Starting a business on a budget? Tips on E-commerce, marketing, VoIP and more.

With unemployment at such high levels and new redundancies being announced regularly, more and more people are taking the plunge and starting their own business. Disillusioned with conventional employment, many are turning to the Internet to provide the income they need. With a global audience, array of marketing options and unlimited potential the possibilities for success are greater than ever. Is it time for you to do the same?

Below we will look at some of the most user friendly, flexible and cost effective resources available to help you in your new endeavour.

Creating an information website

A web presence for any business is becoming essential. The high demand for quality web sites at an affordable cost has led to countless options to choose from. One of the most common and proven resources is WordPress; with very little experience you can create a professional looking web site at a low cost. Once you have picked a theme you can explore the options within WordPress that allow you to add a blog, create additional pages and add you own text, images and media. These allow you to fully personalise your site and convey the professional image that your business deserves.

WordPress has a user-friendly interface that allows you to log in from any location, which means you can manage and edit your pages on the move. With domain names starting at around £10.99 and hosting available for as little as £2.99 per month, it is more a question of can you afford not to.

Creating an e-commerce website

If you need something capable of e-commerce then you would be hard pushed to find better packages than the one offered at Shopify.com. In a very short space of time you can create a fully personalised and operational e-commerce site. They also provide unlimited bandwidth, domain name (if needed), automatic backups and Level 1 PCI compliant hosting and shopping cart all for as little as £19.00 per month.

Marketing

So now you are the proud owner of a wonderful website, it’s time to let the whole world know about it. There are several options that can help you achieve this, including social media, word of mouth, blogs, search engine optimisation (SEO), and paid advertising.

Social media is an excellent way to communicate with your customers and share useful information about your business, such as promotions, product details and blogs. There are various social media sites available for you to utilise. If your customer base is the general public then Facebook and Twitter provide the most coverage; if your work is B2B (Business to Business) then LinkedIn may be a better option.

SEO can help your business to appear higher up the search engines results. Before putting together a website you need to decide on keywords which you can implement as you create your site. By including these in the relevant places you will automatically begin to move up the rankings when people search for terms that are included in your keywords.

Blogging is another great way to drive traffic to your site, by writing interesting articles about your products or services on a regular basis and using your SEO keywords as part of the text, you should attract more visitors to the site. Regularly updating information on your site also increases your search engine ranking. You can also contact independent bloggers within your trade and ask if they would review your business, products or services.

By providing excellent customer service and going that ‘extra mile’ you will build a fantastic reputation. Once your customers know that you look after their interests and are not just interested in quick profits, you will start to see more work coming by way of recommendations. We cannot stress enough the importance of good customer service and friendliness; all businesses that succeed longer term do so because of happy, satisfied customers.

There are many paid advertising options out there, both in the physical and online world. If you are in a niche market then utilise trade publications and websites to spread the word. If your customer base is more general then online advertising offers a good solution. A company such as Google directly targets people that your advert is relevant to.

Storing and sharing files

There are many online storage solutions, which allow you and your colleagues to share files with each other. Two of the most popular are Dropbox and Google Drive; with these you get a certain amount of online storage for free. By storing files online you will be able to access them regardless of location, allowing you and your team to work anywhere. You can also link to these files in e-mails, saving time sending bulky attachments.

Business VoIP service

If you’re starting a business on a budget then chances are you do not want the expense of a secretary, but at the same time using mobile numbers (to make sure you don’t miss any potential customers) looks unprofessional, and doesn’t inspire confidence for people thinking of calling. VoIP provides a cost effective solution to this. By using this Internet phone service you can create a virtual phone system that allows you to maintain flexibility and be mobile, whilst still providing a UK landline number that customers can always call.

One of the main advantages of business VoIP is being able to receive calls on your landline number regardless of location. This means that several people working in different locations can have calls routed to them using the same number. Business VoIP is often more cost effective with minimal hardware costs and low rental.

These companies and services provide a great foundation to help you start your online business, and build a customer base, whilst keeping costs down. Although we are here to help with your phone system, we always advise seeking professional assistance from a business adviser such as an accountant or bookkeeper.