Nowadays, the internet makes it easy to start an online business that offers the promise of financial security and independence. Running an online store gives entrepreneurs the freedom to make money from anywhere in the world, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. To help you begin the process of starting and gaining flexibility, we’ve compiled this list of the Top 10 Online Business Ideas in this post.
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How to start an online business?
Before defining your online business ideas, you need to know how to start. Fundamentally, you should choose the right eCommerce Business model that fits your volume to help you gain the greatest chance of success.
After you decide on your business model, let’s zoom in on the operational aspects of starting a business. While the steps outlined below don’t necessarily have to be completed in order, their objective is to provide you with a foundation that’s solid enough to bear the weight of your future business and success.
Determine your niche and business idea.
Determining your online business ideas can be one of the most daunting parts of starting an online store. A business niche stands for your “focus area” which is a market segment and target audience you primarily cater to.
To find a good one, let’s look at your own skills, expertise, and knowledge to realize what problem you can solve, the willingness to pay for a solution to that problem, and the sufficient discretionary income to afford the solution. However, you can ask your friend and family or your former employee and coworkers to help you.
To learn more about the best online business ideas by the end of this article.
Conduct the product research
Once you finally choose your online business ideas, it’s time to carry out your effort and resources to research an unparalleled product or service. You can sell three main types of products or services such as physical goods, digital downloads, and services.
Physical goods
As the name suggests, these are physical objects made available for consumer use and these are tangible. That is, they can be picked up, touched, and interacted with. Selling it can be lucrative, but the profit margins can be low if you don’t manage your operational costs well.
Digital downloads
If you’re knowledgeable about a particular topic that is of interest to your target audience, you can sell digital products such as eBooks, audio courses, online courses, webinars, podcasts, etc. Those can be downloaded to the customer’s device and it has higher profit margins. But pricing them can be tricky because they are often perceived as having a lower value than physical products.
Services
Almost any service available remotely can be sold online. It can be defined as tasks performed professionally and knowledgeably by an individual or team for the benefit of its customers. For example, teaching a language online, virtual assistance, online architectural services, fitness & nutrition consultation, and online relationship coaching. Selling services is the fastest way to start an online business but your earning potential is limited since you have a finite amount of time each day.
Learn about online business laws
Before you launch your online business, you’ll need to make sure you’re legally compliant to avoid any fines or legal issues. Additionally, the licenses, permits, or certificates you require to stay legally compliant vary based on your industry and state/ country. So, always verify information with local authorities and also seek professional legal help if you can afford to.
Conduct market research
It might sound harsh because you think you have the best online startup ideas, but that doesn’t mean there’s a market for all of them. Before investing your time and energy into starting your own business, research the potential marketing, and learn what your target audience wants, needs, or lacks. This is an essential step, in helping determine the depth, competitiveness, and profitability of the selected business vertical.
Here’s how you can get started with market research:
- Check the SERPs
- Research competitors
- Tracking high-performing keywords
Define your target audience
Now, it’s time to mark out your target audience. It’s a group of individuals sharing similar characteristics or needs that your online business is aiming to serve. To learn about their needs and preferences, research both demographics and psychographics data. Demographic data includes basic socioeconomic characteristics such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, job title, etc. Psychographic data includes various psychological characteristics such as values, beliefs, interests, options, etc.
Source products to sell online
After conducting these steps above, let’s spend time sourcing your products to run a successful online business. There are three main ways to source products: make them yourself; work with a manufacturer or wholesaler; work with a dropshipper
Evaluate product viability
You want to holistically evaluate the viability of your product before purchasing or manufacturing a big order. To do that, ask these questions:
- Is there a successful online business already selling products like that?
- Is the demand for this product sustainable? Or is it temporary?
- Does the math behind this product make sense? Can you sell it at profit?
You should focus on building customer loyalty, keeping your customers happy, and offering great customer service you will then create even more real value for the product itself
Define your brand and image
Of course, a brand is the oval “vibe” of your business. Your online business should have a brand style guide, which is your rule book for how your brand is represented visually. As for your brand identity, pay attention to your: logo, color scheme, page layouts, typography, graphics, and photos. Your brand image should be a result of all these elements working together.
Launch your online store
Once your online store is open for business, there are some important steps you’ll need to take to ensure its continued success. This means setting up and configuring your eCommerce website.
- Choose your eCommerce platform: you can consider some of the common options such as BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento, or Shopify
- Add your products
- Choose how you will do your shipping
- Make sure everything works
Grow your business
When everything is set up, it’s time to start driving traffic to your eCommerce store. Prioritize the following channels:
- Paid ads
- Influencer marketing
- Social media marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Email marketing
10 best online business ideas
Now, you know the way to set up an online business. The idea to start is to play an important role in your business. Your business is based online, so you can reach more potential customers, work from anywhere, even at your home, and earn money without a large overhead. To help you find innovative business ideas for a digital career, we’ve compiled a list to inspire you.
Dropshipping eCommerce
You must have heard a lot about this business model. Dropshipping is one of the best online startup ideas for entrepreneurs on a budget. The supplier handles all the storage and shipping of goods to your customers, you just focus on your dropshipping strategy, promotions, outreach, advertising, customer service, and branding to make a sale, and then forward the sales order to the supplier for fulfillment. Then, you get a commission for each sale.
Print-on-demand
You are creative and already have an eCommerce website that is looking to add personalized products and catalogs. Print-on-demand is the best business model that will help you achieve success.
This business model allows you to sell customized products that are printed only after placing an order without a physical inventory. Instead of packing the products and shipping logistics, you can spend more time focusing on your career: creating art, building community, and growing your strategy.
Freelancer
Maybe not the most innovative online business ideas, but freelancing is still a great option with a low barrier to entry. Writers, Designers, Developers, Videographers, and Photographers can start a business based on their talents.
Writers
As a freelance writer, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to look to write for more traditional offline publications like newspapers, magazines, and journals. With low costs and great growth potential for those able to find constant or long-term clients, earning potential is good.
Designers
As a designer, you will work with your client to produce visual content that communicates their brand message to their target audience. Commissioned projects include creating marketing materials such as posters, billboards, logos, and packaging. The designers typically use software Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, etc to create their work.
Developers
Moreover, you are an expert in building a website from the bottom up. In fact, web development is an industry that won’t die out anytime soon. As a freelance developer, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to work remotely and get into the profitable tech industry.
Videographers & Photographers
On the condition that you have good eyes that know how to put a film together or edit images, it can make a lot of money creating content for brands who need it, from social media posts to product videos and photos. To get started, you should have the best portfolio which shows to prospective clients to see if you match their style.
Social media influencer
A lot of people dream about being a social media influencer without understanding the work aspects, it can be used as a job. You may have a professionally natural talent for trending, and it has the highest traffic per platform, choosing which hashtags to use, and knowing the right responses for a variety of different comments.
If you think you got those down, you can monetize your social media success by accepting sponsors and promoting their products. Having a strong connection with your niche is essential to attract your sponsors. Breaking into the influencer profession is hard, you need to have a successful social media account first before you start making money and receiving gifts.
Domain registration service
Starting a domain registration can be a very lucrative online business. A domain name is a website’s address. For example, beehexa.com. Companies are willing to pay a considerable amount of money for the domain they want.
You must be accredited in order to run a domain registration business, so your startup and maintenance costs will include upfront and ongoing accreditation fees of several thousand dollars per year
Launch a Podcast
If content writing is the spiritual successor to print journalism, then podcasting is the modern equivalent to talk radio. It’s the career of choice for people who not only like to talk but also are good at it. Launching a podcast can be a great revenue generator for business ideas.
To promote your podcast, consider collaborating with prominent figures as guests on your show. Encourage listeners to leave reviews and share your podcast with their friends and family.
Blogging business
If you have a laptop and a great writing idea or a passion for a particular subject that you believe you can use to entertain or educate the masses, you can start a blog. Earning its spot on this list of best online business ideas.
The key to starting a successful blog is to focus on building an engaged, loyal audience. When you start with an audience-centric approach, you’ll cultivate a community that trusts you. And when you can earn trust, you can start to drive revenue.
Create handmade products
On the other hand, if you are the creative or artistic type, you can easily monetize your skill online. Selling handmade products has become considerably more accessible, even for absolute beginners. Trying to turn your passion into income.
Startup costs vary depending on the product you’re making. Making your products to order is slower, but prevents waste products and cuts down on initial costs.
Affiliate marketing business
Affiliate marketing is excellent for a passionate person who enjoys being in the public spotlight. You should be good at promoting brands without coming across as a salesperson by recommending a product or service on your blog or social media to your email list, on your website, or on other channels. You earn a commission each time someone converts through your unique referral link or code.
Before you start affiliate marketing, it helps to have at least a basic knowledge of SEO and copywriting and you need a pre-existing source of internet traffic. The more traffic you can generate, the more you can charge.
Teaching & consulting business
Tutoring business
Online tutoring is a super flexible way to monetize your skill and knowledge. It is ideal for current and former teachers looking for part-time or full-time work. As a tutor, you should be skilled and experienced in the field you choose, and able to effectively market yourself to find clients.
Life coaching business
Coaching focuses on helping an individual to discover answers to their problems for themselves. The success of a life coaching business depends entirely upon your business’s ability to connect with and assist other people, so experience working with a broad range of people is important.
Online course business
One of the new online concepts when it comes to education, you can create virtual courses to sell online. Online course business is a low-investment business idea for generating passive income.
Although it requires effort up front, if you manage to design a popular, high-value video tutorial series, you would make money on an ongoing basis as people continue to enroll in your course.
Virtual assistant business
If you are organized, attentive, and responsible you will do well in this position. It can be an excellent opportunity for anyone with administrative or personal assistant experience looking for a virtual assistant.
To stand out, those hoping to make a living as virtual assistants must be flexible, offer a wide range of services, and put a great deal of effort into marketing themselves. Earning potential can vary widely depending on the nature of your clients, hours worked, and payment structure.
You can choose one of the ones listed above or flexibly combine them. With all the new social media platforms and communication tools, it’s easier than ever to do what you love and make money from it. Let’s remember to pay attention to branding and design as you’re building your new online business.
