The online world is all about rise and falls. While the internet boom saw plenty of small sized startups realizing success, today it maybe a different story altogether. It is all about ‘normalization’, where success, power and money only go to the deserving companies. In such a gravitation process, there are chances that smaller companies that used to enjoy success earlier, are left out in the race.
What online marketing pros will not tell you
The whole phenomenon of ‘normalization’ doesn’t seem to go down too well, especially with the online gurus. They will obviously want to lend a positive and optimistic perception of the online retail segment. Hence, they keep goading entrepreneurs and startup companies to try something new and start a website. Many online marketing experts even promise amateur company owners that they can become rich within no time.
The market is saturated
Contrary to all the positive speeches and advice handed out by marketing experts, the world of internet retail is saturated. You may think a product or service is your unique idea but you might soon be disappointed to know another person has already launched it! The bottom-line is that it is not so easy to think up novel products and services that really sell online.
The golden period of the 90s
The ‘90s were a period where virtually every startup company could dream of making it big. The internet was a friendly place, where all entrepreneurs were always welcome. Today, it is a different story. Competition is fiercer than ever, recession has hit the economy badly and although consumers prefer online to offline shopping, they do not seem to prefer the small startup companies.
Advertising models done to death
PPC, email marketing, article marketing, Adsense – all have been done to death. In fact, you name any marketing tool and it has been used repeatedly until its effect is no longer evident any longer! With the advent of CPM advertising modes, people used to purchase large advertising blocks, break it into small bits and then resell as per PPC model, along with markups extended to 100%.
With the same resources, advertising tools and experience, today one cannot succeed at the same level as one used to. Even the established and large-scale companies online are struggling to retain existing customers, let alone get new ones.
Focusing on the right aspects
The future is not all gloomy for new companies as far as the online retail segment goes. While most online gurus maybe shutting their shops because of the lack of success seen in smaller companies, there is still a chance for success. As long as the basic issues are addressed any online company, whether small or big can survive and break even too. Aspects that really need focus right now are intelligent purchases, ensuring better brand recall and brand projection both online and offline, ensuring that operations are more streamlined and automated as far as possible and managing human resources effectively.
How small companies can make a difference
Whether you are planning to make it big in the online retail world or offline, there are just a few simple rules that will ensure your success. Firstly, you need capital and quite a lot of it. In addition, you must be prepared to lose a substantial amount of it, just in case the venture does not work out as planned. You may also lose quite a bit of capital during the initial struggle period of the business. Expenses pertaining to employees, advertising, expansion etc. are an inevitable aspect of business growth. Secondly, you need to work hard. There is no shortcut to success and every online company today has had to toil hard to reach the success they have. Thirdly, you need to differentiate your brand from your direct and indirect competitors. That should be your USP and you should capitalize and market your brand upon it. Lastly, you need to think big if you want to make it big. Dream small and you will only attain that much success.
In addition to all of these realities, it is also a fact that unless you love your job you cannot succeed in it. Although this is a cliché done to death, it is truer than ever, even more so in these recession-hit times. You need to find a domain that you believe will sell, stick to it, find novel ways in marketing it and make sure you turn it into a success story.
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