Once upon a time, having a startup or founding a small business was a pretty expensive adventure. Today, however, it is easier than ever before, especially in the online environment. Since now you can use different templates for most of your online business needs, you can launch a startup even for less than $100. However, if you want to run it with a tight budget, it will require a lot of sweat and time to make it work. Let’s see some must-do steps for every new entrepreneur.
Free website for starters
If the most important thing for an offline business is its store or office, the key element for every online business is its website. Since here we are talking about launching a startup with a restricted budget, you will probably have to start with some free materials. Due to a growing number or website platforms that offer free templates and themes at bargain prices, today you can literally make a website on your own without any significant expenses. However, bear in mind that your clients will learn a lot about you from the impression your website leaves on them. This is why this self-made site should be only a temporary solution. You should consider asking for professional web design help as your business keeps developing in a steady way.
Come up with discounts
When you are a newly founded online startup that nobody has ever heard of, it is extremely difficult to attract any visitors to buy things from you. This is why you will have to sell for below-cost prices and your initial profit margin will be extremely low, when/if you make profits in the first place. Therefore, it will take some time and patience to actually start making money on the web. But as you keep gaining trust, you will be able to form your prices in accordance with the real conditions on the market. Here you can learn more about profit margins for startups.
Move to social media
Everybody knows that social media are important for your social and business life, especially since they are freely used by millions of people. However, what everybody cannot do is present their business in an original and purposeful way to the social media audience. First of all, connect your website discount and sales campaigns with your social media pages. Such a promotion will popularize such special deals. Also, use your social media business page as an information hub for your clients. Finally, connect with other businesses on Facebook and join different groups that belong to your niche of work. All these moves are completely free of charge. What is more, if your page becomes popular, you might even earn some money along the way.
Risk-free payment options
No matter whether your revenue is skyrocketing or you are still struggling to hit the bull’s eye, sales-wise, what you have to ensure for your customers are risk-free payment options. It would be a shame to invest your time and knowledge to give your business a boost, only to fall behind because of insecure payments. This is why your modern startup should work only with providers that introduce a wide-scale approach to online transactions to meet as many requirements at possible. For instance, Promise Pay is a new payment provider that covers a wide range of modern user-friendly options. When your potential customers see that they can use several ways to pay for the goods they buy from you or the services you provide for them, they will be more inclined to become your loyal clients.
Being a young or inexperienced business owner is always a double-edged sword. If you want to hack your way to the top, you will have to work hard, often with scarce resources, to achieve your business goals. However, once you join the crew at the top, you will see that it was worth doing it.
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via Dan Radak
Dan Radak is a web hosting security professional with ten years of experience. He is a coauthor on several websites and regular contributor to BizzMark Blog. Currently, he is working with a number of companies in the field of online security, closely collaborating with a couple of e-commerce companies.
