Even if you have the funding, capital, and ideas necessary to start an online business, you will still run into a few difficulties along the way — a primary one being that every market is highly competitive these days. Therefore, starting an online business comes with competitors from all across the world — not just in your locale. Conversely, this also implies that your customers belong to a global market which means there is a real potential for rapid, unlimited growth.

As an online business ourselves, we at Currenxie have had considerable experience working in the digital world. We know what works — and what doesn’t — based on our own experiences and detailed market research. Here’s our list of the basics you need when learning how to start an online business:

Find a Gap in the Market

This is likely one of the more simple tips to start out with, as it applies to more than just online businesses. But in the age of globalisation, it’s even more important to get right.

For your online business to take off and find success, you need to be selling a product or service that meets a niche need in the market that’s not currently being met. This could be a new and innovative product that serves as a solution to an age-old problem, or it could be a cheaper, but equally effective, alternative to a solution that already exists. Whatever problem your business aims to solve, make sure there is potential for a reasonable profit margin and demand for your product.

Have a Reliable, Attractive Website

As an online business, your website is your digital storefront. This is where potential customers will likely have their first interaction with your website and where repeat customers will return to buy more products or learn more about your service. Because of this, being able to create good first and lasting impressions through a well-designed user experience and thorough website is crucial.

Pick a reputable website host and, if necessary, hire a website designer to build an attractive home page that is easy to navigate and reflects the branding of your business. You can also build your own eCommerce store using multinational platforms like Shopify or Wix.

Write Engaging, Persuasive Copy

An online business needs to be able to speak for itself. You won’t be able to welcome each website visitor individually and offer them in-person consultations like you would in a brick-and-mortar store. That’s why website copy supported by visually appealing UX design, graphics, and other visual content can work wonders for your online store. Not only does it have the potential to persuade a lead who is weighing up different competitor alternatives, but it also adds considerable credibility and value to your website — features that customers will appreciate and remember.

Sign Up for a Digital Business Account

One of the most difficult and time-consuming parts of running an online business is working with banks. The heavily bureaucratic process can weigh down businesses and make growth and expansion far more complex than it needs to be. In some cases, new businesses can’t even open a bank account because the bank does not think they will be able to make money from the account. Even if you do manage to open an account, high currency transfer fees from international payments make global business difficult. This results in many online businesses being restricted to selling in their own country in order to be profitable.

At Currenxie, we break down these barriers with our Global Business Accounts that provide a fully comprehensive digital solution. As opposed to traditional banks, where you have one bank account number in the residing country, a digital business account offers you unique bank account numbers in 10 jurisdictions around the world. With a Currenxie Global Account, you can easily make transactions across borders without the debilitating fees, get up to eight times more competitive rates, and access everything online at any time, from anywhere.

As a secure, convenient, and efficient way of doing business in the online world, digital business accounts will help set your business apart from the competition and allow you to expand into an international market from the very beginning.

Brainstorm Ideas for Marketing Your Online Business Through Digital Channels

While offline marketing channels can still help you get customers for your online business, the importance of digital marketing cannot be understated — especially in a post-COVID-19 world. A great starting point would be optimising your website for search engines (i.e. SEO) and running search engine advertisements (i.e. SEM). Both of these are effective strategies and, when combined, can provide you with a steady stream of short and long-term visitors to your website. With more visitors, come more sales and more growth for your new online business.

Additionally, consider trying to grow a steady database of leads that you can send emails to regarding promotional offers, new products, or anything relevant to your business. Using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform is one of the best ways to do this, as you can easily keep track of different contacts and segment them into different groups, depending on how engaged they are with your business.

Have a Roadmap of Where You Want to Take Your Business

Online businesses can grow fast, so learning how to start one shouldn’t be a rushed process. One of the last positions you want to find yourself in is not knowing where to take your business when you capitalise on growth opportunities. As a new business, you might only have a few products or services available at the start. Be sure that as soon as you launch one, you’re already planning the next. This way, when growth comes, you are already prepared to roll out new products and services to your newfound customer base.

Having a defined pricing strategy also helps with growing businesses. Being able to strike a balance between pricing your products low enough to penetrate the market and pricing them higher to reflect their true value will help you increase profitability and grow your organisation.

Get in Touch with Currenxie

To learn more about starting an online business or opening a Global Business Account, get in touch with a member of our team today. We are more than happy to offer advice and will get back to you as soon as possible.