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The development of new digital tools is happening at an incredible pace, and that can be both a blessing and a curse for small business owners. New digital tools give you the opportunity to compete in the ecommerce marketplace, but it can also be a challenge to keep up. While this initially may seem like more than you can possibly handle, staying competitive in ecommerce may actually be easier than you think. You don’t have to jump on every new innovation as soon as it comes out, but what you do need to do is continue adopting strategies that make your business stand out from the competition.

Increase Your Knowledge

Learning is a lifelong process, and this is especially true for entrepreneurs. Whether you’re brand new in business or you’ve been around for a while, the number one strategy for being competitive is to continue building your knowledge base. When you go online to seek this information, target your search to resources and wikis that are dedicated to ecommerce topics. 

If you’re new to the business, you may want to search topics like how to provide excellent customer service or build your brand through public relations. If you’ve been in business for a while, however, you may want to search for how to boost sales through brand equity or grow your business with growth hacking. Whatever you’re looking for, these resources gather all the most critical information you need, and taking advantage of this knowledge is how you can stay one step (or two steps, or three steps) ahead of the competition. 

Operate More Efficiently

One of the top ways to ensure your site blows the competition away is to ensure it’s easy to navigate. Besides being user-friendly, your site also needs to be mobile-friendly, include social profile links, and have easy-to-use payment options. Customers need to find what they’re looking for and be able to complete a sale easily and from any device.

Getting your website up to these standards takes time and energy, not to mention the right expertise. To accomplish this goal while saving time to focus on other essential business tasks, you may want to work with freelancers. There are online job boards you can search to be matched with qualified freelancers for all kinds of roles, whether you need a designer to create an infographic or a writer who can create blog posts for your website. 

Offer Personalization

While you may be tempted to try competing with major companies like Amazon, Retail Dive recommends key areas where you should and should not try competing with these ecommerce giants. No small business can compete with their infrastructure or selection, but where you can compete is on experience and convenience. 

Convenience comes from an easy-to-use website, and you can provide a better shopping experience through personalization. Even in an age where you can buy whatever you want from a screen with no personal interaction, people still appreciate personal service. Entrepreneur explains how one way to do this is to capture data like a customer’s shopping history and trends in your industry. This way, you’re in a better position to make customized recommendations.

Provide Value

Specializing in a niche rather than competing with Amazon in selection is one way you provide value. This is because you can offer a curated selection that meets your customers’ exact needs — eliminating the chore of sorting through products they don’t want. And while you may not be able to compete on price, another way you can offer value is through customer incentives. Annex Cloud recommends creating a simple loyalty rewards program to encourage repeat shopping and increase customer appreciation.

As a small business owner, you can’t always do what Amazon is doing, but that can be a good thing because small retailers can offer quality that large retailers can’t match. We all have choices for where we do business online. Just remember that not all websites are created equal — and this is what gives you the chance to make your business the one customers choose.

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By all estimates, hundreds of businesses are closing each day in the United States. If yours was one of these, you may be skittish about launching again in the middle of a global pandemic. But when you are an entrepreneur at heart, you won’t be satisfied to simply sit around and work for someone else. Here we share a few tips on things you should do before you get back into business.

Know your resources. 

First things first, evaluate your available resources. This could be anything from existing market research to blogs such as My Startup CEO that provide relevant and up-to-date information on all things business. You also want to take a look at what you have leftover from your former business. Knowing what resources you have available now will keep you from overspending as you gear up to launch or relaunch your business.

Rethink your marketing strategies. 

Your next step is to think about how you want to market your business. For most, this starts with social media. Social media marketing remains a powerful and relevant tool to help keep your name in the public’s eye. But as Entrepreneur suggests, it is best to actually get to know how social media works before you start posting ads. You may have had some success casting a wide net in the past, but your budget is likely different now, and you’ll need to target your potential customers with laser focus.

Draft a business plan. 

A business plan can help you grow your business faster as it outlines your goals and keeps you accountable for them. It’s also an opportunity to evaluate your risk and rewards. A well-thought-out business plan, which is based on SMART goals, allows you to measure your success based on expected milestones. Fortunately, even if you don’t have experience writing out a business plan, there’s plenty of information online about how to get started quickly.

Acquire funding.

Unless you plan to fund your startup on your own, you’ll need to branch out of your own bank account. There are many ways to fund a startup, including crowdfunding, angel investing, and business accelerators. And depending on what you do, Profit Books notes that you may even be able to win contests for funds to get you up and running.

Define your structure.

All businesses are structured. Many small businesses are, by default, a sole proprietorship. While this gives you complete control over everything, it also leaves your business most at risk of financial losses. Consider restructuring as an LLC. If you are strapped for cash, you can use a formation service to guide you through the process and save on attorney fees. However, you will need to do your research to determine if an LLC structure is advantageous for you. Before you can enjoy the flexibility and potential tax savings, you also need to get familiar with the rules in your home state.

Get compliant. 

The vast majority of industries require some type of compliance, and all businesses must remain compliant with government financial regulations. If you are an LLC, for example, you may be required to submit an annual financial statement — meaning you will need to have systems and procedures in place to track your incoming and outgoing funds. Further, if your business collects data or has investors, you may be required to follow industry-specific compliance regulations.

Accept all payments.

In a world that seems primed for a cashless society, your business is better off if you can accept a variety of payment types. In addition to cash, you should be able to accept credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, and even paper checks. Not allowing your customers to pay in their preferred method means that you will potentially miss a sale — and for small businesses, every dollar counts.

Don’t make the same mistakes.

The fact that you have closed the business means that you likely made some mistakes along the way. This might have been a failure to structure your business or having effective customer service strategies in place. Or given the pandemic, you simply may not have been in a position to change the way you operate to react to the New World. Evaluate things you might have done wrong with your former company, and avoid making the same mistakes with your new endeavor.

Study the competition. 

Market research is one of the most important things you can do as a small business owner. When you are getting ready to launch a new business, it pays to know the competition. Still, it is not enough to simply know who else is in your arena; you need to get to know their strengths and weaknesses as well. Pay close attention and identify gaps in the market that aren’t being filled. When you know the shortcomings of your adversaries, you can put yourself in a position to be a stronger player in your market.

Be realistic and pace yourself. 

Finally, be realistic in how you plan to run your business and the profits you expect to make. While we all have big dreams, moving too quickly to reach them is often a mistake. Take your time and measure out attainable goals. Reach them by working hard and evaluating your processes along the way. While you are certainly excited, do not let your enthusiasm leave you with blind spots.

Starting a new business in the middle of a global pandemic is likely not what you envisioned for yourself just 12 months ago. But here we are, and given that many other businesses have closed, now is a great time to make your entrance in an uncrowded market. Take your time and take steps, such as drafting a business plan and re-envisioning your marketing strategies. 

To help you start strong from the very beginning, My Startup CEO has all the resources to help you grow a business in the best and worst of times. Visit for growth, marketing, and more startup advice.

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As a start-up, it’s not easy to stand out among competitors (whether they’re big or small), let alone build a loyal customer base. The secret is to understand that people nowadays are busy, and that it’s your job to make using your product as simple and straightforward as possible. Here are just a few simple ways to do that. 

A User-Friendly Website

Customers these days are not forgiving of a bad website. As well as being visually appealing, your website should be easy to navigate and mobile-friendly. You could hire a web designer to perfect this, but building your own is way more cost effective. A drag-and-drop builder costs as little as $100 to $400 a year, while a custom website will cost between $2,000 and $10,000. You also need to ensure that your website complies with industry standard cybersecurity measures to ensure that your customers’ data and information remains safe and secure.

Fast And Reliable Shipping

Anyone selling a consumer good is competing with giants like Amazon. Sure, you may not be able to do one-day delivery as a start-up, but you can make sure that everything about the process is as fast and smooth as possible. StartUp Nation has some good advice on how new e-commerce ventures can effectively compete with Amazon, such as including a personalized message or free gift to first-time customers.  

Personal And Helpful Customer Service

According to research by SalesForce, 84 percent of customers feel it is important to be treated as a person by the companies they buy from. On one level, this simply means your customer service needs to be friendly and helpful. Nothing sours a relationship with a company more than rude or incompetent customer service.

It also means that customers want to feel like you “remember” them, and that all their interactions with a company feel connected. For this, you need a reliable customer-relationship management (CRM) system that will keep all your customer information in one secure, easy-to-access place. There are several CRM software options that are perfect for small businesses, including some that are free. 

Useful (Yet Non-Intrusive) Marketing

The secret to reaching customers without annoying them often lies in your campaign metrics. For instance, when carrying out email campaigns, you can use data like click-through and open rates combined with the industry averages for each of these figures as a comparison to adjust your strategy. If you’re getting an unusually high bounce rate, your emails need to look less spammy. If you have low open rates, you may need to improve your subject lines.

Figuring out a social media marketing strategy also relies on using metrics. Take AB testing: this is where you create two different versions of an ad and run them simultaneously to see which one works better. It is a great way to use the data available to you to optimize and refine your strategy in real time, something which more traditional forms of marketing never allowed for.  

As a start-up, it’s never enough to just have a good product. We live in an age when everyone can start a business with a few clicks, and where essentially any product can be bought for cheap from online mega-stores. Creating a connection with your customers through reliable, personal, and convenient service is the best way to stand out. 

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If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, you probably dream of quitting your day job to run your own business one day. Of course, you might also find yourself wondering whether it’s a good time to start a business. As it turns out, according to Forbes, it’s always a good time to start a business. Regardless of whether the economic climate is looking good or bad, there’s always a need for solid business ideas. In other words, if you’ve got a good idea, share it with the world rather than waiting for the economy to change!

Have you been looking for ways to take the plunge into business ownership? There are two essential parts of becoming a successful entrepreneur. First and foremost, it probably goes without saying that you will inevitably need to launch your own company and share your products or services with the world. The entrepreneurial journey doesn’t end there, though. After you’ve launched your business, you’ll need to maintain healthy business-building habits so you don’t run out of steam before you’ve had a chance to achieve true success.

Believe it or not, many business owners end up burning the candle at both ends. Unfortunately, this causes a lot of businesses to fail before they’ve reached their full potential. You could have a brilliant idea for an in-demand product or service. However, if you don’t take the right steps when launching that idea, you could unknowingly set yourself and your business up for failure.

If you’re one of the tens of thousands of people who are looking to start a business, here are some tips for simultaneously managing both the health of your business and your body.

Healthy Money Habits

Finances can create endless stress for anyone, whether you own a business or not. If money is a concern, don’t worry. There are plenty of options to help you during your business journey. 

When finances are tight, one option for funding your first business is to take out a business loan. There are many types of business loans available these days, from short-term loans to personal loans for businesses. You can also take out small business startup loans or even open a business line of credit. These options can alleviate undue stress of difficult financial situations, whether you’re trying to get your business off the ground or keep it afloat for years to come.

Maintain Healthy Habits

Although you might be tempted to burn the midnight oil, it’s important to understand that this could be counterproductive. A recent Stanford study has shown that productivity drops off after people work more than 40 hours in a given work week. All the overtime, extra shifts, and long nights or weekend hours spent working could actually be hurting you rather than helping. Instead, ease back on the hours and be more productive and during the hours you do work.

Surround Yourself with Supportive People

The people you surround yourself with can directly contribute to your success and your happiness. “A diversity of thought, perspective and culture is important in any field,” says Sara Friar, CFO at Square. In order to succeed at business – and at life – Friar says it’s important to “surround yourself with people who support you.”

Put Yourself Out There

If you’ve been wondering how to launch and sustain your own business, it’s important to understand two things. First, you’re not alone. Second, with some creativity, resilience, and a willingness to try new things, you can get started sooner than you think. Best of all, the new opportunities and experiences of putting yourself out there will pave the way for new growth in your business and your life. In the words of author and entrepreneur, Tiffany Dufu, “Know that your voice is important,” and continue taking steps in the direction of your dreams.

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