Owner of a successful Ecommerce company named ‘Blue Cascade’, Salman shares some useful insights on the online business.
Running an online business looks seemingly easy from a distance but it requires its own set of skills. The basics though are same as running a brick-and-mortar business but there is much more to it and one has to be clear of its advantages and disadvantages before taking a plunge into it. Salman Altaf who has been in the Ecommerce business since long explains the workings of online business. He says, “online sales are expected to reach a whopping $4.5 trillion by 2021 according to experts, and that’s huge. The growing number of businesses entering the digital arena are enough proof of the fact that this business works for sure and there are many reasons for that. On the flip side, many ventures fall flat on their face and are unable to survive for long. To cut it short, there’s a humongous gap between success and failure, and these need to be addressed to have a clear picture on the online business.”
Many online ventures are unable to figure out this difference and fail miserably. To survive in this cut throat competitive industry, one must understand how to push the business to glory by drawing a clear line between what works well and what does not. One of the biggest advantages of running an online business is that it has low overhead costs and one does not have to invest heavily in a storefront which burns a hole in the pockets. Physical businesses have loads of overhead costs which can eat up your profit margins to a great extent. The second biggest advantage of having a online store is a wider reach which does not have any geographical limitations. Unlike a physical store you can reach your customer located in any part of the world. On the flip side an online store lacks the kind of credibility that a physical store enjoys and this works as one of the biggest disadvantages of having a online business. Why? Because a traditional brick and mortar store has invested time and money in building up his storefront and is accessible to the end user whereas the criteria to open a online store is almost nil and they are also not taken up as legitimate as physical stores. The lack of face to face interaction which are replaced by customer service phone numbers, emails and chats also don’t go down with customers who trust more on over the counter interactions, and this perhaps is one of the biggest disadvantages that go against an online business.
There are many pros and cons in every business that you take up but it’s up to you how to scale it to growth by applying proper methods which work in favour of the business, concludes Salman.