Learning how to start an online business can seem a bit risky. In the hopes of making a nice side-hustle to support your lifestyle or completely replace your job, many people are turning to the internet for extra cash.

No matter what your aspirations are, an online business can help you get there. With an online business, you have to know what you’re doing to make the income you want. There are about 12 million e-commerce stores online. About 650,000 of them make less than $1,000 a year. That’s right, 650,000 businesses average about $84 a month. 

If you want to know how to start an online business the right way, keep reading to find out what it takes.              

How to Start an Online Business

Starting an online business isn’t difficult. It can be done in if you follow these eight steps. What makes a big difference between profitable businesses and money-losing ventures is the person running the business.

You have to have the right mindset going into your new venture to be successful. Will you put things off until tomorrow because you’re tired or will to do whatever it takes to win?

That’s the mindset you have to have. You’re most likely starting your online business while working elsewhere full-time. There will be days when you don’t feel like doing anything. You need to take consistent action every single day to make it work. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just needs to be done.

1. Define Your Business Model

What’s your business? That’s the first question people will ask you and you better be ready to answer that.

What will your business model be? Are you selling courses, products, or services? Perhaps you’re starting a blog and plan to rely on advertising dollars to support the site.

If you plan to sell products or services, where will you sell them? How will the orders be fulfilled? There are online sites to sell courses such as Udemy. For products, there’s always Amazon.com or building an e-commerce store.

2. What’s Your Target Market

Decide what you’re selling and figure out who you’re selling to.

You’ll need to do ample amounts of research to confirm that your target market wants what you have to sell.

The reason why a target market is so critical is that you have to be able to market to them later on. You need to speak directly to their problems and how you can help them solve them.

3. Write a Business Plan

There’s a big difference between having a hobby and having a business. One of the first lessons in learning how to start an online business begins with treating your business like a business.

It’s hard because you’re not relying on the income from the business to pay the bills. You’d like to someday, but right now, you’d rather watch TV. That’s treating your business like a hobby.

Start your business by creating a business plan. This will include everything from what you’re selling

Unless you’re going to try to get funding for your online business, your business plan can be a simple one-pager. 

4. Legally Set Up Business

Now it’s time to make your business official. You’ll have to decide what your business structure is, whether that’s as a sole proprietor or as an LLC or S-Corp. It’s wise to get legal and tax advice before making this decision.

Now go buy the domain name.

Congratulations, you have an online business.

5. Build Website and Business Systems

An online business needs a good website. That’s going to be the core of your business, so it better be great! You’ll need a hosting company for your website. You can learn more about website hosting here. 

Starting an online business on your own is overwhelming. There are a lot of tasks involved. Some of these tasks are repetitive and can be automated.

One such task is email marketing. You can set up a lead capture system where people give their email addresses for a free program. You then automatically send them a series of emails to them.

6. Drive Traffic to Website

You can’t have a thriving online business without customers. You’re going to have to find a way to drive traffic to your website.

You’ll want to invest in digital marketing strategies to drive your target market to your site. 

7. Fulfill Orders, Follow up & Reviews

Your online business will largely depend on reviews. People look at reviews before they buy over before they contact a company. Typically, someone doing product research will depend on online reviews to make a purchasing decision.

Your online business needs a system in place to encourage reviews. This is the case for Amazon FBA products, for e-commerce stores, food blogs, and service business.

How can you get more online reviews? Ask people to provide them.

8. Upsell, Upsell, Upsell

You’ve done the hard work to build a customer base and keep them as customers. Now, your job is to keep them coming back for more.

If they buy your product, will they need a refill or replacement? You’ll want to be in a position to sell more to keep them as loyal customers. You can offer them exclusive or VIP upgrades as an example.

Start an Online Business Now

The beauty of all of this technology is that it creates a level playing field. You no longer need to rely on investors or bank loans to be able to start a business.

You can start a business for about $100 when you buy the domain name and hosting services. The barrier to entry is so low, anyone can and should be an entrepreneur.

Learning how to start an online business only takes these simple steps. You have to put in the work t build things up, but with patience, you can have a wildly successful business in a couple of years. The sooner you start, the sooner your dreams come true.

Would you like more amazing tips to create the business of your dreams? Check out this article on integrating technology with your business.