Wednesday, August 20, 2008
10 Ten Reasons Online Businesses Fail
Every single day there are thousands of internet businesses that fold. Because the internet is so accessible, this may not surprise you, but how do you stop your online business folding? Well, you can make money online in a whole host of ways so I am going to highlight what people do to fail.
Internet losers...
10. Fail to research
Yep, you read it right. If I had a penny for every person I spoke to that had an idea without researching it, I would have a heap. By researching an idea I mean running tests to see if people actually want what you are offering. Working out how much money there is in a market. Finding out if there is any competition. In general people do not research and are quite willing to get too excited about an idea without doing the math.
9. Spend too much time sweating the small stuff
Once somebody gets an idea and start putting it into play by creating a website, they sweat the small stuff. Should I use this effect here or this effect there. This is all well and good if you have everything else in order but usually this type of person hasn't. If you have solid navigation, effective copy and a good overall design then go ahead tweak away. If you have none of the big stuff down you may as well forget about drop shadows or gradients because your site is not going to work.
8. Have no end game
I see this all the time. Someone has an idea, wants a website, wants to get rich but have absolutely no real goal in mind. They do not know where they are going or how they are going to get there. If you don't have an end game, how do you know if you have achieved anything.
7. Have an unworkable model
Here is another great way to fail. People come up with new niches to make money online but they failed to grasp what people will and will not buy online. The truth is, somethings simply do not work online. Take a good look at your idea and think carefully about the reality of it selling online. The more bespoke or expensive the product the, slimmer the chance of success.
6. Don't give people a reason to use the product or service
How many times have you visited a website and thought "So What?". Simply putting your product or service up on a website may not be enough. Your text content needs to really persuade people to buy into what you are doing. If they don't 'buy into' the site, they will not buy from you.
5. Think a mission statement is critical
This one is controversial. I think it is great for a company to have a mission statement but it has no value on a website designed to sell in my opinion. It is again an example of sweating the small stuff. If you want to sell your product or service online you have to give people what they want fast. If I want to buy a battery for my laptop, I really do not care if the website I am buying it from wants to look after their staff and promote this that or the other. Just tell me the price, how quick I can have it and how I can pay, period.
4. Don't think out of the box
I have a business, I have business cards, I have a website, I advertise. So what? So has everybody else. If you are going to make this work start thinking for yourself. Get creative and find new ways of driving traffic and sales to your website.
3. Fail to squeeze the most out of their contacts
I hear this one all the time. "We have over a thousand subscribers to our newsletter."
I say "That's great, well done. What kind of things have you been putting into your newsletter."
They say, "We haven't done a newsletter yet."
These people have contacts eager for info and they do not send them promotions, tell them about new gear or even write to them at all. Doomed to fail.
2. Fail to market the site
People pay good money to have websites built, then they show their friends and expect the traffic to flood in. The truth is that you need to advertise your site through the internet either paid or unpaid. No traffic - no business.
1. Have an unrealistic belief that a website will generate lots of income with no work.
Here is the number one reason that people fail online. They believe a website is the key to wealth. they believe that they set up a website and then just bank the cash. Wrong!!! Every website, no matter how automated needs some kind of maintenance and effort. The internet is a great way to make money but you still have to work for it.
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Andy Stocks is a serial online entrepreneur and business owner.