If you want to get started in the business world and you are looking for ideas on the net, it seems that the best thing to do is to start an online business; you can find information about an area in full avant-garde e-commerce, you can find articles like “x tips to take into account” and all sorts of “must-haves” to guarantee your success. Is it really so?
The truth is that 95% of businesses fail, and online businesses are no exception to this statistic that discourages many potential entrepreneurs. The reasons are multiple, some external, which have to do with the economic situation, legislative changes, the tax burden and unpredictability, the movements of competition, others internal, which have to do with: the character of the entrepreneur, training, vision, adaptability.
Of course this does not invalidate the claim that opening an e-commerce business can be, compared to many other types of business, much more affordable in terms of initial investment. Modern solutions can considerably reduce both the amount you have to start with and the possible losses if you don’t get it right the first time.
Starting a business in the cloud is the optimal solution for start-ups; even large or long-established companies are starting to migrate to the cloud, where they find financial and support advantages, but they have to amortize investments already made, both in equipment and people/departments. Being at the beginning of the road, instead of blocking money in equipment and software that bring with them other costs for maintenance, repairs, configurations and that depreciate morally very quickly, it is better to invest in marketing and advertising that brings you sales.
We have prepared a list of cloud solutions that you can adopt and then pay for as a monthly subscription:
- Website hosting: depending on the volume of your business you can go from simple hosting to VDS cloud servers or dedicated servers; hosting is done in data centers that incorporate the latest technologies, monitored 24/7, support, backup. Optihost offers these services, plus: domain registration and security certificates (SSL). Learn more
- E-commerce platform: there are also free solutions on the market, you can buy them, but there is also a monthly subscription option that usually includes support in operating the platform.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): some e-commerce platforms already have integrated CRM solutions
- Resource planning system (ERP) for inventory management, payroll, accounting, fixed assets, reporting and more: can include CRM and be offered in an e-commerce platform
- Payment processor, because it is vital to incorporate online payment safely.
- Telephone system for professional order management, telephone support (call-center), telesales. Optivoice offers you powerful and affordable Hosted PBX solutions. Learn more
You can find cloud solutions with no contract period, so they can adapt perfectly to your business volume at any time and grow with you; and if you ever want to quit, you don’t end up with unnecessary completed investments for which you may still have to pay instalments to the bank. An important advantage of cloud solutions is also that the support offered is often 24/7 and free of charge and that they can be tested before you decide to use them.
