Collaborative post – may contain affiliate links

Thanks to the internet being available in all of our homes, on our smartphones, at work and just about everywhere these days- in many cases, it seems easier than ever to set up a business in the modern world. Everyone is connected and used to buying online, meaning in theory you should be able to reach a wide range of people and sell to them in a way that they’re comfortable with. However, it’s much more difficult than that in reality, here are some things to be aware of setting up a business in today’s world. 

Find your niche

One of the most significant challenges when it comes to establishing a business in today’s world, is that the market is extremely saturated. It really doesn’t matter what you want to do or sell, it’s likely that  there are hundreds of others out there somewhere on the globe, doing almost the same thing. For this reason, you need first to find your niche and then find your unique selling point when you’re setting up a company, because even if you’re only slightly different from other similar companies, it reduces competition. For example, there are lots of businesses selling baby clothes, but perhaps yours sell all organic, natural baby clothes with ethically sourced materials? It sets you apart and means a certain subset of customers will prefer your business over others. 

Utilize modern business software

Your business needs to be run in a contemporary way. if it’s to keep up with it’s competitors. Outdated manual methods will simply slow you down and always come with the risk of human error. If you want to keep up with your competitors as well as save hassle, time and money, then you absolutely need to be on board with business software and programs. Everything from accounting to legal software, HR, email tools and more are available to all kinds of businesses. Being able to accept multiple payment types is also important, from an EMV credit card scanner to contactless payments to Paypal and more- cash is less frequently used than ever so digital methods and key. 

Think about your advertising

Marketing a modern business really involves knowing what your consumer wants, in today’s world- people are picky. There are plenty more companies out there to offer them what they want, so you need to give them a reason to choose yours. Advancing technology, changing consumer demands, and even the way customers shop (such as on a laptop vs a smartphone) all need to be considered when you’re putting together your marketing materials. Social media marketing, blogger outreach, and video marketing are modern techniques that are highly effective and make use of the fact that so many of us spend time on social media and the type of content we like to consume. Working with influencers is another modern method that takes advantage of today’s society- something to consider is that while celebrities will always be fantastic influencers, ‘real people’ such as Youtubers and bloggers can also achieve excellent success. In some cases, even more! Since they have strong followings to begin with and are generally happy to collaborate with brands it makes a perfect marketing method for many kinds of companies.