These answers are provided by Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs. Learn more at yec.co.

1. Prioritize Your Site’s Performance

When setting up an online store from scratch or by using platforms like Shopify, always prioritize your website’s performance. This means getting the basics right for your site and looking into matters like your load time, navigation, broken links, unoptimized images, code density, content delivery network (CDN) concerns and caching issues. A website with a clunky user experience won’t get you anywhere.

– Jared Atchison, WPForms

2. Consider Sales Tax Implications

One thing that new entrepreneurs overlook when setting up their first online store is the sales tax implications of selling online. Depending on your products and your customers’ locations, you may be required to collect and remit sales tax. Meet with your CPA to make sure you understand the sales tax laws and nexus rules before starting your online store. It will save you a world of headache.

– Shaun Conrad, Number2 CPA Exam Resources

3. Think About the User Experience

Prioritize the user experience to ensure success. A well-designed UX fosters customer satisfaction and boosts sales by making it easy for shoppers to navigate, find products and complete transactions. Focus on a clean layout, intuitive navigation, responsive design for mobile and fast load times. This can help convert visitors into loyal customers and they can grow their businesses more effectively.

– Jinny Hyojin Oh, WANDR

4. Ensure You’re Up to Date on Security and Browser Trends

Be up to date on security and browser trends. If a customer is getting a warning by just accessing your website, you’ve already lost a customer. To make sure your online store is secure, you can take several steps, such as updating your site and plugins on a regular schedule, choosing a reliable hosting provider and implementing an SSL certificate. Once you have a secure site, the sky’s the limit!

– Shu Saito, SpiroPure

5. Include Detailed Product Landing Pages

If you’re in the process of starting your first online store, don’t forget to create detailed product landing pages. On each landing page, include a list of features and benefits. Users need to know how your product or service will improve their lives before they make a purchase, and product pages are by far the easiest way to relay this information.

– John Turner, SeedProd LLC

6. Build an Email List as Soon as Possible

One thing to remember when setting up your online store is that it’s never too early to start building your email list. Create a “coming soon” page as a placeholder on your site until it’s finished. Promote your new brand on social media and ask people to subscribe for the latest updates. You’re far more likely to see sales on day one if you have an email list packed with prospects.

– Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

7. Focus on Search Engine Optimization

One tip new entrepreneurs should remember when setting up their online store is prioritizing search engine optimization (SEO) from the beginning. This includes conducting thorough keyword research, optimizing on-page elements such as title tags and meta descriptions and building quality backlinks to the site. Properly optimizing the site for SEO can help increase brand awareness and sales.

– Miles Jennings, Recruiter.com

8. Implement Practices to Guarantee User Privacy

One crucial aspect to consider when setting up your online store is user privacy. This is because protecting your customers’ personal information is becoming increasingly essential for building trust and maintaining a strong brand reputation. To ensure user privacy, you must implement strong encryption protocols, use a secure payment gateway and have a clear and transparent privacy policy.

– Kelly Richardson, Infobrandz

9. Keep It Simple

Keep things simple, and don’t get carried away with all the bells and whistles at your disposal. Early on, it’s best to focus on getting a functional site live that makes it easy for visitors to find and purchase whatever you’re selling. A simple approach helps eliminate distractions from your site and helps ensure a frictionless shopping experience.

– Ian Blair, BuildFire

10. Pay Attention to Your ‘Checkout Flow’

When setting up your online store, pay attention to your checkout flow. Most people will leave a website with items in their cart if the checkout process is clunky or missing key features. I suggest including an “always on” shopping cart, a minimal payment form, a progress bar and multiple ways to pay to maximize your conversion rate.

– Daman Jeet Singh, FunnelKit

11. Optimize for Mobile

Optimizing for mobile is crucial when setting up an online store. With more and more customers using their mobile devices to browse and shop, it’s important to ensure your website is mobile-friendly and offers a seamless user experience. Failing to do so could lead to a significant loss in potential sales and customers due to frustrations during shopping.

– Andrew Saladino, Kitchen Cabinet Kings

In this blog post, we will explore five good reasons why new businesses should consider using Microsoft Teams.

Enhanced Communication and Collaboration

Microsoft Teams is a powerful collaboration tool that combines chat, video conferencing, file sharing, and many other features in one platform. It allows team members to communicate in real-time and share information and ideas more efficiently, eliminating the need for endless email chains or constant back-and-forth messaging. Moreover, it enables seamless collaboration on documents, presentations, and projects, as team members can work on them simultaneously in real-time.

With Microsoft Teams, new businesses can improve their communication and collaboration, leading to more productive and efficient teamwork.

Easy Integration with Other Microsoft Tools

Microsoft Teams integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft tools, such as Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive. This means that businesses can easily access and share files and documents across platforms, making it easier to manage workflows and projects. Additionally, businesses can integrate Microsoft Teams with other third-party tools, such as Trello and Asana, to streamline their workflow further.

The easy integration with other Microsoft tools makes Microsoft Teams a convenient option for new businesses that are already using Microsoft software.

Scalability and Customisation

Microsoft Teams offers scalability and customization options that can fit the unique needs of a new business. Businesses can create teams for different projects or departments, add or remove team members as needed, and customise team settings to suit their workflow. Moreover, Microsoft Teams allows businesses to customise the user interface with themes, logos, and branding, as well as other program such as Microsoft Teams Operator Connect, making it a more personalised and engaging platform for team members.

Security and Compliance

New businesses often deal with sensitive information that needs to be kept secure and compliant. Microsoft Teams has robust security features, such as two-factor authentication, single sign-on, and data encryption, that ensure the safety of sensitive information. Additionally, Microsoft Teams is compliant with various industry standards, such as HIPAA and GDPR, making it a reliable and trustworthy platform for new businesses.

Cost-Effective Solution

Starting a new business comes with its own set of financial challenges, and one of them is managing costs. Microsoft Teams is a cost-effective solution for new businesses, as it offers different pricing plans that fit different budgets. Businesses can choose a plan that suits their needs and only pay for what they use. Additionally, Microsoft Teams eliminates the need for expensive communication and collaboration tools, as it combines all these features in one platform.

Conclusion

Microsoft Teams is an excellent solution for new businesses that want to improve communication, collaboration, and productivity. It offers easy integration with other Microsoft tools, scalability and customisation, robust security and compliance, and a cost-effective solution that fits different budgets.

By using Microsoft Teams, new businesses can streamline their workflow, manage projects more efficiently, and build a more engaged and productive team.

“The rise of powerful AI will be either the best or the worst thing ever to happen to humanity. We do not yet know which.” – Stephen Hawking.

Small businesses often have limited resources and a need for efficiency, which can make it difficult to keep up with larger competitors. In order to stay competitive and improve operations, small business owners need to find ways to streamline their processes and increase efficiency.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can provide solutions for these challenges by automating tasks that would otherwise require human labor, improving customer service by providing quick and accurate responses to customer inquiries, and providing valuable insights into operations, such as identifying areas for improvement and identifying trends in customer behavior.

With the help of AI, small businesses can improve their operations and stay competitive in today’s fast-paced business environment. Without further adieu, here are the top 8 AI apps every small business owner should consider using, in no particular order:

Hootsuite Insights is a social media management tool that uses AI to monitor and analyze your business’s social media presence. It can track mentions of your brand, identify influencers and competitors, and provide insights on the sentiment of your social media content. By using Hootsuite Insights, small business owners can gain a better understanding of their audience and improve their social media strategy.

Bizzabo (formerly known as X.ai) is a virtual assistant app that uses AI to schedule meetings. The app can be integrated with your calendar and email to automatically schedule meetings based on your availability and preferences. It can also handle cancellations, rescheduling, and sending reminders. Using Bizzabo can save small business owners time and hassle in managing their schedules.

DocuSign is an e-signature app that uses AI to automate document signing. It allows small business owners to securely sign and send documents for signature, track the status of a document, and receive notifications when a document has been signed. With DocuSign, small business owners can save time and increase efficiency in their document management process.

Salesforce Einstein is an AI-powered CRM (customer relationship management) tool. It allows small business owners to automate tasks such as data entry and lead scoring, and provides insights on customer behavior and sales trends. By using Salesforce Einstein, small business owners can improve their sales processes and better understand their customers.

QuickBooks Self-Employed is an accounting app that uses AI to automate bookkeeping tasks for small businesses. It can track expenses, generate invoices, and provide insights on business performance. By using QuickBooks Self-Employed, small business owners can save time and reduce the need for a dedicated bookkeeper.

Zoho CRM is a customer relationship management tool that uses AI to automate sales processes and provide insights on customer behavior. With Zoho CRM, small business owners can automate tasks such as lead scoring, data entry, and email campaigns. By using Zoho CRM, small business owners can improve their sales processes and better understand their customers.

Yes, Grammarly is still relevant today, even after the launch of a ‘disruptive’ AI app #8 below.

Grammarly is an AI-powered writing tool that can help small business owners improve their written communication. It can identify grammar and punctuation errors, provide suggestions for sentence structure, and check for plagiarism. By using Grammarly, small business owners can improve the quality of their written communication, which is especially important for emails, reports, and other business-critical documents.

The Disruptor.  The one that worries Google. The one that make many apps obsolete. The scary part is, it’s still developing.

ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI. It can be used for a wide range of natural language processing tasks, such as text generation, language translation, and conversation simulation. ChatGPT can be integrated with other apps and platforms, such as chatbots and virtual assistants, to provide human-like conversation and improve customer service. Additionally, ChatGPT can be used for automating repetitive tasks, such as customer support and content creation.

Small business owners can leverage ChatGPT to improve their operations, increase efficiency, and offer a better customer experience.

To Conclude…

In conclusion, AI can help small business owners in various ways such as saving time, automating tedious tasks, improving customer service, and providing valuable insights into their operations. By utilizing these AI apps, small business owners can stay competitive and improve their operations.

However, it’s important to note that AI is constantly evolving, and new AI apps are continually emerging, so it’s important for small business owners to stay updated and explore new options as they become available.