4 Benefits of Taking Your Business Online
To say that your small business does not have an online presence is to say that it is outdated. By now it must be very obvious to every business owner that the internet is the place to be. It is where all the action happens and where frankly a large majority of your customers are. Therefore, many businesses have entered this space and have established their presence. They are successfully selling their product and/or service and engaging with their customers online. This means that such businesses are the ones coming out on top.
They’ve done this by staying relevant and making themselves visible in these spaces. This point is painfully obvious in the way we have seen the tremendous growth and subsequent rise of e-commerce businesses. A business, especially a small business, can learn many valuable lessons from other businesses that have a successful online presence.
In other words, the modern customer is more likely to engage with and purchase from a business online. One of the main reasons this is true is due to its accessibility and convenience. In fact, they are untrustworthy of a brand or business that does not have an online presence. This holds true even for a small business. Customers need your brand to, at the very least, have a social media account. If you don’t have any of these things, you stand to lose out on many aspects that can grow your business.
Here are the Benefits of Taking Your Small Business Online
Anyone who has opened a business in a physical setup knows that the overhead costs are sometimes significantly higher than the initial profits. Setting up a brick-and-mortar, traditional business requires the need for an office/shop space, rent, utilities and employees. These expenses, when incurred during the initial stage of a business, may do more harm than good. This is why people are shifting their business or starting their business online right from the get-go.
This is because the online business model requires way less money to start and operate. You only have to spend money on a website and a domain name. These would be funds wisely spent because you are investing in your business’s future. You can set up a social media presence for your business which comes at no cost. Making your business visible on social media is a great way to reach more customers.
We’re sure that before you decide to purchase a product or service, you immediately search for the same on Google. If it shows up on the search page, you are more likely to trust that brand or business. The same applies to your business if you gift it the credibility of an online presence.
So, with an online business model, you are cutting down on unnecessary and expensive costs like rent and utilities. Then you are directing a lesser amount to set up or shift your business online where all your customers are.
According to oberlo.in “…more than one out of every four people you see around you is an online shopper.” We think this sentence alone should be able to convince you to take your business online. This is what we mean by the power of the internet to help scale and expand your business.
Let’s say that your business, before being online, had a total of 100 customers. Since shifting online, whether that was through your mobile/web app, website or social media presence, your previous customer base of 100 has now widened to maybe 500.
With an online business, geographical boundaries are significantly blurred. When this element is knocked down, your online presence (which can be accessed by millions of people) makes you visible to people outside of the region your business is set up in.?
This is because your business is not limited by physical boundaries. Anyone from anywhere in the world can now know of and make purchases from your business. As your customers increase globally and locally, so too does your business.
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With an offline or a traditional business, you maintain strict opening and closing hours. All your business’s purchases, sales, payments and more occur during this pre-defined time frame. Add to this public and festive holidays, where you will have to close your store and not make any sales. As a result, there’s only so much business and profit that can occur during a year.
But, if your business were to have an e-commerce platform, your store would never close. You’d be available and open for sale 24/7 and 365 days of the year. This would exponentially increase sales and profits as your customers are not limited by your business hours. They can purchase from your business on any day and at any given hour. This is because your store is open to shop at their convenience (which is really every customer’s ideal of a store).
When customers can access your small business online on any day of the year, you reap the benefits of this.
We can all agree that staying on par with your competition alone is not enough. But being in the same space as them is definitely a good start. What this does is shows your business the various benefits that your competition was leveraging for themselves. Now, you actually have the chance to access and use those same benefits to improve your business. But the work must not stop there. As you acquaint yourself with this new model, you must always be on the lookout for unique ways you can grow your business. Getting your business online is only the first step in this long and rewarding journey.
Whether your small business requires complete digitalization solutions or needs a website or app, Arcitech is here with wallet-friendly options. Arcitech does not offer ready-made and stale solutions – we pride ourselves on our individuality and the unique quality we bring to your small business. We believe that every business has the potential to do wonders – we only act as guides and stepping stones to help you reach that goal.
Arcitech ?has been in the industry for over 10 years and has delivered 500+ projects globally. So we can guarantee that your business’s digital transformation lies in very capable hands (and minds).