An Online Store is a Great Tool for Your Business!
An Online Store is a great tool for your business! However, many people think of it as an end goal rather than a tool. To truly invest in one, it’s necessary to conduct a Business Feasibility Study, the first step for any venture, and see if the study recommends the implementation of an online store.
Assuming your study concludes that it is advisable to have an online store, what advantages can you expect from it?
- Lower initial investment
- Low cost (implementation and maintenance)
- 24/7 operation
- Reach
- Promotion
Sounds easy, right? 🙂
But don’t be fooled: maintaining an online store is hard work, and you should keep that in mind.
It’s important to know that the time spent on maintaining the website and online store should be factored into the pricing of your products. It’s also crucial to think about logistics: knowing the shipping costs and how they impact the sale of your products, passing on tracking codes to your customers, researching packaging/box prices for shipping your products, customizing your packaging with your brand, assigning reference numbers to your products, how to store them, and, ultimately, understanding the peculiarities of your business and everything that can impact your cash flow.
In addition, marketing efforts must be constant. Relentless! There’s no point in launching the store/site and waiting for your business to take off. Without consistent and ongoing marketing efforts, it’s unlikely that the store will succeed. Another critical factor for the success of your online store is its programming: the site must be fast and have a responsive design. Responsive Design refers to websites that ‘respond’ to the device accessing them, presenting a layout and features that make the most of the device’s capabilities. Finally, good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essential so that your products can be found in search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Capella’s Tip 1: Invest in Organization and Planning
Use the resources you prefer—pen and paper, spreadsheets, planners, post-its, flowcharts, or “detective boards.” The important thing is that you can visualize the macro scenario and all the factors that influence your business’s performance.
Capella’s Tip 2: “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg
Since an Online Store demands repetitive tasks and many responses to customers and the market, it’s important to develop some healthy habits. This book is fantastic and will help you understand the importance of this.
I hope this introduction has sparked your interest and inspired some ideas. We will post more on this topic.
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