Top 5 Tips on Starting a Digital Business

Top 5 Tips on Starting a Digital Business

by Cheryl Rickman, author of The Digital Business Start-Up Workbook
http://www.writer.uk.com

This global village of ours is now virtual, digital and mobile. The omnipresent World Wide Web has enabled anyone to access revenue-generating audiences from anywhere with an Internet connection at anytime, 24-7.  Ultimately, where there’s an Internet connection, there’s a potential enterprise and, where there’s scale, there’s colossal opportunity.

Thanks to technology and the digital revolution, global web operations can be orchestrated from any location. (Amazon and Google started life in their founders’ garages, eBay was established in a spare bedroom).

Today, when start-ups open their doors for business, they can do so to the world.  Indeed, living in a global village means that, as well as seizing the chance to sell, entrepreneurs can also tap into a global talent pool and source low-cost supplies from far-flung corners of the planet. The world is quite literally an entrepreneur’s oyster.

Here are five Top Tips extracted from my new book, The Digital Business Start-Up Workbook to give anyone starting a digital business the best chance of success.

1. Seek out windows of opportunity that you have the competencies to take advantage of. Consider how you can create a better, unique, differentiated, useful product or service with a fantastic value proposition. Seek out problems that you might be able to solve. Consider how you might make a group of people's lives/tasks easier. What can you offer that traditional businesses cannot? Personalisation? More product choice via a wider range? Faster turnaround? Easier purchasing? A brand new solution? 
2. Listen to peoples’ reactions when you explain your idea. “My worst decision was being too stubborn in the early days and not listening to people,” admits Moo.com founder, Richard Moross. 
3. Create an exceptional and memorable product. “The most important element of our growth has been the product,” says Moonpig.com founder, Nick Jenkins. “That’s been 75% of it because people like it and they want to spread the word.” Benchmark your success based on how exceptional, exciting, remarkable and memorable your products and company are. 
4. Put the customer at the heart of what you do. Provide unrivalled customer service that goes the extra mile to please your customers and turn detractors into promoters. 
5. Gain traction. The more users you can get using your product/service, the more investors you will attract. Traction validates your claims. It’s as simple as that. Present a product that is up and running as opposed to a mere idea; thus proving the concept works and the market exists. Test launch to get an initial base of customers and consequential metrics.

Finally, be brilliant. Hire a brilliant bunch of people and produce great products and services that people want to share. Follow these tips and you'll be well on your way to creating and sustaining a successful digital enterprise.

Cheryl Rickman's new book, The Digital Business Start-Up Workbook: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Succeeding Online from Start-Up to Exit is published in April 2012 by Wiley/Capstone.

(c) Cheryl Rickman 2012.

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