Post Menu and Details.
- Drag-and-Drop Website Builders
- Access a Global Audience Instantly
- Simplified Risk Management
- Benefit From Data
- Bridge the Gap Between Off and Online
- Easier Customer Relationship Management
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More than one million new businesses get started every year. Many rely heavily on the internet to build an initial consumer base, market their products, and grow. With all the new tools and technology released in recent years, it’s never been easier for your new business to do the same.
We’ve put together this article to help you with that. It highlights six ways the internet has made starting a business more accessible than ever. Keep reading to learn more.
Drag-and-Drop Website Builders
In the past, companies needed to hire a web developer to create a website for them. However, this made it much more expensive to develop an online presence and make changes as the company evolved over time.
Nowadays, that’s no longer necessary. Several popular drag-and-drop website builders make creating a new website from scratch incredibly easy. When choosing a website builder, there are a few factors you need to consider, such as ease of use, customization options, and SEO capabilities. You will also want to consider your budget and objectives for the site. For example, if your goal for the site is to bring customers into the store versus running an online store, you may opt for a different builder.
Many companies are taking advantage of these to launch low-cost websites in a fraction of the amount of time it used to take to build one. For example, Wix powers more than 600,000 e-commerce stores – and that’s just one of the popular drag-and-drop website builders available for businesses to use today.
Access a Global Audience Instantly
At the end of the day, a new company will either succeed or fail based on the number of customers that it can attract. But if you run a niche business (and even if you don’t), finding a continual flow of new customers in your local area can be challenging.
With the internet, that’s not a problem. Companies from across the globe can instantly connect with international customers with a few simple clicks. So your coffee roastery in Brazil could sell products to customers in the United States. Or a clothing shop in Paris could ship its fashion to buyers in Hong Kong.
The bottom line is that you get access to a much wider pool of potential customers when you develop an online presence, when you have more customers to market your brand to, the percentage you need to convert to achieve your revenue goals decreases.
Simplified Risk Management
Starting a business carries some risk. For example, if you sell products or services that end up causing harm to a customer, you could be hit with a costly lawsuit. You might also experience employee injuries, property damage, and lost wages, costing your company more money than it has to spare.
In the past, it was challenging to find a competitive insurance plan to help you manage all of this risk. So you needed to go into a local office and hope they would give you a fair plan.
This is all much easier now. Thanks to the internet, you can find simple business insurance that meets your specifications with a five-second search on Google. Without having to wait in line or schedule a meeting, you can quickly compare the services that various insurance providers have to offer and select the one that is ideal for you.
The expanded competition can help you get the risk management solution you need at a more affordable price point. In addition, it means your company doesn’t have to worry about risk as much now.
Benefit From Data
You constantly generate data while running your business. From email open rates to website visits and sales call results, there are a million and one things that you can track to improve your performance as a company.
The internet has made that much easier to do. With it, you can quickly find online tools that automatically track your most important data for you and help you discover the insights it offers without any extra work on your end.
This is extremely beneficial to your company because data tells you a story about what’s working for your brand and what isn’t. You can also use it to try out new strategies and see whether you want to continue using them or not.
Your company also can benefit from internet tools that will enable you to create and present a data-driven presentation. As was previously noted, gathering data is equally as crucial as comprehending it. The way you portray the data, for instance, can have twice the impact if you are trying to win a new client based on prior accomplishments.
Bridge the Gap Between Off and Online
Both offline and online customers present valuable opportunities for your business. But online customers are easy to track, market to, and develop relationships with, thanks to the internet.
With new tools, you can bridge the gap between your offline and online customers to achieve better company results.
For example, QR codes can encourage store shoppers to download your app and enter your digital marketing ecosystem. This kind of digitization can help you significantly improve sales volume over time.
Businesses can use QR codes in a variety of different ways. Aside from boosting app downloads, they can also increase social media visibility, collect customer feedback, or simply share contact information.
Easier Customer Relationship Management
Finally, the internet has also made managing your relationships with clients and potential customers much easier. Many great tools will automate the relationship management experience so that you just receive alerts when you need to take action instead of remembering everything on your own.
Businesses are more reliant on cloud technologies now than ever. Companies utilize the cloud for a wide range of capabilities, such as customer-facing web apps, email outreach, data backup, virtual desktops, and more.
These tools make it much easier to maintain the customers you get, which is another reason why starting a business has never been easier, thanks to the internet. With a customer-facing app, you can easily manage appointments, cancellations, and schedule reminders.
Thank you for reading!