How to start up a new web business and survive

The hardest part of managing any business is the start up, getting the ball rolling or whatever you want to call it. Whether you are looking to create a new SEO, web design or hosting business there are various strategies you can adopt based upon other experiences or you can employ some clever tactics based on your own knowledge. Either way it’s pure fact that at first, maybe even the first few years, it will require a lot of work….hard work!!!!!

Getting the ball rolling

So, you’ve got a few ideas, a computer, you’ve connected to the net and now you want to start promoting yourself. How on earth do you get from that point to a thriving business, when you have no customer base, no money and no experience? We can’t answer exactly how you will accomplish this but we can help at least guide you in the right direction and help where we can.
Are you serious?

The key to success is persistence and perseverance. Like a relationship with a partner it requires regular maintenance, communication and involvement to mature into a long lasting, organic relationship. Ask anyone that’s made a massive success in their lives and they will all tell you that it didn’t come easy. It’s not like winning the lottery; it can happen to anyone but only if you have the mentality to constantly work at it.

This notion of persistence send out a message to your potential customers and those around you that you are in fact serious about what you are doing. This doesn’t mean you should bombard them with sales pitches and product listings, in fact quite the opposite. In order to entice your customers first they have to trust you. Shroud your promotions in interesting information and decorate it so that the perceived image is the image that you want your customers to see. This is more than a logo, this is your brand, what you represent, your identity and your lifestyle all wrapped into a neat profitable package. If they see your brand often enough, doing the thing you say you do, then you’ll eventually be recognized for it.

Why are you doing this?

Most business owners start something because they are passionate about what they do, they enjoy it and they want to share it or offer it to others. Some businesses strive without passion but are they effective and as a human being is it really worth it? Our advice is if you don’t enjoy it now then you’ll hate it later.

There is the other side of this coin whereby something’s that you enjoy the most aren’t necessarily what you’re best at and in some cases it can destroy your desire if try to attempt to make it professionally. For example, I love snowboarding, I long for the mountains, I regard myself as ‘pretty good’ but I have no desire to make it competitive because I don’t want to commercialise my skill set in that particular area.

Having a passion for what it is you want to do will pull you through the hard times and push you out the other side in a far more advantageous position. Always remember, why are you doing this?

Competitiveness

Setting up shop and going into business is a competitive manoeuvre whether you like it or not. The first thing to consider is whether or not there is demand for what you are providing? Can you meet the demands cost effectively? Do you require expensive marketing budgets to promote yourself? Or are you in a niche where supply is low and demand is high? Is your product profitable?

In the web design industry it is quite an interesting case where demand is lower than supply. For example how many people want to be web designers? Quite a few in reality. Unfortunately what happens is huge pressure is placed on the prices because the customer has so much supply to choose from.

“The world is oversupplied with people who call themselves web designers. There’s a difference, of course, between someone who owns the tools of production and those who use those tools well to solve business problems. Owning a camera does not make someone a commercial photographer. Likewise, those with the most artistic design skills may make lousy web designers if they aren’t focused on business aspects“. (SEObook 2010)

The best thing to do in this scenario is to list what it is that you offer that is unique to other designers? What are your core competences? Is there a particular style of web design that you are particularly good at? What are your competitors lacking?

Your business model should reflect your strategy and be able to evolve as the markets change and new resources become available. Perhaps you can offer free products and services to establish yourself and get your name in the market easily before launching the ultimate selling product which you can sell to a readymade market which has demand. Perhaps treat these as a marketing cost? The aim is to get referrals and a portfolio of work to show other clients and eventually gain momentum. It is often the case that you will have to give for the opportunity to run further in the future. But keep a cool head and don’t give into too much or you’ll lose money.

It is very difficult to market a business without some form of track record; every business needs to start somewhere.

Offering a greater rate of value to your potential customers will reap much greater rewards in the future. Make it clear what they are getting is far more than the actual cost of the project. This will keep them coming back and you can gradually increase the cost per job. This may not be so appropriate if you are selling a tangible product, but works very well in the service industry.

How much do you cost?

Some think the easiest way to get business is to undercut competitors on price. This can have detrimental effects on your business model however:

1. You get cheap clients. Customers who want the pay the least usually want the most and don’t appreciate the cost of services.
2. Someone else can always undercut you. There will always be a competitor who has a cost base lower than you do which causes market stalls.
3. If it looks cheap, it is cheap. It’s human nature to devalue something that is cheap, and place higher value on something that is expensive. Perception counts for a lot.

If you want to lower your prices the make sure your margins are still high enough to sustain you. Keep evaluating your core competences, it may well be more cost effective to outsource a particular service to a more dedicated supplier that can do it cheaper for you and you can still make a markup on the revenue. This gives you competitive advantage by keeping your costs low, your prices competitive and your profits high.

Always remember to offer greater value than the nearest competitor. This can be the difference between a customer selecting your product or service over another and consequently lead to a win. This is a constant process of revision and adjustment until you get the market exactly where you want it. Remember it takes time and time and even more time with a sprinkling of strategy to get what it is you desire.

If you have any other tips then we want to hear from you…what do you think helps for a good online marketing strategy?