Nigeria in the last couple of years has grown exponentially with respect to the number of people connected to the internet. Jumia, Konga, Linda Ikeji, Quickteller and a host of other organizations that use internet for its day to day operations are testimonies of this fact. Mostly, it starts with just a laptop and an internet connection.

Even with this, starting or running an internet business has never been easy. In 2016, approximately 87 million Nigerians were connected to the internet according to Internet Live Stats while Vanguard reported about 92 million people in June 2017, and this number is ever growing. It is a really good opportunity for income but it is truly a modern-day rush.

Everywhere, there is always someone talking of a new hack on how to make millions of Naira in a short time or you see plenty adverts on social media. This complicates your decision on what to do.

See below five simple steps to starting or running your business online.

  1. Put Focus on the whos and the hows

First of all, Focus in this context does not actually mean only your “area of specialty”, it means you have to find out who you want to serve and how you will deliver that service to them.

There are many users online, many information, many ideas and many tricksters, you need to be different, pick your own style and dont heed completely to what a “Guru” says as many entrepreneurs often fall victim to information overload and mistakes. So I can assure you, if you use 10% of your knowledge and 20% of the time to form strategies, you will make progress in your business.

  1. Build your audience

This is another pitfall for businesses, you put together a beautiful website, with the right designs and do all things right but you dont make money because you have the wrong audience. By the way, you can put up a great website with us at Shleeq.com.

There are many ways to build an audience and quickly:

  • Be a guest on a podcast. Try to speak more about you platform to many people using podcasts or radios.
  • Write post on blogs. There are blogs that get millions of visitors each month. Write on these blogs and you will surely get visitors.
  • Get exposure from large author sites. Interview from larger authors can also go a long way in improving you.
  1. Develop a way to make money from it.

After you’ve started to get exposure, it’s time to get your monetization plan implemented.  Your website/blog needs a content strategy that aligns with a promotion schedule. Plan what products and services you will be offering your customers. Use your exposure and content plan to sell premium offerings and build your business.

  1. Test the Idea and Launch it

It is said “Experience is the best teacher”. Nothing beats this statement, once you have a plan and have implemented it, study what works and what doesn’t. Try different offers, bundle various products and services, run sales from time-to-time. Once you have an offering that takes off, run it every 30 days. Refine your process and improve the parts of your plan that aren’t working.

  1. Scale the Business

By this point, you will have built “1,000 true prospects or fans” and a business that’s ripe for growth. Always launch with a bang when your promotions hit at the end of each month or quarter. This means you have affiliate partners, joint partnerships through webinars and launch bonuses. Each launch should produce serious revenue and momentum for your business. From that point, it’s a matter of reinvesting and scaling.

Starting and growing an online business is not easy. There is a lot of competition talking about the same topics as you and doing a lookalike business as you. It takes time and tremendous focus. It takes beating self-limiting beliefs and the haters. It’s hard, but the lifestyle of true freedom it creates is priceless.

Extracts form Entrepreneur