Today, thanks to the internet based technologies, you do not need money or a concrete building to start your business or to convert your idea into a product. There are plenty of online tools available that will help kickstart your business idea for absolutely zero cost. These technologies have provided a level playing field for anyone who wants to start a business wherever they want. All you need is a business idea, an internet connection and a laptop. You are good to go!
Moreover, business owners are not required to learn technical skills nor hire costly professionals to start their business. Instead, they can leverage third party platforms like Workik to set up their website for free or use Google My Business to increase their customer reach. The internet has provided an opportunity for people to live anywhere with ease, have their own schedule and still operate their business as efficiently as they would have done offline owning a physical store.
In this article, we will learn more about the third party sites that can help you start your business for free along with its features and various benefits they offer.
Small businesses that have bigger dreams but limited funds can make use of Google My Business platform to establish their business online. It is simple, easy and requires zero investment. The businesses can monitor their online presence, find and retain customers using Google related tools like Google Search and Google Maps.
Once a business gets listed on Google My Business, they can manage how their business appears on Google search, add their contact information, track analytics to understand customer likes and dislikes, share posts about their services and special offers, and respond to any customer queries.
Follow these 5 steps one by one to start your own venture with Google My Business for FREE.
01. Sign in : Click Here to sign in to Google My Business. It is up to you whether you want to create a new one or log in to the existing Google account. To create a new account, you need to enter first name, last name, email address and password.
02. List your business : After you sign in, you need to click on “ Add your business to Google ”. A box pops up and in that you can enter your business name and can select the category of your business. A range of category options such as restaurant, supplier, manufacturer among others are available.
03. Add your location/service area: In this step, you need to select “yes” if you have a physical location such as a store, office or a building for your business operations. Adding a location helps customers reach you easily. You also have an option of providing a service area to help bring in potential customers.
04. Fill in contact information: After you are done adding your service area, you need to fill your business contact information. This information can be your website or it can be your business facebook or instagram page.
05. Finish and Verify: In this step, you can click on the option “finish the process and get your listing”. You can click yes if you want to receive notifications and updates on your business. After that, all you have to do is verify your business. That’s it. You have successfully listed your business online for free within a few minutes.
The small businesses or sellers who are looking for greater reach through simpler means can opt for Facebook to sell their products. It is free and costs absolutely nothing to get your business started. There are multiple benefits that are associated with this platform.
The target customers can search for the information of the product and services without leaving their facebook account. It offers personalized customer experience through one-on-one interactions. Due to the larger audience base, the market reach and customer awareness of the brand will be higher.
The businesses can make use of Facebook marketplace to advertise their products and services or they can simply start a business page. In the page, they can simply post high quality pictures of their products and services that they are selling.
Research states that more than 70% of customers check the official instagram business account of the brands to discover new products and services. Businesses can use Instagram to market and advertise their products and services easily. This can be done by posting visually attractive photos and videos, adding the location of their store in their bio, using product tags and product mentions in Instagram stories to highlight their products.
Through Instagram shops, the businesses can create a catalogue of their products. They can provide detailed product information that is easily shareable on their profile. The customers can pay for the purchased products right on the app by using Facebook Pay or any other payments transaction mode.
The small businesses who do not have a website yet, can get their website done for free with Workik, a web application builder. They help the companies that are just starting out on their digital journey to increase their online presence in under an hour. A website is necessary for the businesses to advertise their products and services. To understand why you need to get a website done today, read this article 7 Reasons Why Having A Website Is A Must .
There are various benefits that the businesses can get from getting their website done with Workik . They provide pre-built custom applications to meet the business requirements. Apart from the website services, they also offer digital services such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), digital marketing among others. These help the businesses connect with their customers and grow their business. For any queries, you can contact them.
Business Listings
IndiaMart
The small businesses, sellers, retailers and wholesalers who are looking to sell their products to buyers should list their business in IndiaMart. The B2B portal helps them increase their customer sales and interactions. Once the business gets listed on the web portal of IndiaMart, the businesses can start selling their products instantly for zero commission.
The businesses need to create an account with their name and mobile number to sign into the IndiaMart portal. After that, they need to add their business name, location of the business, and contact information such as email, mobile number among others. The last step is to add at least 3 products or services to start their brand new business listing page.
The business owners, retailers or suppliers who are looking to list their business online to increase their customer reach must make use of the platform provided by Yelp for business. Once businesses are listed here, the customers can leave their reviews of products and services. The businesses can analyze their market standing based on the comments and the ratings that they have received.
The other benefits of listing their business at yelp is the increase in the customer awareness of the products, constant interaction with customers by replying to the comments and solving their queries. The yelp for business page helps the businesses to spread the words about their products for free of cost at the most basic level.
The small businesses should utilize the platform provided by Amazon for the very reason that they are the most visited shopping destination for millions of people worldwide. Once the products and services are listed here through a simple registration process that takes just 15 minutes, the business owners can start selling immediately. For registration, all you need is a PAN or GST information and a bank account.
The Amazon platform provides an opportunity to these small scale business owners to make their products available 24/7 at zero cost. The Amazon professionals will help businesses with their product photography, ship their products easily through Easy Ship. There are both free and paid options for sellers or small business owners. The free version helps you list your business, increase brand awareness and helps you sell your products at your convenience.
Once a business has been listed on Amazon and a seller starts making profit, they need to pay the agreed amount as commission as part of their total profits. The sellers can use more advanced features such as Amazon’s automated tools to adjust the product prices and earn more revenue.
The small businesses or product owners or even normal customers can use the eBay platform to sell their products. eBay offers two options: personal account or business account. If you are looking to sell unused or unwanted items, you can sell them through a personal account and if you want to sell products for a longer duration, then you can use a business account. Both accounts require first name, last name, email id and a password to register.
After getting registered, the owners can start listing their products using their account and they also should add an automatic payment method. They can list their products by uploading the product photos and descriptions along with the cost. Like Amazon, this web platform’s basic version is free. However, they need to pay commission once they start making profits. Once you get associated with eBay, the small businesses can also avail loans through their LendingPoint to facilitate the growth of the business.
Online presence is seen as essential for the success of any business. It does not matter whether a business has been established for a long time or a short time and whether they are new or old. All that matters in the business world is adoption of the technologies at the right time to cater to the customer needs and to stay relevant in the market. Thus in the digital era, having an online presence is seen as mandatory for the businesses that have been selling its products through a physical store.
At a time like this, when you are just starting out and all you have is a business idea and no funds, then the best you can do is utilize these third party web platforms and marketplaces to get your business started for free. All you have to do is list your products and services and leave the rest to them. These marketplaces will manage customer orders including inventory and delivery. They will help increase brand awareness and serve as an advertising tool at absolutely zero cost and zero expense.
