I am passionate about digital marketing and I always try to share my knowledge and experiences with whoever needs it. Creating your business based on a digital model is not just a trend, it can be more profitable, and easier to start than the offline alternative.
The eCommerce industry is growing approximately 23% each year, and in one study, 69% of B2B businesses said they would stop printing physical catalogs in the next 5 years.
The world continues to move towards digital, and businesses are not far behind.
Interested in starting a business but not sure what to sell?
What is a Digital Business?
For the purposes of this article, we consider digital businesses to be those that use digital channels to conduct business. That is, the product can be physical, but if you offer it through digital channels, it counts as a digital business. The best example is https://www.gambleusa.com. The site offers casino games in digital form.
How to start a Digital Business
I have realized that there are some key steps when starting any business, but those that must be given special attention when dealing with a more digitally oriented business. Users behave differently on digital platforms, they respond differently to brand communication. Therefore, a lot of experimentation is always necessary.
Take the time to first create and build your community
Validate your business idea before putting it on the market
Plan costs
Think macro, not just on Instagram, or a website
Prepare for undesirable results
Many entrepreneurs tend to wait until they have something to sell to start building a community. It is not wrong, but you will have a great advantage if you go ahead and find the people you want to help first. We see this a lot with creators, whose products are based on their skills (eg design, photography, embroidery, crafts, cooking, etc). If you don’t have clients, or a portfolio, or any info product, BETTER. This means you have the time to chat and really figure out what you have to offer. When you have a product, you will have an audience ready to buy it.
Validate your business idea before putting it on the market
Speaking of audience and product… You may have heard it before but it’s worth emphasizing: Never create a product and then try to find people who will buy it. Find people first, validate your idea, and then market.
Validate your idea on Google
How similar are the results to your idea? Are there already businesses that offer the same? How can you differentiate yourself? Finding more brands in the same industry is good news! This means that there are enough people buying the product or service that there is some competition. If there was no competition, you would have to take a step back and ask yourself why, and if it is worth the effort it will take to create demand for your business.
Validate your idea with surveys to your audience
One of the most valuable questions you can ask is: What difficulties do you have with [topic related to your idea]
Spoiler alert: This is why it is so important to build a community before selling your product. So you can validate your idea this way. Ask if they’ve tried to fix it before, how, what results they’ve had, etc.
I recommend that in the first stages you work more with open questions, so you will have enough information to close the investigation and then use multiple choice surveys.
The purpose of this action is to find out if you are really on the right track with the problem you want to solve. Maybe you are talking to the right people about the wrong problem.
