Thanks to innovative technology and the internet, it’s easier than ever to start an online business. There are hundreds (even thousands) of different products and services you can offer to others in order to make a profit. You’ll need to do your research to decide which products you want to resell as an affiliate, or you may have come up with your own product or service that you want to offer. Whether you want to run an online business part-time or become a full-time online entrepreneur, there are some key resources you’ll need to have in place to help ensure your success. Here are just a few of them:

1.  The Right Environment: It is imperative that you set up a dedicated space that will be your office. This could be an entire room, or just the corner of your bedroom, depending on how much space you have. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t have a lot of space. Use a corner of your living room if you have to. All you really need is a small table or desk, a chair, and a laptop.

2.  Choose your Payment Method: How are your customers going to pay for your products/services? You need to make it easy for people to pay. Using online payment gateway solutions is an example of an ideal method, encompassing several payment methods, including subscription payments, and smartphone payment options. If your potential customers don’t have viable payment options, they will quickly go somewhere else, so this step is absolutely critical to your business’s success.

3.  A Professional Website: Put some real thought and planning into your website. If it looks like it was thrown together haphazardly, doesn’t contain relevant content, or is hard to navigate, you’re doomed as an online business owner. Keep in mind that your content needs to be clear, concise and short – people don’t want to scroll through pages of meaningless words trying to find something that’s relevant to them (why they should buy your products!)

4.  Content Creation and social media:  If you don’t like to write content, invest in hiring someone who does. Your content should be free of grammatical and spelling errors, and again, should be clear and concise. Also, consider adding blogs and articles that help your readers learn more about your business and your products. You’ll also need a viable social media presence. Consider hiring a social media manager if you don’t think you’ll have time for this very important task. Consider that Millennials are heavy internet users and the majority of them shop online for their products.

5.  Email/customer database management: You’re going to have to manage your customers’ email addresses, telephone numbers, and other relevant data. The easiest way to do this is with a database. There are many options online for very reasonable prices. Also, you’re probably going to want to email your customers and potential customers with a series of articles about your business and products. An autoresponder is the best way to do this; just a word of caution, though: don’t over-do your emails, or your customers will quickly click the ‘unsubscribe’ link a the bottom of your emails.

Once you have your business space set up that is free of distractions, you can start working on setting up the rest of your business using the tools and resources listed above. Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect circumstances – the best time to get started is right now!