The entrepreneurial spirit is a hell of a bug to catch. It may not be the easiest thing, but being able to build a life for yourself is an incredibly fulfilling pursuit. The money is great once it gets going, and that’s not even half of it. You also wind up being a better person overall with what you learn along the way.
Self-sufficiency is kind of a universal theme among everyone who puts up a business. That said, it’s also especially challenging when you’re coming from a position that doesn’t allow you to make many, if any, financial mistakes. You’re going to have to make the most of the resources you have.
Luckily, the internet makes it easier than ever to get your business out into the world—even without say, a physical location for your store. Being able to engage with the market on your own terms has never been easier.
With the tools and resources available on the internet today, there’s no better time to put up your own online store. Here are 5 reasons why!
Convenience
There’s charm to the whole brick and mortar experience, but you can’t exactly think ahead if you’re busy putting out (occasionally literal) fires in an actual store. There are workplace safety concerns, the real threat of petty theft, and a whole host of horrible things that just pile up. And that’s on top of your existing responsibilities as a business owner.
By putting up an online store, you only really have to worry about things like storage and shipping. If it’s safe enough for you to sleep in, it’s probably a good enough place to start your fledgling business. You don’t have to worry about doing as much paperwork either since platforms like WordPress sort that out for you. By embracing the digital life, you also skirt around the tedium of menial administrative tasks.
Lower Overhead
Apart from making things easier on an administrative, day-to-day level, an online store should also help you keep costs low by automating tasks that you used to need separate people for. Since many online stores eschew the need for a physical location altogether, you could only imagine what good this could do for your margins.
You spend less on people you don’t need. You don’t spend anything at all on rent or maintenance for a storefront. Yet, the money just keeps coming in! This allows you to make more sensible hiring or logistical decisions that are best suited to a lean workflow.
Personalization
Businesses are as diverse as the people who run them. Every online store has different needs, and we happen to live at a time where e-commerce platforms are flexible enough for most cases. Whether it’s something as simple as a brand-aligned aesthetic choice or something a bit more complex like region detection for different products, there’s something out there for you.
Places like WordPress allow you to use a whole suite of customizable tools, or even new, purpose-made ones if you’re handy with a command terminal. The amount of personalization makes online stores as much of a creative outlet as they are spaces for business.
Reach
Distance from a physical store used to be much more of a factor in purchase decisions. Even if the little mom-and-pop across town has the exact thing you need, many would be willing to settle for second best if it means just hitting the Wal-Mart a couple of blocks down.
As an online store, you just aren’t hampered by these constraints. You cast a wider net, being able to serve people so long as postage allows. If anything, you’ll find people going to stores just to see how much of a better deal they can get from you online! That’s something.
Digital Marketing Potential
On a related note, the digital marketing ecosystem is incredibly integrated and this is something you must use to your advantage! Through the use of social media websites or search engines, you could get your brand into people’s eyeballs like never before and the use of retargeting tools could even tip the scales for casual browsers who didn’t convert the first time.
Online stores were practically made for this, and platforms like WordPress make it incredibly easy to tailor-make your own site for the whims of the search algorithm. Places like HubSpot for example, do a great job of running through the basics of digital marketing.
