• 22 January 2024
• Public Relations

How to Start a Business Online and Pursue Your Passion - 6 Steps and 10 Business Ideas

In the era of digital revolution, starting an online business has never been more accessible or rewarding. With the promise of reaching a global audience and the convenience of working from anywhere, the online business landscape is a fertile ground for anyone looking to bring their passion to life.

This blog aims to guide you through the journey of launching your online business, offering essential tips and inspiring business ideas that could ignite your entrepreneurial spirit. From ideation to execution, we'll cover each step meticulously, ensuring that you are well-equipped to embark on this exciting venture and start an online business.

6 Steps to Build a Successful Online Business

Starting an online business can be an exciting and lucrative venture, but it's important to lay the foundation for success by understanding the key steps involved. Here, we outline the six essential steps you need to take to start an online business.

1. Identify your passion and feasible online business ideas

Successful entrepreneurs are driven by passion. They have a business idea they believe in and are determined to put it out into the world. If you want to start an online business, it is important to have that kind of passion.

Ask yourself what you are passionate about that could be translated into a successful online business idea. You may be enthusiastic about many things, but to succeed as an entrepreneur, you must pour your passion into a feasible business idea.

There are limitless online business ideas, but in order for you to achieve your dream of becoming a small business owner, you will want to look for an idea that best matches your passion with an opportunity in the marketplace.

 Your idea must be one that you can believe in with both heart and mind, because even an undeniably viable business idea needs passion to bring it to life.

So, while feasibility is a prime consideration when seeking an online business idea, passion is what will keep your idea viable through the ups and downs of your journey to becoming a small business owner and beyond.

2. Analyze your online business idea

Great! You’ve delved into your passions and discovered a valid business idea that you believe in, and you can’t wait to start your own online business.

But before jumping in and opening your online store, there are a couple more things to do to create a successful online business. Now is the time to look at your online business idea with a cool head and ask yourself some questions.

Evaluate market demand

Evaluating market demand is crucial to establishing the potential profitability of your online business idea. Give your business the chance to succeed by accurately assessing the demand for your product or service.

This involves researching and understanding the needs, desires, and purchasing behavior of your target market. By doing so, you can gauge whether there is a significant demand for your product or service in the current market.

It's essential to remember that even the most groundbreaking ideas won't succeed without a receptive market; thus, assessing market demand helps mitigate risks and validates your business idea before you invest significant time and resources into it.

Ask yourself: Is there a need for your product or service-based business?

You know that you have a great product or service. But is it something that consumers will need or want? And will they buy it at a rate or in a volume that will make your online business successful?

To evaluate the demand for your product- or service-based online business, do some market research. Ask friends and family members what they think of your business offering. Use your social media accounts and send out online surveys.

Take advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) and other market research tools to help determine if there will be enough potential customers and sufficient demand to support your new online business. Use this information to make a realistic estimation of the need for your product or service.

Understand the competition

One of the best things you can do when thinking about creating a successful online business is to understand competitors who have already put out a similar product or service.

Ask yourself: What makes your idea and business different than any other one out there with a similar product or service offering?

In our digital world, when there are so many online businesses, it’s possible that you are not the only entrepreneur to have come up with your great idea for a small business, or one like it.

So how are you going to make your online business stand out from the competition?

Do your market research to gain a clear understanding of other online businesses like yours. What are these online stores doing to engage customers and have a successful business?

Could you apply their business model and marketing strategies, in a unique way, to your own online store?

Also, look for weaknesses or gaps in your competitors’ products or services where you could step in and fulfill an unmet need of your target audience.

Also, recognize that the small business ownership community is not a dog-eat-dog world. Whether you have an online store or a brick-and-mortar business, it is possible to achieve success working with your competition.

Small business owners, especially, know the value of having supportive peers. So, when you are anticipating opening your own online store, look for ways that your new business can fit in with the competition, rather than overwhelmingly dominate it.

3. Plan your online business

Now that you have done the work and identified a solid business idea that has the potential to be profitable, it's time to get down to the nuts and bolts of making your online business a reality. Two important items to address before you start an online business are your business plan and legal structure.

Craft a business plan

A business plan is a map for your small business. It is an instrument that will guide you now, at the outset of your entrepreneurial journey, and help lead you into a successful future.

If creating a business plan seems like a daunting task, think of it not as one huge document that will be set in stone, but as several small plans for different aspects of your business—from your business name to startup costs to effective marketing strategies—which you will continually revisit and revise.

Below, however, are some overarching elements that nearly every business plan should contain.

• Mission statement Basically, your mission statement expresses your business’s reason for being. That is, it defines and explains your purpose: the reason your business exists.
  Along with stating the “why” of your business, your mission statement is also where you can articulate your values, the “how” of your business: the principles that you and your business will adhere to.
• Objectives and goals Clearly defining your objectives and precisely identifying your goals will help you keep your small business on track. Your objectives and goals may change as your business evolves, but it is essential to maintain a framework in which they are always kept front of mind.
  It is important to do more than simply plan “to be successful.” By being specific in your overall objectives and in the goals you need to meet on your way to achieving those objectives, you will give your business the best chance for the success you seek.
• Identity of your target audience Who is most likely to need, want or buy your product or service? They are your target audience. Get to know them so that you can tailor your product or service to suit them.
  Note, however, that the target audience for your business may change, and it could happen quickly or over time. So pay attention, and be prepared to adapt.

Legal considerations when starting a business

When you set up your small business, you will need to choose a business structure. A business structure refers to the way a business is organized for legal purposes. The most common business structures are limited liability company (LLC), sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation.

Limited liability company (LLC): An LLC is a popular business structure among small business owners. The main feature of an LLC is that it separates the assets of the business from the assets of the owner, thus protecting the owner from debt or liability incurred by the business.

Another characteristic of an LLC is that it allows for pass-through taxation, which means that the business itself doesn't pay taxes. The income from the business "passes through" to the owner, where it is considered personal income and is taxed accordingly.

Sole proprietorship: As the name implies, is a business structure for a business that has only one owner. Like an LLC, income from sole proprietorships is taxed as the personal income of the business owner.

Sole proprietorships are unincorporated, so they are easy to set up, but they do not provide the owner any protection from liability. If the business incurs liability, that liability extends to the owner.

Partnership: A business structure for two or more people, or parties, who want to become business partners to create and operate a business together and share its profits. Like an LLC, in a partnership, profits pass through to the individual parties and are taxed as personal income.

The main benefit of a partnership is that it allows multiple parties to pool their resources and share the workload. The flip side is that if one party incurs a liability, all parties are considered responsible for it.

Corporation: A business structure in which the business is a legal entity unto itself. As such, a corporation has many of the legal rights of an individual, as well as many of the responsibilities.

A corporation can enter into contracts, own assets, and hire employees. It pays income tax on its profits. And while a corporation itself can be sued, the owners of a corporation cannot be held personally liable for debts of the corporation.

Additionally, there are legal requirements specifically for online businesses that pertain to matters such as sales tax collection, privacy and data security, and marketing.

When building your business, it is important to get as familiar as you can with the laws that affect your business to ensure that you operate legally and safely for a long time.

If you ever have any questions, consider consulting a legal professional.

4. Build your online product or service offering

Now that you have figured out the logistics of how your business will operate, it is finally time to start building that great product or service you are so passionate about.

You will want to do everything you can to help ensure it’s ready for its big debut. A few of the most important things to do are:

Test your product

Before putting it out in the world, test your product or service with a trusted audience. Call on your family, friends, the inner circle of your social network, and any other individuals whose opinion and discretion you can rely on.

Use their feedback to make adjustments necessary to enhance your product or service.

Determine pricing

Feel free to ask your testers what they think would be a fair price for your product or service.

Bear in mind the amount of time and money that goes into making your product or providing your service and set your price accordingly. You want to avoid losing money or overcharging your customers.

Solidify packaging and shipping or delivery details

If your business is based on a physical product, you will need to understand packing and shipping options to get deliveries to your customers on time. The UPS Store is always here to help with packing and shipping.

If you offer a service, consider how you will deliver that service to your customers.

5. Build your online presence

Your product or service is ready to go. You have a process for delivery in place. Your next step is to start building your digital storefront and your marketing/outreach plan.

Create a professional website and prioritize SEO

First and foremost, make it easy for potential customers to find your business online. Creating a website optimized for SEO can help people discover your business from anywhere in the world depending on certain terms they search for on Google, Bing or any other search engine.

Include important basic information. Make it possible for visitors to your site to find important information about your business quickly and easily. Include the following:

• Contact information
• Clear description of your products or services
• How or where to purchase your products or services
• Your return policy
• FAQs

Consider a blog

A blog can be an important part of your marketing strategy. It can help you cultivate your target audience as well as expand your reach to a wider range of potential customers.

It can also help you build trust with your audience by showing them that you are knowledgeable in your line of business and are there to help.

Well-crafted blogs or news articles on topics related to your business can help boost SEO, which makes it easier for your business to catch the attention of potential new audiences and to help those audiences find you.

You can use your blog to position yourself as a thought leader and expert on the products or services that you provide. This can help attract consumers who are seeking information. Having come to your business website for answers, they may stay to shop for your products or services.

Connect with your audience through social media and email marketing

It is largely through social media and email that you will build relationships with potential customers and develop them into return customers.

• Good for engagement and retention: Social media and email marketing allow you to connect with your target audience in personalized and timely ways, helping you catch and keep their attention.
• Part of a full-funnel marketing strategy: Social media and email marketing are essential to your full-funnel marketing strategy to keep people engaged before and after they interact with your online business.

6. Maintain and scale your online business

The moment you have been waiting and working for is here: it’s finally time to open your online store or service-based business.

Once you start your business, however, it's important to keep growing, or at least maintain your initial level of success. Here are some tips on how to do just that.

Monitor performance

You will need to monitor your business’s performance on a regular basis. Check in monthly, quarterly, and yearly on customer satisfaction, new customer acquisition, employee satisfaction, your financial statements, and your competition. Develop key performance indicators (KPIs) and use benchmarks to track and measure your business's progress.

Scale successfully

You want to grow your business in a way that is sustainable. Expanding your business according to a steady plan is one of the main drivers of continual growth. The last thing you want to do is to expand too much too quickly and risk a collapse of your business because you are spread too thin.

Just as starting an online business requires forethought and planning, when you decide to scale your business, you want to be thoroughly prepared for each step in the process. After all, just when you're trying to grow your business, you don't want it to go backward because you didn't plan carefully enough.

Consider the following when planning to scale your business:

When should you scale?

If you have a proven viable sales model that can accommodate expansion, a reliable number of new and returning customers, a steady cash flow, and you feel confident that you can get and handle more business, it might be time for you to scale up.

How do you scale?

Remember that business plan you made for starting your own business? Well, when you are planning to scale, you need a similar plan to guide you in tasks including accurately assessing the current state of your business and the business of your competitors, establishing clear short-term and long-term goals, and identifying new or different target markets.

Explore new products or services you could offer your current clientele. What could you offer that might attract customers from an entirely new target audience?

Anticipate the immediate and future costs you may accrue in the scaling of your business. Be prepared to pay for everything from new signage to new production equipment to new hires. Secure additional funding if necessary.

Adjust your processes as necessary to accommodate your expansion. And have those processes in place before you scale so you don't become overwhelmed by an influx of new business.

Challenges in scaling

Scaling often means taking on paid help. Be aware of tax and labor laws that will apply when you become an employer, and ensure that you, your business, and your employees are in compliance.

If scaling your business involves significant changes to your product or service offerings, ask yourself if you need to rebrand. If so, be sure to update all of your social media marketing and email marketing content across the board, clearly and consistently, so that your customers and potential customers both understand and get excited about the changes to your business.

10 online business ideas to inspire you to start your own

Now that you have an idea of how to start a business and make money online, what kind of business should you actually start?

Here are a few business ideas to get the creative juices flowing.

Subscription box service

A subscription box service is a great e-commerce business for physical products like clothes, jewelry, candles, food, and other types of products that your audience would buy on a recurring basis.

Subscription boxes or packages could also work for a service business; you could offer a "digital box" of downloadable products, or send out promotional swag.

It may be beneficial to explore providing a subscription box option to your product offerings as it could add buying convenience for your customers and help you generate more consistent sales.

Podcasting

Podcasting is a constantly growing space where you can share your unique advice, thoughts or expertise with the world and make money while doing it. There are a couple of different ways you can make money podcasting:

Sponsorship

Podcasting can become a profitable business if you have sponsors that pay to support your show in exchange for you promoting their products or services.

If this is a route you're considering, make sure you find potential sponsors that align with the type of podcast you have and your message. This will help keep your podcast genuine and increase trust with your audience.

Affiliate marketing

Many podcasters make money by affiliate marketing, which is promoting products to earn a commission on any purchases made by your listeners. The affiliate company you work with may provide you with a code to give your listeners, or a link to put in your podcast description that denotes they found the website through your podcast.

YouTube channel

Get in on the influencer marketing scene. In this age of influencers, similar to podcasting, creating a YouTube channel that provides value could be a profitable business.

You can make money by supporting ads that promote affiliate products, which your audience can buy through your channel, earning you a commission.

Sponsorships for your channel or episodes could provide you with income.

When it comes to making money through content creation, the world can truly be your oyster.

Virtual assistant

From helping executives manage their emails, social media and calendars to helping with other online tasks, being a trusted personal assistant could be a great service-based business idea to consider.

Online health and fitness coaching

If you have a passion for health, fitness and nutrition, consider becoming a coach and using that passion to educate and help others live their healthiest life.

To get you started, think about how to create programming and videos for your clients to use on their own in their gym, without you needing to physically be present.

Or, consider hosting online group classes over Zoom or any other video streaming platform.

Online business consulting

If you have a knack for creating efficiencies that drive positive growth for businesses, whether in operations, marketing, sales strategy or management, consider becoming a business consultant and get paid for your expertise.

You could conduct meetings and research over online meeting platforms like Zoom, if you wanted to keep your operations 100% online.

E-commerce store

Online shopping has become the norm. In fact, there is almost double the number of online storefronts than brick and mortar businesses in the United States.

If you have a physical product that you're passionate about creating, consider starting your own e-commerce store to sell your creations.

Online event planning

An online event planning business could involve helping clients create unique experiences, such as virtual concerts or personalized webinars, and provide the necessary resources to make these events successful.

Online courses

If you are an expert in a topic (or a few topics) that others may find interesting or helpful, consider starting an e-commerce business creating online courses or coaching to help folks become experts themselves.

App development

There's an app for everything—and you could create the next big one. If you're technically inclined or are savvy with making apps, think about an app that doesn't exist or one that you could make better. Then create it to sell online.

If you're ready to hit the ground running with your idea to start an online business, head over to The UPS Store Small Business Services Center to explore helpful tools and services to start your business with a bang.