Checklist for starting an online business

Having an online business startup checklist has proven invaluable over the years. Used by many successful online entrepreneurs, it ensures that all bases are covered to establish your business. Like any other start-up company, a business plan is required.

You need to do your due diligence and research your business idea to determine if it will be a viable venture. Going through this process will also reveal the potential target audience for your business, information that will prove invaluable at the marketing stage.

Next, you need to decide what the best business model is for both your idea and you as a person. The most popular business models adopted by online businesses are e-commerce, affiliate marketing, drop shipping, and offering business services.

Once you have decided on your business model, you will need to raise funds for your business. Included in this figure should be the cost of merchandise, the cost of registering your domain name, and creating your website.

Registering your domain name – Before you can create a website, you will first need to register a domain name. Following in the footsteps of already successful online entrepreneurs, keyword rich URLs or domain names are recommended as they are good for search engine optimization. This step can be compared to acquiring a piece of land and assigning an address.

Building a Website – Next up is for you to build a website yourself on your newly purchased domain. Going back to the land acquisition analogy, it is like building a commercial property or building on newly acquired land. You will need to hire the services of a web designer to do a professional job. We don’t want to leave anything to chance here. One way to find a good, professional web designer is to ask your business partners and colleagues who have had jobs successfully completed. Depending on the service you choose to offer, you may need to have facilities on your site to receive payments, otherwise explore the alternatives out there. I bet your website designer will be able to offer you some tips on that.

Promoting Your Website – Upon completion of your website, it’s time to promote your business online. The goal here is to drive traffic to your website and eventually sell your products and services. Now, there are different ways to promote your business online, using both paid and unpaid promotion methods. Both types of promotion methods are viable and each has its place in increasing your business’s visibility online and establishing yourself.

The Online Business Startup Checklist outlines some of the crucial steps required to successfully launch your business online. Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your goals and dreams.

One of the biggest challenges many online entrepreneurs face is driving traffic to their websites after everything is set up and this requires some education.