How Do I Set Up An Internet Business From Home

Are you thinking about starting an online business? perhaps based from Home? Where do you start, what are the steps you need to take to go from idea to launch? Read the article and answer the question, how do I set up an Internet Business from Home

There are 6 steps to setting up and building your online business:

Research Your Intended Market.

Choose the Right Online Business Model.

Create your Business Plan and Choose Your Business and Trading Name.

Register your Business and/or Trading Name

Build your Website or E-Commerce Store in Your Chosen Market

Build Your Online Presence and Brand.

How Do I Set up an Internet Business from Home - A flea market image, showing all types of products for sale on a vendors table

1. Research Your Intended Market

The very first step you need to carry out, when looking at launching a Business is Research. This is the most important thing you need to do before anything else.

The Internet can offer you a great chance of success with an online business as there is a huge Market and Opportunity for You out there. The Internet also gives you relatively easy access to launching a product or service to a vast audience (The internet is 24/7 and 365 days with 5.35 BILLION users daily: source Statista, Number of internet and social media users worldwide as of January 2024)

However, you need to check that the Business you intend to launch has a part of that audience that will purchase your product or service from you.

How Do I Set Up An Internet Business From Home - Gold Plated Bentley

You might think that Gold Plated Bentleys are a superb product (they probably are) but realistically, how many per month do you think you will sell? If you are building a business to supplement and replace your current income then you may struggle with this idea.

Your first action needs to be the brainstorming of products and services you use, what interests you, and what is current in the Market place that has a growing and steady market.

To Help you with this you can use tools such as:

GOOGLE TRENDS.

Just type Google Trends into your search engine browser bar, and you will be presented with a screen that you can search any country and product you want to see if the product, service, or idea has potential

I have used the Gold-Plated Bentley idea from above v Aston Martin to give you an idea below. Based on the result, I think I would have more success focusing a business around Aston Martin than the Bentleys. All a bit of fun, but you get the idea

How Do I Set Up An Internet Business From Home - Google Trends Page showing trend Comparison between Gold Plated Bentleys versus Aston Martin

You need a Market to Earn an Income.

2. Choose the Right Online Business Model.

Now that you have a product in mind, and verified that there is a market for it with people showing interest and purchasing (all be it from others, soon to be your competitors) you need to pick the right online business model to get your product or service out there.

This may be via an online E-Commerce shop for a physical product, it may be a physical or digital Product or Service that you might recommend and earn commissions from. You may want to Publish a ‘Self Help Guide’

How Do I Set Up An Internet Business From Home -

The Avenues for you to earn an income are vast, and sadly the Internet is full of scams and fake guru’s telling you (or more realistically emptying your wallet) of systems you need etc.

Based on my experiences I have put together various articles that can help you in how to choose the right online business model. For example: The Top 5 Best Online Business Ideas Read Here and other articles, which I will put in a link section, for you below.

3. Create your Business Plan and Choose Your Business and Trading Name.

When You have your product idea sorted and your methodology of delivering it through your chosen business model you will need to think of a name for your enterprise.

You might want to have an overall Business Name, but a ‘Trading Style’ name for your products or services, that relates and makes it eye catching as a brand you can build.

Your Business Name and Trading Name do not have to be the same if choosing this route. For Example, in the UK, I have a Registered Company, but trading names as subsidiaries, that relate to the physical products I sell through my online e-commerce stores.

You might want to Register a Business such as: XYZ Corp (whatever, as the Business) but your trading name might be ‘Water Filters USA’

The trading name is the one you build as an online store/platform/brand

Make the Trading name something catchy and not complicated with numbers and hyphens. You want your audience and customers to easily type your trading name into search engines.

You Also need to check that the name you have chosen is available and not used by someone else. Check my article on writing blogs for Income, as that is where I run through how to check and purchase domain names.

You also need to create your plan of how you will present your products and business, as well as planning your time investment, your financial investment, and expected returns.

Creating a Business Plan is outside the scope of this post but will feature in a coming article. Let me know via email in the contact section here, if you want early direct notification when this article is available prior to publishing to the wider audience

4. Register your Business and/or Trading Name

When you have chosen your Business Names, and checked that they are available then you may wish to consider formal registration with your countries relevant Government bodies as a legal format.

You may not wish to do this, that is your choice. However, being officially registered means you will keep records, everything is above board and you are not trying to hide anything (you do not want a knock on the door from various authorities such as the IRS, or UK HMRC)

Also, being an ‘Official’ Business means that prospective suppliers of products and services will take you more seriously and be keen to do business with you.

A registered, official business literally opens trade doors for you.

5. Build your Website or E-Commerce Store in Your Chosen Market

You Have your Business, ready to go, except you need to build a platform to get your products, services, brand, message out to the internet market.

This is not as daunting as it may seem. If you read my ‘About Me’ page you will see that I came to all this online ‘stuff’ later in life. When I was at school, going to the Moon was the future. Mobile phones had not been invented, and as for the Internet and social media…

Basically, If I can build Income streams online, anyone with a bit of application and willingness to learn can.

Also, whatever your chosen online business model is, you will find that the supporting companies make it very easy for you to build an online Website be it a Store/Shop or Blog Hosting etc, quite literally by ‘Dragging and Dropping’ your content into provided frameworks.

6. Build Your Online Presence and Brand

After following the 5 steps above you will have an Online Business. However, it doesn’t just stop there. You now will want to promote your business, your brand and your products or services that you offer.

I was once told that ‘A Spider Builds its Web over the Door of the Business that does not Advertise’

You might have the best product available (not gold-plated Bentleys) the fanciest website, the best offers out there… but if you have no ‘Traffic’ or visitors you will not make sales and ultimately Income.

How to Start a Blog for Income; An Open Metal briefcase size Tin that is full of Dollar Bills. Designed to illustrate how much can be earned from Writing blogs and as per the article on Why Consider Starting a Blog by Future You Success

There are various ways to build traffic from Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) with keywords through to Paid adverts. Again, like the business plans mentioned above the subject is out of the scope of this article to cover everything, just let me know via email in the contact section if you want early direct notification of this article is prior to publishing.

However, one of the best ways to promote your new business is via the giant that is social media. Very simply, open accounts in your business name in Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram. And start posting images, short descriptions, and links to your website.

Engage with your audience and you will see your ‘Organic’ traffic grow. The World really is in your hands.

You can then explore the paid advertising options for better reach that these social media platforms offer.

Hopefully the above has helped you. Let me know in the comments below what your business idea is, or if you have any direct questions, please reach out to me via the email in the contact section.