Many individuals dream of starting an online business, be it the youth studying in university and doing post-graduation in business management, employees working in a corporate setup, and even established offline businesses.

With people spending almost one hour on social media platforms and doing online shopping, it makes the online business a better option for starting your business. People find online shopping convenient, and they can effortlessly surf through the products to buy one or more according to their tastes & preferences.

Online Business is pretty straightforward to commence. You don’t need any sky-high rental prices required, neither low occupancy rates like a shopping mall nor expenditure for offline store maintenance and staff salary. You can run an online business from home, have flexible operating/working hours, scale it whenever you feel like it, and more such benefits.

In this blog, we will walk you through seven steps of starting an online business in Singapore.

7 Steps to start an Online Business

Business Idea

The first & foremost thing that you must have for starting an online business is an Idea. Currently, there are millions of online businesses in the market, and you must try to find your niche to differentiate yourself from your competitors. To find a business idea, you must:

• Look for an issue to solve with your product/service offerings by pondering over tasks that you find challenging. Successful brands have found success because of solving a specific problem.
• Leverage your strengths by listing down your skills & strengths. Do brainstorm the best possible business ideas that stand out from your competitors.
• Think about the target audience you wish to cater to instead of thinking about the product/service offering to create. Put yourself into customers’ shoes, and you will be able to determine your target audience.

Market Research

After finding business ideas, you must funnel them down to one by assessing the most potential & profitable one by doing your market research. It will help you validate your business idea, pricing, and demand.

You will be able to determine the profitability, competitiveness, and depth of your business idea. For the market research, you need the following:

• Analyse Search Engine Research Pages (SERPs) to check out variations of your product/service offering keywords by paying attention to top-ranked keywords for getting organic traffic.
• Along with keyword ranking analysis, pay attention to your close competitors to comprehend their marketing strategies.
• Keep tabs on high-performing keywords that change according to the seasons and customers’ demands. Focus on keywords relevant to your niche by using free tools like Google Trends & Google Keyword Planner.

Business Plan

Once you have found your business idea, gather them into a comprehensive business plan to determine the funding required, identify potential bottlenecks, and work out the business’s future growth & profitability.

An effective business plan helps identify your target market, clarify your goals, and help in decision-making processes for determining business success or failure.

Marketing Strategy

Determine a marketing strategy for spreading the work of your brand. You can use email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, paid advertising on Google, YouTube Ads, & Social Media platforms, and Social Media post creation.

Business Structure

After deciding on the business idea and plan formulation, you must decide on your business structure. You can select from four primary types of business structures in Singapore according to your goals & funding requirements for capital.

You can choose Sole Proprietorship, Limited Liability Company (Ltd), Limited Liability Partnership, or a Partnership Firm.

Each business structure has various tax & liability benefits for both owners & shareholders. The business structure will affect everything from your business’s daily operations, paperwork required, personal assets, taxes, and more.

Incorporate your Business

Incorporate your business through the following steps:

Step 1: Get your company name approved. Search on ACRA regarding name availability. Ensure that your business name is not identical to an existing trademark or name.

Step 2: Prepare the relevant documents, including the Company Constitution, Consent from each company director & company secretary, and Declaration of the company’s controllers.

Step 3: Submit your application to ACRA, and there is an S$300 fee.

It is recommended to consult a business advisor who will make the incorporation process plain sailing for you by helping you gather the required documentation and do the paperwork.

At Bestar Services, we provide incorporation & registration services. We have helped 100s of businesses in Singapore with Incorporation & Registration process.

Set the Foundation

Instead of hiring human resources for different tasks, it is advisable to outsource the tasks related to accounts and bookkeeping, financial audit, and taxation so that you can concentrate on your core business tasks.

At Bestar Services, we provide accounts & booking, financial audit, and taxation services. Outsource them to us, and utilize the free time in your core business activities.

Conclusion

After reading the blog, you will have a comprehensive idea of starting an online business in Singapore. However, if you have questions or need assistance, contact us for a consultation. We are available via call at +65 62994730 and email admin@bestar.asia

Hire Bestar Services, and we will take care of everything with our services from incorporation & registration to accounting & bookkeeping, financial audit, and taxation. Start your business with ease with Bestar Services.