Starting a business is simpler than ever in today’s world, where areas of development, entertainment, and social life are regulated by the Internet. Almost every company, is going online nowadays. Compared to analog offline firms, online offers all small, medium, and large organizations around the world a wealth of benefits.
The Internet has changed both our individual lives and industries over the 20 years. Across market segments, Internet businesses have become dominant.Internet companies are some of the most highly esteemed companies in the world. The internet has allowed people to access and seek resources that traditionally were not open to individuals. Universal access to cell phones and the mobile internet has accelerated this transition in every country.
We are entering a new era of the internet in which it will no longer value much to be connected with internet all time,because of the ever-decreasing price of smartphones and mobile Internet access. The power of the Internet will far exceed what we can imagine today. Companies such as Facebook and Google are essentially concerned with internet connectivity and internet services.
In recent years, we have seen the growth of e-commerce, ride-hailing, and other consumer technology services in Bangladesh. The internet and internet-enabled services are used by more and more individuals today. The mobile revolution has simplified networking for individuals across continents over the past decade. Today, about 99 million people in Bangladesh have access to the internet (BTRC, 2020), credit goes to the omnipresent availability of cell phones and mobile internet in the country.
The internet and Start-Ups
The internet has brought down the cost of starting businesses. People can use a no-code web builder today to build a website, host AWS, distribute digital distribution networks, and work to expand their venture. Starting a company that is more diverse in today’s world has never been this easy nor affordable.
An increasing number of individuals who share and disseminate or sell something worth sharing are doing so and therefore generating opportunities for them. Now people can create a page on Facebook that can use to share information, develop an audience, and sell products. Today, there are online education platforms that enable independent professionals and teachers to develop, sell, and make money from courses like Skillshare and Coursera. These platforms do all the job, supplying equipment for the developers to plan courses, market, and sell the courses.
There are other platforms, that allow individuals to create and monetize email newsletters via paid subscriptions. People now run newsletters that receive funds of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Individual writers will monetize their media-wide writing today. The online writing site, Mediums, now allows authors to make money by bringing their work under a paywall. In reality, through both subscriptions and donations, independent writers and bloggers are making money. Take Stratechery, the paid newsletter written by the inimitable Ben Thompson, for instance. Millions of readers are drawn to the newsletter and blog, and the newsletter has thousands of paying subscribers, making Ben Thompson one of the world’s most prominent technology analysts.
One of the famous writers on the internet, Rand Fishkin, who runs Moz, a blog, all alone. Moz receives millions of views each month and is known to intellectually motivated readers as one of the most creatively rich online destinations.
There are also the stars of YouTube in addition to these. Hundreds of thousands of profits are now made on Google’s video platform by successful video content creators. Like never before, individual creators are empowered by the Internet. The internet helps people to easily monetize it.
Since different people have several special abilities. With the blessings of the internet, people can create and monetize an audience in more than one way. Paid subscriptions exist where users pay a fee to access a creator’s creations. Over the last few years, the subscription has been one of the hot vertical trends. In Bangladesh, it’s still not a trending thing, but it’ll be soon. You may ask your audience to pay any donation sum, and there are also examples of that. Examples of maximizing profit through ads are available also.
Anyone can be broadcaster
The number of people running online shows is likely to surpass the number of people watching these shows now a days.The reflection of broadcasting, anyone with some talent or creativity, directly engage the audience and eventually take a shot at monetization, was never clear than in the form of live shows on Facebook and YouTube, and Zoom Webinars during this pandemic.
This is a testament to the strength offered by the internet to people with something to tell. What people need is a smartphone with an Internet connection. It is a fact that not all these shows are worth watching and will survive eventually, but some of them will survive. More importantly, it informs individual designers of an opportunity the internet provides that people can produce and reach an audience. Now, some of these shows we are seeing will live in the midst of the pandemic and are likely to pick up momentum and ultimately transform into something bigger.
The way we access information in this world where internet access dominates and empowers consumers, decreases the impact of old sources such as newspapers that have served as moral arbiters in the past. The information sources are fragmented today and no one has a monopoly on access to the audience. Today’s developers no longer need to rely on old gatekeepers to meet or monetize an audience. Simply, they should do it themselves. According to Wired magazine’s founding editor Kevin Kelly –
” You don’t need millions to be a good producer. You don’t need millions of dollars, millions of clients, millions of buyers, millions of supporters. You just need thousands of real fans to make a living as an artisan, photographer, singer, designer, author, animator, app creator, entrepreneur, or inventor”.
Kelly pointed out that the internet helps individuals to build direct relationships with their customers and that one does not need a million consumers, but a thousand who would be willing to pay for the goods and services to create a viable activity. The internet is great at inspiring niches because it can make exploration easier. This is yet another example of how the internet continually helps people to pursue and make a living with their own creativity.
How Start-Up online business costs less :
Startup costs for an online business are mostly reusable One thing about most physical businesses is that the risk of investing in money is far greater. Not only are the numbers higher, but there is also a single usage for the commodity being bought. It makes sense, for example, to buy a sewing machine to start a tailoring service company. The sewing machine can, however, be used only for one thing. But if your business doesn’t work out that machine can’t be used for other items.
If you are trying to start an online store or an e-commerce company, then you have inventory costs. Often, inventory is an upfront investment. If it’s stressful for you to sell the stock, then you’re stuck with it.Typically, an online company’s startup costs are lower risk and if the first idea does not pan out, they can be reused for other ideas.
Web hosting, for example, is an absolute start-up expense for an online company. But, with that web hosting account, you can do any number of things. If one business idea doesn’t work out, with the same hosting account, you can try another one. It’s not as if a one-purpose commodity is stuck with you. Much of the start-up costs are like those at the onset. You often purchase the software. For any kind of online company, the program can be used. You can try another one if one doesn’t work out. Your capital risk is much smaller, thus.
It minimizes the cost of maintenance, repair, and service:
With low start-up costs, most online businesses are created. You can launch and grow your website, web store, web app, or mobile app over time, adapting your online business to how your audience interacts. Use of modern technologies can minimize the amount of work you have to do, helps you reduce costs. For example, adopting e-business solutions such as a responsive website, online marketing tools ,smart UI / UX, rich apps for smartphones.That can lessen the cost of repair, maintenance, and service.
Moreover, your company is open 24/7, 365 days a year, once you are set up and ready to go, and continues to operate even while you sleep. Since your income is not dictated by the number of hours you work, but rather by the degree of production you can achieve during those hours, this is what distinguishes online businesses from any other.
No Need For Compulsory Location:
Managing a suitable location for starting a business is a mandatory,but if you start your business through online arrangement for a suitable location will not give you a headache.
Although an online business has its own advantages, but scaling each business is not easy whether it is a brick-and-mortar location or an online business. A brick-and-mortar retail store, for instance, has a defined audience, usually a radius from the business location. An online business is not limited by this and can market to an audience across the globe.
You have access to customers in any part of the world when you build an online business, which means that you can operate from anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection and a laptop. Customers from anywhere, can buy your goods and services. This not only provides you with advantages, but also, as stated in the previous section, protects you from regional market crises. For example, if your native country’s economy crashes, the economic downturn will generally have a far greater effect on people who run offline businesses than online businesses who deal with customers around the world.
It’s not easy to succeed in the online world either. But starting online, like any brick-and-mortar business, needs a reasonable amount of work and a well thought out plan before you enjoy the fruits of your labor.
According to Statista, more than 2.14 billion customers worldwide are expected to buy products and services digitally in 2021. Therefore, with the majority of people making their online purchases from physical goods to services, it is not difficult to see why starting an online business will be a great venture.