Digital Entrepreneurship: all you need to know to start an online business in 2022

The more people start using the internet, the more digital entrepreneurship grows. Learn all you need to set up your own online business and become a digital entrepreneur in 2022!

The idea of working from anywhere in the world and making extra income while you sleep is always very enticing, isn’t it? And it always comes up when we talk about digital entrepreneurship. After all, in the Internet world, you don’t have to be physically present when a sale is made.

And we have several examples in the market of people who have managed to turn this wish into reality.

However, before reaching a profitable scenario, you need to spend a lot of time studying the possibilities, analyzing your digital entrepreneur profile, and creating a good plan.

You don’t know where to start? Don’t worry, we’ll help you with that!

We have prepared a complete step-by-step guide to help you create your internet business and manage it well so that it will bring good results.

Check it out!

What is digital entrepreneurship?

Digital entrepreneurship consists of creating a business on the Internet, selling services or products online, without the need to invest in physical spaces.

A few examples of digital businesses are online courses, e-commerce, blogs, YouTube channels, and technological solutions in general.

The main advantage of this business model is that you don’t need to invest a lot of money in order to get started, in comparison to the offline market.

In addition, this format allows entrepreneurs to work from wherever and whenever they want to, having greater flexibility in their daily routine.

Reasons to become a digital entrepreneur

Before you get started on this topic, check out a few interesting headlines below:

  • “Almost 4.66 billion people were active internet users as of October 2020, encompassing 59 percent of the global population.” – Statista (2021)
  • “On average, more than 1.3 million new users joined social media every day during 2020, equating to roughly 15½ new users every single second.” – Hootsuite (2021)
  • “Consumers spent $861.12 billion online with U.S. merchants in 2020, up an incredible 44.0% year over year.” – Digital Commerce 360 (2021)
  • “With digital buyer penetration expected to surpass 65 percent of internet users worldwide in 2021, the e-commerce industry is set to evolve and expand.” – Statista (2020)

If you perform a Google search for terms, such as digital entrepreneurship, digital marketplace, or online sales, you’ll see that several such articles will be displayed, confirming what we have been saying here on the blog for some time now about the fact that Internet entrepreneurship is worthwhile.

But how do you get into this market? Is it safe? How can you stand out from your competitors?

For starters, we need to dispel one of the myths  we mentioned in this article’s introduction: there are no magic formulas to “make money on the Internet while you sleep”.

However, if you’re willing to study hard about the market and offer quality services to your future customers, you can generate a passive income, which is added to your account even when you’re not sitting in front of the computer.

Would you like a few reasons to believe that?

What do you need to become a digital entrepreneur?

Initially, you’ll only need a computer with internet access to get started. But in addition to the equipment, certain characteristics are essential for you to stand out from the competition.

Curiosity

The word “curiosity” seems to have a negative connotation as if every curious person shows excessive interest in other people’s lives. Well, the origin of the word has nothing to do with that!

Curiosity is nothing more than the natural ability to ask questions and the desire to know more about a specific subject.

Have you ever noticed that when children start talking, they ask questions about everything? They just want to understand the world around them, and sometimes we, as adults, go into automatic mode, especially at work, and we forget to ask ourselves why we are performing certain tasks.

So, to become an online entrepreneur, you’ll need to cultivate your curiosity because it is only by researching a lot about the market and the behavior of consumers that you’ll find gaps to operate in and offer a solution that truly adds value to people’s lives.

Willingness to study or specialize

It is common for people to study for a while and think they already know everything about that subject, ignoring that knowledge and tools are constantly changing, especially on the internet.

In other words, if you are very curious but don’t like to study, digital entrepreneurship is not for you.

It doesn’t mean that you should spend hours of your day working on your computer. As with everything else in life, it’s necessary to find the balance between learning more and using this knowledge to implement change.

To get started, read at least one hour of news about your market daily. Over time, you will feel the need to specialize in a theme that impacts your business the most.

How to choose the best niche in the digital market

Since entrepreneurship is a form of working or earning extra income, it is pertinent that it be associated with subjects that interest you, since at first, your activities will be performed during your free time.

Furthermore, affinity with the subject and having knowledge about it will make it easier to follow the trends and, of course, take advantage of them and stand out from the competition.

So, here are a few tips on how to choose the right niche market for you.

List your skills and talents

We believe that everyone can become an expert in a given subject, as long as they are willing to do so.

But if we could give one piece of advice, it would be: choose something that you enjoy doing and, preferably, that you already know. This way, the process of creating your business won’t be only intuitive, but also more enjoyable.

Therefore, the first step in choosing your niche is to make a list of the topics you master the most.

  • What are your hobbies?
  • What type of subject do your friends keep asking you to teach?
  • What would you do if you had to choose only one activity to perform for the rest of your life?

Answering the above questions can provide important clues about the niche you should choose.

Evaluate supply and demand

Once you’ve figured out what you do best, it is time to understand if there’s a demand for it. In a nutshell, if you were to create a business in this segment, would you have enough customers to make a living from it?

You’ll need to use online tools, such as Google, SEMrush, and others in order to understand the real demand for that product or service.

One tip that helps a lot is to search for a certain keyword and check how many ads appear in Google. This can be an indicator that it’s a popular term and therefore, has a broader consumer market.

Keep an eye on the trends

Have you ever noticed that how we dress changes a lot throughout the year? Whether because of the season or cultural influences from other countries, we’re always wearing certain clothes and leaving others in the closet.

As in fashion, there are certain subjects that are passing trends, such as news stories and memes; and others that always pique people’s interest, regardless of when they are covered, such as food and health, for example.

In order to undertake online, it’s important to identify topics that aren’t seasonal, so you can make sure that you’ll have a demand for your product or service throughout the year. A good tool to do this is Google Trends, which shows the evolution of demand for a topic during the period being analyzed.

You can also visit websites and blogs related to your market and check which subjects are recurrent or have more engagement from the visitors.

Tips on how to succeed in digital entrepreneurship

By this point in the post, you’re probably feeling very inspired and you have ideas bubbling up for a digital business segment.

Therefore, we provide you with a few tips to help your project succeed. Check them out below:

  • Have an entrepreneurial attitude. Even if it’s a side business to generate extra income, your state of mind can do wonders for your creativity and motivation to make your sales take off, as well as to be committed to your customers
  • Keep your business costs under control. Even if your expenses are minimal, having them all written down and up to date, allows such commitments not to become a problem for you. Don’t sell merely to pay the bills your digital business has generated.
  • Plan and set goals according to the focus of your project. If the idea is to make a living as an Affiliate from sales alone, evaluate what your ideal performance and results would be for the coming months and years – and, of course, regularly monitor whether you’re on the right track.
  • Develop your sales and marketing knowledge, as they change constantly. In other words, always study new advertising tools, performance indicators, notions of content optimization, monetization, etc.
  • Don’t become discouraged and evaluate the lessons learned from failures and the mistakes you make.
  • Try to network with other entrepreneurs who can exchange knowledge, create partnerships, and inspire you. Networking is key in the business world, including digital businesses.

Wrapping up

We at ShopShipShake have been working with businesses like yours with fulfilling experiences. We offer one-stop services, including an efficient supply chain, over 10 thousand of China’s suppliers, and more.
With a successful track record of over 20,000 clients, we are sure to deliver your orders requirements. Let’s get in touch to build, sustain, and grow your businesses.

If you would like to know more details about us, please contact with us: 

www.shopshipshake.co.za

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