits and opportunities that are available with working online.  Many small business owners are not quite sure of what’s required of them to run a business online, or I should say, transferring some existing business activities online.

Here is my advice for people considering an online element:

1. YOU NEED TO BE SELF DISCIPLINED

You already know that being a business owner requires you to be, organised, resourceful, self-disciplined, sometimes working longer hours.  You also know that having a dedicated work station helps you to create the space you need to focus on your job without distraction.

The same is required for working online.

The other side of the coin is that you need to be mindful of your time and ensure that you are not overdoing it! Just because you are at home and do not have to commute, doesn’t mean you should continue on working without taking adequate rest breaks.

Setting and sticking to dedicated working hours will help you to ensure that you don’t end up tipping the scales of your work/life balance and burning yourself out in the process.

2. GET THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB

You may need to invest in some hardware, such as a decent laptop, microphone, lighting and office/working space.  You will also need software to make online business work for you.  Cutting costs here could be the difference in the quality of your output.

There are many free platforms that you can use when you are first starting out.  You can upgrade to pro features when you are consistently growing and starting to see results from your online efforts.

3. YOU WILL NEED TO UPSKILL

Working online will require you to up level your skills.  There are a number of platforms you should learn in order to get your business online.  This is a process and it very much depends on what element of your business you want to transfer online.

A word of caution:  Don’t be fooled by posts you see where people are making x amount per week working from home.  What you don’t see and what they don’t tell you is all that needs to happen behind the scenes and the team of people it takes to make that $ figure materialise.  It is possible; however, it takes resources, time, skills, patience, dedication and consistency.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no magic formula that is going to deposit large sums of money into your account overnight – unless of course the lottery is involved!

4. BE PREPARED FOR GROWTH

Most software applications have free options, which makes sense to utilise at the beginning when money is tight and your audience is small. However, you should have a mindset of growth and prepare for it.

Continuing to use free software for all your online tasks, while your business is growing, can lead to frustration because of the limitations that free software has (it’s free for a reason).

As your online presence grows, you should consider investing in your business by upgrading to professional plans, so that you can continue to serve your customers and clients without interruption, due to data migration from one platform to another.

5. HAVE A PLAN

What elements of your current business do you want to transfer online?

What will you need to have in place to facilitate that?

Do you have the skills necessary to do the work yourself, or will you need to outsource parts of this?

How will you find customers?

How will your customers pay you?

How will your customers receive the service you are providing?

How will you track your success?

All of these questions need to be answered and a plan created so that you can prepare and give yourself a clear path to follow.

6. YOU WILL NEED TO HAVE TIME, PASSION & ENERGY

Running an online business takes time and energy, therefore you need to have a passion for what you are doing in order for it to be successful.  The passion you have for your business will pull you through the difficult times, such as when you feel tired or when you hit another technology roadblock. Like any workplace, there will be good days and not so good days.

It’s not for everyone, many people need human interaction on a daily basis to thrive in the workplace therefore it’s a matter of weighing up he pros and cons.  The best way to know for sure is to give it a go by starting small.