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E-Businesses: 6 tips to follow before buying a website

Getting a website is a popular method to gain online profits and a trendy way to become an e-businessperson. It may be tempting to take advantage of the benefits of a large website with little effort. However, it is slightly more complicated than it sounds. Before conducting any purchase regarding a website, you should consider several points. Find them listed below:

 

Get started with a “clean” site

Would you buy a house simply because you like how it looks? The same applies for websites. Do not make decisions based on the design of the site or the basic description.

Do your research on the assets, designer and history of the website. Look at the reviews collected during their activity. You can go about this step as a prospective customer of a product on the site.

If the designer and owner have a bad reputation with customers or regarding their previous activities, forget the investment. As a beginner, it would be best to start with a site that has a relatively good reputation, background included.

 

Visit the website

Browse the website and ask yourself the following questions:

  • Does it offer an optimal user experience?
  • What is the speed of the searches and commands?
  • Is the site mobile-friendly?
  • What does the domain look like: Is it short, attractive and modern?

Do not invest your savings in a website with a complicated URL, rough navigation and slow loading time. The SEO will probably not be great and the few users who will visit the site will leave it immediately.

Also, take a look at their sales history and see if it is consistent and sustainable. Analyse the marketing strategies put in place and see what you can keep or improve.

 

Analyse the SEO

What about the rating of the website on search engines? Is it well placed on relevant searches?

You can also check if the site has a blog. Nowadays, appearing on the first page is difficult without regularly publishing content.

You can, for example, use tools to know what keywords are used. Then, do not hesitate to make these searches on Google to check which page the site appears on. If it appears beyond the first page, you will have to invest in the SEO to get to the first page. The further away the site is, the more you will have to invest.

 

Analyse revenue sources

To make sure your investment will be profitable, see how the website earns its revenue. It can be through selling products/services, Google Adsense, affiliates, subscriptions, etc.

The e-business you are looking to buy should have as many revenue streams as possible. Otherwise, you may need to make other investments to create more reliable revenue streams. In case the income comes exclusively from products or services, make sure that the sales are regular. Above all, they should be in the growth phase.

 

Review the maintenance of the website

Depending on the platform hosting it, a website will be more or less easy to maintain, customize or optimize.

If you are a beginner, work alongside a professional or go to sites that rely on content management systems.

Also consider asking the seller for a maintenance report:

  • How often are updates done?
  • When was the last update?
  • What are the recurring problems?

 

The price

There is no fixed price for a website. It will depend on the performance of this actual site.

However, be careful. If a seller asks for much less than the average, there must be a problem. If they ask for a strangely high price, either the site is very efficient or it is a scam.

To buy a good website, take the time to talk to the seller and ask for all the supporting documents. If he willingly accepts, you can erase a part of your doubts.

Following the above tips should help you if you are considering to buy a website. However, be sure to do thorough research and seek the help of professionals make a secure investment.

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How to find investors for your start-up

To raise money and start a small business, there is nothing better than investors. These individuals and/or companies pour money into your project, leaving you free to make it thrive. However, sponsors do not provide funds easily. They may also not invest at all if they do not find the idea to be profitable enough. To raise your chances of getting sponsored, you need a truly brilliant idea and solid preparation. Find some tips on ways to get funding below:

Consider joining an incubator for your start-up

You just got your idea for a start-up and you are new to the idea of entrepreneurship. If your project is an innovative one, you can consider joining an incubator. These organisations assist entrepreneurs and help them grow their idea into a flourishing start-up. They provide various types of facilities, such as access to legal services and to a work space. These incubators, such as Turbine, can help you to connect with like-minded individuals and thus create a professional network. They will eventually provide you with the means to get funding for your start-up to grow.

Make your activity visible to investors

Sometimes, businesses do not need much funding to launch on a small scale. Once this is done, you can attract investors by making your activity as visible as possible. Become trendy. Get media attention and work on your popularity on social media. Use influencers and SEO tactics as much as possible. Getting popular in Mauritius is easy since its population is quite small. Journalists are also always on the lookout for innovative subjects to cover. Make your business famous even before you present it to potential investors. This will considerably increase your chances of getting a sponsor.

Know your business from A to Z

The key is to arrive to your presentation well-prepared. If you are unsure about your idea and/or your charts and figures, you will not paint a reliable picture of yourself. The investors will not deem you capable enough to carry out the project. In other cases, they will not deem the project itself worthy enough. An investor is looking for a leader, a ship’s captain. A captain who does not know its ship cannot lead it on a successful journey.

Prepare a rock-solid business plan and revise accounting and management basics. Work on your public speaking skills and rehearse your presentation before the actual day. Focus on communicating your vision and on displaying its potential. You already know your project and your market by heart. So you need to impress with figures to bring credibility to your project.

 

Once you obtain funding, you should work on building sales rapidly. A start-up will only become a fully-fledged business if it demonstrates rapid growth. Investors will also be more at ease about sponsoring your project if they see quick and satisfying results. A fast-growing company will give less opportunity to competitors. Aside from sponsors, you can consider other options to raise capital. These are crowdfunding, money-saving and loans, amongst others.

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29/10/2018: How to finance and grow my company?

When: Monday 29 October, from 16hr30 to 18hr30

“Is it interesting to accelerate my company’s growth with the financial and strategic support of external investors?”
Compass welcomes at the end of this month Lars Lindgren, Venture Capitalist and Swedish Business angel accumulating 35 years of experience.

Lars will lead two workshops on the capital investment:

  • A training for the entrepreneurs
  • A discussion for the active or potential investors

The workshop aims at helping you understand the advantages and inconveniences, to build a partnership with investors: business angel or investment fund.
The purpose is to give you elements of reflection to think about a partnership, but also to explain the different stages to build and maintain it.
This initiative is an essential requirement for the take-off of innovative projects in Mauritius: something that means a lot to us!

We are pleased to invite you to this first meeting. The presentation will be in English but Lars is bilingual.
Go on Facebook for more info!
If the idea seduces you, if the subjects presented below interest you, then confirm now!
To book your spot, RSVP on hello@compass. mu or hello@turbine.mu, or contact us on our website! Limited places available.

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The Turbine hosted the launch of “SheVestor Africa” on 5th August 2017

The Meet and Greet Mauritius event was for young African women who are keen on becoming financially independent and building a stable financial life.

This event introduced the sheVestor Africa community to women in Mauritius to create awareness on the importance of financial education in building financially stable young African women.

The Meet and Greet Mauritius offered the opportunity to learn, connect, be inspired and build a supportive network with an expert-led session of successful women entrepreneur who shared tips and hacks on the financial journey.

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