How to Start an Online Business from Scratch in the Caribbean

This article is based on a discussion with Alicia Lyttle, the Founder of POW Social, on the #FACLive Show.

One of the misconceptions about creating an online business in the Caribbean is that you have to be tech-savvy. However, there are several ways to use whatever technological capabilities you have and use them to your advantage when it comes to creating an eCommerce business in the Caribbean.

According to Lyttle, the first thing you must do if you want to start an online business today is assess your skills. “Take out your pen and paper and start writing down your current skills and don't leave anything out. It can be as broad as ‘I’m good at listening; I’m good at typing I’m good at reading; I’m good at proofreading’ - whatever you're good at, start to write it down”, advised Lyttle.

When starting an online business from scratch, here are some other steps you should take:

1.?????Learn new skills – Consider the new skills that you can learn so that you can start to earn money online. The more you learn, the more income you can generate as an online business owner in the Caribbean. And, learning new skills does not have to be expensive. You can learn skills for your new online business from YouTube and Google.

For example, if you’d like to start an online business that creates press releases for clients, you can search for how to create a press release on YouTube and learn from global content creators how to do just that. Then, you can search press release templates on Google and you can select a preferred template for you to start developing press releases for your clients.

2.?????Market your skills and services – You can set up social media accounts for your business and post content about the services you offer and the value it can bring for your potential clients. Additionally, you can create a website to gain more visibility online and allow your customers to pay for your services from your website.

Lyttle advised that you must make use of the technology that’s available to you to be able to sell online. She stated that compared to ten years ago, getting started online is much easier and entrepreneurs should keep up with the demands of their consumers who want to be able to shop for their services and products online.

For retailers who think I’ don't think that my customers are going to buy from my website, Ii just think they want to come in this door’ well you know from the times that we've been in that you're never going to get back that store traffic that you had before, so you need to now adjust with the times and the times say people are buying online. They're buying online and if you don't have the option for people to buy online from you then you're going to be missing out on a whole base of people who are now saying ‘my life has changed because of the times that we're in and I’m now ordering online for the convenience’ – Alicia Lyttle, POW Social.

Check out our video below to learn more about How to Start an Online Business in the Caribbean:

This article is based on a discussion with Alicia Lyttle, the Founder of POW Social, on the #FACLive Show. ?Subscribe to our YouTube Channel?for more.