When you are deep in debt and desperate enough to get out of it, you will go through lengths just to keep yourself out of trouble. Apart from going through a debt relief program, you want to increase your income in order for you to put in more payments into your credit contributions.
While you can get a second job to earn more money, that may be physically tiring and mentally exhausting. If you have to get a source of additional income, you may want to stick to those that will not burn you out too much. This is where the Internet can come in really handy.
Why set up a business online
One of your options to earn more income to pay off debt is to set up an online business. There are many benefits to an ecommerce business and we will try to discuss as much as we can in this article.
Earning through an online company will give you the following benefits.
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You only need a small capital to start your business. The cost to put up an online business, even if it is an ecommerce store is ridiculously small compared to the physical alternative. If you want to earn extra income this way, your ROI (return of investment) will be relatively fast so your profit growth will be more exponential.
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You can start your business within the day. Setting up a website is very easy and you can do it within hours. Of course, generating traffic into your website will take longer but the fact is, you can have your website available and open to the public within an hour.
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The Internet reaches a global market. You don’t have to limit yourself to your local community. Of course, it still depends on the type of business that you will have. If it is service oriented, you may be limited by what you offer. But if it is a product, you can sell it to a much wider market. The shipping and the reach of the Internet will help you get order from people all over the world.
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Promotional and marketing tools are easy to use and acquire. Sometimes, these tools are even free. You can use social media networks, upload your video advertisements on Youtube and these rarely cost you anything.
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You don’t have to spend too much money on manpower. It is relatively easy to keep your costs low – especially your manpower costs. If you can make your online business as automated as possible, you can even run it on your own. If you have an online shop, it can stay open and generate income even as you sleep.
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The overhead costs will be minimal too. The overhead expenses of your online company will not be as much as the mortar and brick business alternative. You can save a lot and put in more into your profits.
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You can work anytime and anywhere you like. As long as there is an Internet connection, you can actually access your business. You can even run your ecommerce site while in your pajamas.
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Since everything is digital, you also get to help the environment. An online business requires very little paper documents. Everything will be digital and that removes the usual clutter in a company.
All of these may sound good but you also have to be aware of the disadvantages of operating an online business.
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It requires a certain level of technical knowledge. You have to know at least the basics of managing a website. You don’t have to know HTML codes because most platforms can be used by those without knowledge of these languages. However, you will be operating in a different domain so doing some research and exploration is required of you.
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The competition is high. Since it is relatively easy to setup and manage an online business, not to mention cheap, you can expect that a lot of people are already trying to make a living through this portal. The competition will be pretty high but that should be compensated by the fact that you have a global reach too.
Starting your ecommerce business
No doubt about it, an online business poses all sorts of opportunities for you. Especially when you are retired or unable to physically go to work, this can be an option for you. You don’t have to be physically fit. You just need to have the knowledge to run your online business and you should be alright.
Of course, you need to have a website that will serve as your platform to sell your product or service. Here are the steps that you have to follow to accomplish that.
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Do your research. Know what the Internet is all about, find out the competition, understand the tools you can use, and know the culture of this domain.
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Get a domain name. The domain name will be the name of your website (e.g. www.domainname.com). You need to register this through popular registrars like Bluehost.com or GoDaddy.com.
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Find a web hosting company. You will rent out a server space where your website files will be stored and accessed via the Internet by both you and your clientele.
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Create your website. You can hire a professional web developer for this or you can get ready may templates and alter it a bit to suit the image of your online business. WordPress and Joomla are popular platforms that even non-tech savvy people can create websites from.
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Set up an online payment system. You can connect to PayPal or a similar merchant.
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Build your traffic. Just like you want to get people to visit your store to shop, you need traffic to go to your ecommerce site to view what you have to offer. This can be done through SEO (search engine optimization) techniques.
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Promote your website. You can use social networking sites and email marketing to send out word that you have a business online.
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Track your progress. This is something that will tell you if you are profiting from your business or not.
You are encouraged to do your research about setting up an online business through reputable and trustworthy website. You can start with the Small Business Administration website (www.sba.gov) and search for other helpful links from there.
Here is a video that you can watch about setting up an online business. This was created by an online businessman who shares tips on how you can come up with a profitable online business. It is a bit lengthy but you can get really good tips from someone is actually successful online.