An online business is any kind of business activity that happens over the internet. If this interests you, read on to know how to start an online business in Botswana.
Running an online business can include buying and selling online or providing an online service. With the over 1 million internet users in Botswana which is projected to double grow as time goes on, according to statista, there are still equal opportunities for anyone who wants to start an online business.
You can make a decent living from legitimate online businesses and there are still lots of people out there to patronize whatever it is you have to offer.
With a great business idea, the right combination of software (tools), and an excellent marketing strategy you can start up a profitable online business in Botswana.
Well, enough chit chat and let’s get straight to the point. In this post, I am going to show you how to start an online business in Botswana and what you need to start an online business.
But let us inform you of one fact.
The best thing about starting an online business in Botswana is that it requires little or no startup capital to begin with and you can easily set up yours from the comfort of your home.
So let’s get started
How to start an Online Business in Botswana
Below are the list of steps to follow to start an online business in Botswana;
- Have a brand
- Have a business plan
- Find a domain name
- Buy hosting & domain URL
- Install WordPress
- Find profitable topics to write about
1. Have your Business Brand
Your business brand should have a purpose. Write down things you know people would benefit from your business. Below are some necessary questions to ask yourself;
- What problem does your business solve?
- What distinguishes you from your competitors?
- Who is your target audience or prospective client or customer?
- If people find and call you online, can you deliver your services in time?
2. Have a business plan
The fact that you know what your business activity is online doesn’t make it less of a business.
Take it seriously and consider every other thing you will have to consider if you ‘re starting a normal business. Don’t be too casual about your online business. You need to have a business plan and strategy for your online business.
Below are a few things you need to ask yourself;
- What’s your business about?
- Is it a service or a product?
- Where are your audiences located?
- What is your budget?
- What tools do you need?
- Financial forecast?
An online business should follow all the normal work ethics. You need to keep records of all your business transactions and processes online for accounting and tracking purposes respectively.
To do this, you can use Microsoft’s Excel program. Microsoft Excel is very good for keeping records of business transactions and processes, but always ensure you keep a back-up of your files, just in case. The idea is to be systematic.
3. Find a Domain Name
Every online business definitely needs a website. Come up with different URL names for your website. If your idea for a domain name has been taken, find another one close to the concept of your brand or business.
For example, if you wanted the domain name, classicempire.com and it has been taken. Check if .co, .biz, .org, .net, is available. Or you can tweak the name to something else.
With Find digital tools powered by Go daddy, you can always check the availability of the domain name ideas for your domain URL.
4. Buy Hosting & Domain URL
After you’ve found a domain that is available, you need to buy it so that it will be officially yours. That way, no one else can buy it again except if you don’t need it again and let it expire.
People buy domains on a daily basis. To buy a domain, you can go to bluehost.com, namecheap.com, or godaddy.com. You can as well buy hosting and then select a domain to come with your hosting plan.
For hosting, you can still buy hosting plans for your domain from namecheap, bluehost, go daddy.
5. Install WordPress and Log In
After purchasing hosting, you will be directed on how to install WordPress to use as the platform your site runs on. WordPress is a very simple software for building a website and highly customizable.
WordPress is quite easy to use. You don’t need to have any experience with websites and you don’t have to know anything about coding. But, if you still want to code from start to finish, you can still do that in WordPress.
6. Set up your WordPress
To set up wordpress that your online business will run on, follow the following steps;
- Select a Theme
Once you are logged in, left click and go to the appearance tab and find a free theme for your website. A theme is like the paint job or design to your car. Every website you visit has a different theme (colour scheme, layout, design, etc).
- Configure General Settings
You will need to configure the general settings in WordPress which only takes a few minutes.
- Download Plugins
A plugin is like a phone app. It allows your website to have and do different things.
- Create Pages & Menu
start designing your website by building web pages and setting up a menu that goes at the top of a website so people can easily navigate to different pages of your website easily.
7. Find profitable Topics to write about
The next important step is to make sure that your website is active and engaging with content. This is because writing content that relates to your brand would place you as an authority in your niche.
Your writing will make people see you as a brand that knows what he is doing therefore People would want to do business with you because you are competent and trustworthy.
To find article topics to write about, use Keyword research tools like Buzzsumo or Google Keyword Planner that would help you find keywords that people are searching each month and the volume. When you’ve found these keywords, you will need to include them in your article.
So this is how it works as an online business. You need to make Google find you and rank you in Google and you do that by using the right keywords in your articles. One of the things that aids ranking is SEO. SEO means search engine optimization, If you do your SEO well, you should rank on the first page. So when people click your link, you get organic traffic to your website which in turn earns you money depending on the means of revenue in your website.