Starting something from scratch is never easy. Even for an online food business owner, there is a fine line between success and failure. Many dream of becoming successful entrepreneurs but find it difficult to go past the first step. However, there are ways to make the path to your dreams easier. Here are some useful tips to cut down on your risk and give a smooth start to your online business venture.
Strengthen your brand
Think again of what you’re selling. Is it bread? Pizza? Pastries? Pasta? It’s best to start with a small range of offerings. Pick something that you’re good at doing and start everything from there. Doing many things at once prevents you from focusing on what to start with. If you start with one or two specialty products, that’s good. If you’ve curated a full menu, maybe try cutting it down a little for you to manage your business properly.
Specialty products can get you noticed, however you can only go so far. Where will a business venture end up if people do not demand your specialty products anymore? How will your customers notice your brand in a more sustainable way? Make sure that people can familiarize themselves with your company by building an easy-to-remember brand.
You can do some basic research on a small group of people—your friends maybe—to test if people can familiarize well with your brand. Things like brand name, brand logo, or even the colors you pick, will decide if you will stick out or blend in with the rest.
Picking a name that rolls off the tongue easily is recommended so that your brand comes to mind in a snap. As for colors, warm hues like red, yellow, or orange are time-tested and work well. However, you can also experiment with other colors that would best represent your brand.
The ultimate combination of your brand is your logo. Make sure that your logo is bold and distinct from the logos of other companies—no need for a very complicated design. Make something simple and easy to remember. Just take a look at the brands of many companies today—they are often simple, bold, brightly-colored to give you the ‘Aha, I know that!’ reaction.
Think of your target market
Equally as important is thinking of who to sell your product to. Think of age, gender, household income, place of residence, attitudes, and favorite activities for example. These are some basic ways to find out the people who you plan to sell your products to.
Is your food something that older people will like? Will a younger market enjoy it too? Do they live far from you or near you? Are these people well off or not so well off? Do these people like eating pasta when they eat dinner or do they like eating them too when they watch a movie?
These are some of the basic questions that you must ask yourself to get a good idea of who your target market is. Take note, there are 4 “P’s in marketing: that is Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
With a good idea of who your target market is, you can adjust any of these to fit your customer’s needs. If you want to know more about choosing the right target market, keep an eye on the lookout for more helpful blog articles.
Budget for expenses
“Spend money to make money” as the business greats say. Remember that every time you make profits, you are also investing in your business. Equipment, utilities, and ingredients (raw materials) are the major things that you need to put your money on. Ultimately, your expenses will play a big part in how you price your products—you need to make a profit after all, but at the same time consider the budget of your customers!
As an online entrepreneur, most of your expenses will probably be on equipment or ingredients. A general rule when it comes to purchasing materials is to consider how often you will be using them—in fact, it’s best to come with a plan of how you will use up your materials to maximize your spending. After all, you wouldn’t want to spend on something you won’t really use, right?
Lastly, always keep track of your expenses, whether big or small. Knowing how much you have already spent helps you be more aware of your budget situation. A good exercise in budgeting is imagining your situation with zero money or zero fallback. It gives you a sense of how to make the best out of your investment.
Stay tuned for TippyMart’s Knowledge Hub If you want to know more about making budgeting better with Excel and other basic computer applications.
Keep it slow and steady
Once your business starts moving, pace carefully how you will branch out to new offerings. Don’t try to do too many things at once. Keep in mind that doing too many things recklessly increases your risk of failing. Remember that your loyal customers can only buy so much and getting new ones takes time. It’s best to stay on one track and slowly and carefully expand into a new thing.
Once you build excellent quality in your first product and have a growing following, you can try experimenting with new, creative dishes to offer your customers.
Talk about your business
With any kind of product, you have to get your word out there, whether it be by word-of-mouth, social media, or recommendations from other customers. There has to be that human factor that vouches for the goodness of your products.
Many people might be uncomfortable with connecting with other people but just being polite and engaging can take you a long way. Talking to a friend to try your product is a good first step. In business, you have to overcome personal challenges to make it to the next level.
Keep your passion burning
The most important thing for all entrepreneurs is to keep your passion strong. Passion gives you the will to try despite the odds and helps you overcome physical and personal obstacles. Most, if not all, successful business people have used their passion to fuel their success. Balance your passion with your knowledge to make wise decisions that will take you one step further.
