Currently, more than just driven by good salaries, professionals in the market are looking for good working conditions, convenience, flexibility, and, above all, for an activity that allows them to feel rewarded by the investment of time and effort and that generates pleasure and satisfaction.
As a result of this, entrepreneurship in Nigeria has been increasingly strengthened and people have been finding new ways to guide their own business with low initial investment and quick returns.
And in this context, with access to the internet increasingly simpler and the expansion of the possibilities of acting in this environment, digital entrepreneurship appears as a new (and strong) trend.
Now, even without a large team or complex physical structure, it is possible to start entrepreneurship. The virtual space offers more and more resources so that any business can be executed and,
like great successes, such as the fashion giant African Couture and iPED, with all their educational content, it is possible to be recognized with a brand and a job without leaving much of the reality online.
Digital entrepreneurship allows professionals in general to start a business by investing very little financially and to have a quick return from the right efforts.
Therefore, this is an activity that must be started with good planning so that it does not generate more frustrations than profits.
Having a good sense of the market in which you intend to operate, in addition to references from other digital entrepreneurs is a good start.
Understanding that virtual reality works differently from physics and that it interferes with the way people do business can help.
And if you want to have your own business, you see digital as a good opportunity, but you still don’t know where to start, this article will help a lot.
Here you will check out what digital entrepreneurship is, the advantages of venturing into this model, see tips to get started, understand fundamental concepts and much more.
Feel free to browse the article and have a good reading!
And you can also check out this complete material to plan and start your digital business !
Table of Contents
What is Digital Entrepreneurship?
Digital entrepreneurship is the act of creating a business that works digitally, mainly on the internet, and that has most of its processes carried out in this space.
A digital enterprise has technology and innovation as fundamental to the business and can be of various types.
As with offline ventures, when it comes to digital entrepreneurship, most people’s goal is to make a profit and work with more flexible and simple working conditions.
Unlike offline ventures, digital entrepreneurship typically requires a lower initial investment and does not require a complex physical structure to function.
A digital business can be an e-commerce, a course portal, a service offered online, a blog with content and many others.
4 Reasons to Venture into Digital Entrepreneurship .
The concept of digital entrepreneurship has become increasingly popular in the country and there are strong reasons that can lead a person to venture into this type of business. We separated 04 that are very convincing:
1. Growth of the Virtual Environment and Ease of Access to the Internet .
With the constant expansion of the internet and the increasing ease of access to the virtual from devices such as smartphones and tablets, this environment is conducive not only to the dissemination of products and services, but to the consolidation of fully digital enterprises.
Also Read: Content Marketing: Do You Know How To Use A Content Hub?
2. Dynamic Negotiations .
In the virtual environment it is much simpler to carry out negotiations and maintain a dynamic enterprise. This is because the need for face-to-face meetings is eliminated, all transactions are made instantly and in most cases there are no issues such as opening hours, availability of salespeople, etc.
Everything is faster, simpler and this flexibility and dynamics benefit both the entrepreneur and the customers, who currently value simplicity and speed in negotiations .
3. Ease of Reaching Many People .
With more and more people connected, it is much easier to make your business manage to impact different people and for it to gain visibility nationally and even worldwide. News on the internet runs fast!
While in a traditional business you would have your performance very limited due to issues such as geographical barriers and difficulty of access,
for example, on the internet, with digital entrepreneurship combined with good marketing and advertising practices, you can get people from different parts to know your business and buy from it.
4. Initial Investment and Reduced Operating Costs .
Complex physical structure, many employees, investment in equipment, furniture and etc… Forget it all! To start venturing into digital entrepreneurship, sometimes you just need yourself and a computer.
Of course, this varies depending on the type of business you plan to create and the initial budget available. However, in some situations it is entirely possible and more than sufficient.
Also Read: 8 Things To Know To Write An Infographic
In addition, with a digital enterprise, most of the costs that you would have with something physical are now non-existent, such as those related to the maintenance of the team, the space, travel to meetings and others.
How to be a Digital Entrepreneur?
As simple as it may seem, starting an entrepreneur on the internet, just like the traditional model, requires a lot of care, planning and effort.
The initial financial investment may even be less, but it is important to pay attention to the market in which you intend to operate, to outline commercial and marketing strategies,
and that each step is taken intelligently and aimed at generating profits for the business.
And in addition, three attitudes can help you when starting an internet business effectively:
1. Choose a Niche Market.
Although the internet allows you to reach people from different places and with very different profiles, it is important that you do not try to offer a product or service that suits everyone, or it may end up serving no one.
Choose a niche market. Focus on solving a specific pain of a group of people and reach those people! Look for an assertive and effective solution to an already identified problem or need.
2. Develop a Business Plan.
Establishing some guidelines for your business is also extremely important.
It is no use just starting to start on the internet without having a definition of your goals, what you intend with the business, how it will work and sustain itself or the risks it takes.
At that moment, it is necessary to act in a calculated way so that the first steps of the enterprise are taken safely. Ideally, you should study entrepreneurship, organize your ideas and document everything!
Filling out a canvas or making a complete business plan can help a lot. In addition to making you see the potential of your enterprise, they will show you what still needs adjustment, what are the vulnerable points of the project and indicate how to proceed in an ideal way. If you are not familiar with either tool, here you will find a canvas model and here you will learn how to set up your business plan .
3. Monetize.
If you made a business plan or completed the canvas, you probably have already thought about that point. However, it is worth reinforcing!
Regardless of what your digital venture is, thinking about how it will make money is extremely important and will be decisive for it to be a success.
Even if your goal is not profit, it is important that any enterprise has the capacity to support itself and does not depend on constant investments or financial aid.
So, think how the money will get to your business.
Will people pay for a product or service?
Will you acquire any content?
Will this be done at once or for a monthly subscription?
What will be the price charged?
Is it enough to offset the company’s expenses and maintain the business in a sustainable way?
How long do I intend to have a return on my initial investment?
And what is the expected return?
It is important to have all this and other points defined before putting an enterprise on the air, or it may fail even in the first moments of life.
How to Succeed with Digital Entrepreneurship?
Success in digital entrepreneurship, as in traditional, is not something that comes from one minute to the next and requires constant effort, dedication and improvement.
However, focusing on some points and understanding other concepts of the virtual world can help a lot to achieve good results.
1. Planning.
We have already said and we will say it again: planning is essential for those who want to start a business safely and guarantee good results from the beginning.
And when we talk about planning, it shouldn’t just come at the stage of filling in the canvas or the business plan .
When thinking about entrepreneurship, it is important that you ask yourself some questions, such as:
Do I understand what I am planning to offer?
Can I be a reference in this niche without having more efforts than rewards?
Would I buy this product or pay for this service?
Is what I offer simple to sell and distribute?
All of this will be a huge differentiator when starting your business and will help ensure your success!
2. Digital Marketing.
Understanding digital marketing and knowing how to apply its main strategies is another extremely important point.
When you open a business on a street, you need it to become recognized mainly on that street and other strategic points in the neighborhood and you will use both offline and digital marketing for this.
After all, it is from these places that the majority of your audience and your potential customers will come.
However, with a business on the internet, as there are no limits for who can access your business, you need to ensure that, more than impacting many people,
you can impact the right people and it is digital marketing that will help you in this, too have no barriers to public reach.
Therefore, it is necessary that you understand digital marketing, know its different uses and know the most efficient strategies.
From this, it is good to structure a marketing plan containing the main approaches that your company will use and the expected results with each one.
Consider using different channels and strategies, with blog , social networks, videos , and understand how all of this can help your venture.
Make a Digital Marketing Plan.
After studying digital marketing and seeing how it can help your online venture, it’s time to make a marketing plan .
Like the business plan, this document will guide the entire digital marketing strategy of your company.
It is important to define your goals, channels, budget and, always, measure results to see what is working and what needs to be improved.
Learn How to Publicize your Digital Business.
A great basis for digital entrepreneurship is knowing how to get your message to the right people through the right channel.
As easy as it is to overcome geographical barriers, it is very important to understand that each network has a different audience, which communicates differently and has different desires, right?
So, learn how to advertise your business effectively, reaching the right people.
Believe me, a lot can surprise you! For example, did you know that Facebook is nowadays used as a powerful sales tool?
This social network, formerly used only for entertainment, already has a tool for companies, Facebook Business (Facebook for Companies) that allows you to set up a page of your business and even link a virtual store within the network itself.
In addition, you can run ads for your publications and reach a highly qualified audience by investing little money. Want to know better how to sell on Facebook? So check out this article for everything on the subject.
3. Analysis.
Finally, another very important point to be successful with digital entrepreneurship is knowing how to use the data to your advantage.
Learn to analyze the information you have available about your business and to see it in addition to simple facts, such as opportunities.
And that goes for all points of the enterprise: product, marketing, sales strategies and brand consolidation.
Invest in what is working and try to correct what is yielding less than expected. See each point as an investment possibility and make many tests that allow you to improve even more.
Digital Business Ideas.
E-commerce.
An e-commerce, also called a virtual store, is probably one of the oldest models of digital enterprise. Online store, e-commerce and e-commerce are terms that describe the same thing: a website that facilitates the purchase and sale of products in the online environment.
In many ways, a virtual store is similar to a physical store, such as inventory control, payment logistics, among others, but, certainly, the initial investment to open an online store is much smaller.
The key point to focus on when opening a virtual store is business security.
If your prospective customer is in an online environment that you consider to be unsafe, you will hardly be able to complete the sale, since you need to send personal and financial data.
Ensuring that your online store is secure and making it clear to customers is critical.
Also Read: How To Start A Successful E-commerce Business
Infoproducts
Another way to be a digital entrepreneur is to work with infoproducts.
Infoproducts are e-book-style materials, infographics and even video lessons that serve to educate a market on a specific subject.
For example, you can write an e-book on ‘how to improve your online sales’ and charge a price for it.
Think about it, the internet, nowadays, is one of the main sources of research.
Therefore, someone is always looking for how to learn something. If you are an expert on a topic, it can be an excellent way to start profiting from it over the internet.
And look, the opportunities for digital entrepreneurship are many and are constantly growing. You can invest in a professional blog, a specialized website, a digital franchise, an affiliate program and much more. Business ideas are many and each has its advantage!
Learn How to Start A Lucrative Information Marketing Business
Sell Courses and Video Content: A Profitable Digital Business.
It is already more than clear that online videos are a trend in the market, right? Many people already use videos as a source of income in several ways, with entertainment channels, free distance courses, tutorials and much more. Video channels can be very profitable, but not in the way you imagine!
Do you know how much a YouTuber earns ? Yes, many people think that making videos for YouTube is a sure way to earn a lot of money on the internet, but it is not quite like that.
Especially now, with the new monetization rules of the network, to be able to make money from the videos on this platform it is necessary to have virtually viral content and at least 1,000 subscribers.
So how is it possible to make money from videos on the internet? The answer is simple: invest in a professional platform .
On a professional platform, you can upload your videos and earn money from them from the first viewing.
For example, you record a makeup course at home and, on this professional platform, you manage to sell your videos.
It is also possible to create a video channel and charge customers a monthly subscription fee, just like the giants Netflix.
For this, you can use a ready-made platform to sell courses and content, or create your own website / media center integrated with a video platform.
And to think about why this model of digital enterprise works, just look carefully at the case of Netflix. With so much pirated content available and easy to access, who knew a paid portal would be so successful?
The point is that people spent a lot of time looking for something worth watching and when they did, they still had to worry about issues like file quality, computer security, viruses and it was boring, difficult and time consuming.
Then, when Netflix arrived offering thousands of movies and series in one place, for an affordable monthly price and ensuring security and quality of viewing, it soon won its place in the hearts of cinema lovers and became a success.
So, if you produce relevant educational content or have in-depth knowledge on a particular subject, why not share it with people and still get a new source of income through digital entrepreneurship?
The opportunities exist and are very interesting both for those who already produce content for free, and for those who want to start venturing into the world of videos.
Here we have some content that can help you mature the idea and start making money with videos now:
- How to sell online courses and content;
- All about online courses: how to create, sell and distribute ;
- How to build your own niche business;
And then? Ready to start your business in the online world? Investing in a digital venture can be the best option for those who want to have their own business with a reduced initial investment and very significant profits. And now is the best time to venture into digital entrepreneurship. Enjoy!
Do you want to know about the different existing business models and which one is right for you? Also check out this blog article on the subject!
