4 Signs Your Business Is Ready To Sell Online

Houston Advice for Women Entrepreneurs

If you run a successful small brick and mortar business and feel ready to expand and grow, you may be tempted to jump on the bandwagon and start your online store. However, is it the right time for your offline shop to open online? 

1. Your brand differentiates your product. - 

In America alone, there are an estimated 102,728 “successful” shops online. To compete with these existing online stores, you must differentiate your shop from countless others. A good brand, a physical or emotional idea associated with your shop, will help you achieve that. Having a strong brand will help you compete against e-commerce giants. If your business is in a niche market, branding your shop is easier with specialized products and a targeted audience.

2. Build the shop website. -

Building a branded online shop extends beyond listing products on a page. There are countless free shopping cart solutions available, which allow you to add your branding. Your goal is to take your offline brand and translate it into a branded online shop. Whether you do it yourself or hire a developer, it’s important to keep your brand consistent across both channels. Time commitment comes into play when offline branding doesn’t translate online. You’ll need to make new branding decisions on photography, font, copy, color schemes, etc. A badly designed online shop can hurt your brand more than help it.

3. You have resources to support significant new business costs. -

Does your small business generate a positive and healthy cash flow? Will you have enough manpower to run both shops? Cash and human capital are two major resources your new online shop will deplete. New costs you’ll incur include web hosting, online card processing fees, email marketing and online advertising (which can add up quickly) in addition to the man-hours required to manage the website inventory. New tasks include processing, database management, content marketing and providing online customers service. These are examples of upfront costs that will initially cut into your time and offline profit. Ensure you have a healthy cash flow to support both your online and offline stores.

4. Your offline shop has a strong online presence through social media. -

Building a strong social media presence is a project all on its own. A strong social media presence requires both consistent content generation from your small business and customer interaction in the form of Likes, Tweets, or comments. Having an established online presence shows that 1) your customers are already online 2) you engage customers with your online strategy and 3) you already have potential customers you can advertise your new online shop to.

Source: Forbes

Patty Block, President and Founder of The Block Group, established her company to advocate for women-owned businesses, helping them position their companies for strategic growth. Charting the course for impactful, sustainable, profitable businesses, the beacon is control: of your strategic direction, your money, your time, your staffing, and your ability to bring in business. The Block Group brings together the people, resources and ideas that build results.

Houston Advice for Women Entrepreneurs.

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