Dubai is the hotspot of technical advancements in the MENA region. Giants like Microsoft are working with the governmental associations of the region to introduce technical innovations and recombinant innovations. The growing interest of users in online services and product hunts has all the more influenced the business potential of the region.
The geography, the global spending of the region on technical equipment and users’ interest all add to making online businesses one of the most lucrative business ventures of the area.
If you too have an epic online business idea to start in Dubai, here is quick guide to help you with the subject.
Table of Contents
1. Generating An Online Business Idea
Online businesses are getting popular each day. Part of this popularity comes from the pandemic, during which people started shopping for basic groceries to luxurious items online.
Ecommerce businesses, whether selling artificial plants or modular furniture, started booming. Building onto this, the secret of success for an online business lies in the niche you use.
You can look at existing businesses and seek inspiration for products or supply chain. Look at your environment. Is there a problem you can solve, or a product you could produce and sell for cheaper price, or a service you can provide in lesser time than it usually takes?
Or, you can choose to introduce a unique product that you used to craft out of your hobby. In any case, you’ll have to balance the demand, supply, pricing and promotion of your online business and the product you choose to sell.
If you are not interested in starting a product business online, you can choose to a provide a service too. For example: SEO services for new brands, online consultancy for people looking for therapy, medical advice or prescription for patients, digital courses for a particular skill or topic.
Once you have a product or service idea that clicks, it’s time to evaluate its feasibility via market research and competitor analysis. You can do so by answering users’ questions in community groups like Quora and Reddit, Facebook and LinkedIn groups. Then look at other businesses providing similar products or services. Check their pricing, supply chain, delivery channels and figure out where they order items in bulk for reselling.
2. Create A Business Plan
Once you have validated your online business idea, it is time to document it, create business goals and projections. In a document, write down how much you plan to invest during the first quarter, and then first year. Then make a rough estimate of costs including marketing and shipping and come up with profit margin, the no. of units you estimate to sell and so on.
3. Start A Website
The success of a great venture idea lies in its right execution. And for that, you firstly need a website that matches your business ideology and is responsive enough to serve the right user experience.
Before you start a website, you’ll have to decide a business name and search if a similar domain name is available. After buying a domain name, preferably with .ae extension if you want to focus on Dubai, you’ll have to buy a hosting plan. Domains and hosting plans are usually cheaper in the first two years.
You can choose to DIY your website or a hire a professional web developer to do so. For the first option, you’ll have to use WordPress and integrate it with WooCommerce to turn it into an ecommerce store. you’ll end up getting a website but you’ll have to hire a professional to fix any glitches with user interface and user experience.
When you add textual and graphic content to your website, make sure the text is original and optimized for relevant keywords, especially the product descriptions. These keywords will help your visibility. For graphics, ensure that the images are royalty-free. You can choose 3D art and illustrations from Freepik and Pixabay.
4. Market Your Business
Once your business is up and running online, it’s time to market it and forward the narrative to your ideal target audience. Because you would have an online business, you can conveniently utilize multiples of digital marketing techniques in combination with physical promotions to boost the overall brand awareness.
But remember that you need social media handles (business profiles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest) for effective business marketing.
One great way to promote your business is sending out freebies. These can be done with vouchers, gift cards, discounts, free testing samples and so on.
For digital marketing, we recommend users create an email list via their websites, optimize their websites for trendiest, industry-related keywords, run paid advertisements on social media and Google Ads.
Before you go ahead with one specific marketing methodology, make sure to write down the goals you want to achieve with every marketing step. It would be great if you have some technical background in business scaling or digital marketing. If not, you can hire a freelancer digital marketing consultant via platforms like UpWork or Fiverr.
5. Scale Your Business with An App
Now that you have a website, social media pages and digital presence, it’s time to scale your business and make your brand a household name. This is rightly doable with a mobile application, preferably Android, otherwise cross-platform. That’s because 71% of global population uses Android technology – in smartphones, wearables and big screens.
If you don’t have technical background in coding and programming, you’ll have to outsource your project to a mobile app development in Dubai – and that is an investment which needs careful consideration.
You can choose to hire an app developer in Dubai only or hire a full-stack development team for convenient app development process.
You can pick from two options when investing in a business app: either get one developed when your business is entirely new in the market, or do it when you have made a considerable amount of profit. App development seemingly requires an initial investment but it’s one that pays for itself – in terms of lead generation and significant revenue growth.
Mobile ecommerce apps provide alternate payment methods to users. these apps keep you connected to your audience and teleport your products into shoppers’ hands, boost shopping experience, and ultimately increase sales
Wrapping Up…
Even with the app, websites and social media pages, you’ll have to give immense amount of time, effort and sometimes financial resources to stabilize the business in the first 2 years. Slowly, you can expand the team and hire dedicated staff members to complete important operational activities. With right planning and consistent efforts, every online business has the potential to yield desired results.
