Online businesses are more common than ever. With the rise of the internet, it's never been easier to start your own business from your bedroom or even if you have no business experience at all. There is also an opportunity for online trading on cryptocurrency exchanges for those who are not afraid of internet crime. So how do you exactly go about starting an online business? We have put together 5 easy steps for you.

By Team Savant

1. Define Your Purpose

The first step is to define precisely what kind of product or service you want to sell online and whether there is a particular buyer persona in mind with whom you want to do business. You must be 100% clear with yourself about what it is that excites you most about this new venture. If your passion lies in fashion, you might want to start an online store where you sell clothes you love wearing. If it's travel that makes your heart race, then perhaps a travel blog would be the best way to go about starting an online business.

2. Create A Website

Your website is probably going to be your most significant investment when it comes to starting an online business, so please take the time at this stage to figure out what kind of theme you want and which features are necessary for your new site. Here are some things you might like to consider:

Your e-commerce platform (try out the Bitnami WooCommerce alternative application)
Background design
Your logo
Font type and font size

Make sure your website is "social media friendly" so that once visitors arrive, they can easily share and spread the word about your new venture.

3. Create A Winning Payment System

Your payment system needs to be not only safe but easy enough for your customers to navigate. There are many affordable e-commerce shopping cart providers online. The most critical aspects are choosing a reputable company with good customer reviews, offering secure server connections which encrypt credit card information, allowing for multiple currencies etc. Be wary of any website which only provides you with the option to pay with PayPal - this is not always safe! Also, if you sell things subject to tax, it's essential that your e-commerce platform automatically calculates VAT.

4. Create Content

The success of your new online business largely depends on how much great content you are willing to create for your readers. They have committed time and money to procure your product, so being able to get an email address from them means they expect lots of relevant information in return.

5. Promote, Promote and Then Do Some More Promotion

Of course, it would be a complete waste of time to build a website, create all this content and even devise an easy payment system if you don't let people know about your business. It's vital that once you have built up a decent amount of relevant followers on social media channels, you invite them to follow your new venture and ask them to share the content they enjoy the most. You can also use Google AdWords or Facebook Ads to target potential buyers with advertisements relevant to their interests/demographics etc.

These steps should set you on your way to success.