Now has never been a better time for London entrepreneurs to launch their own online business. Despite the doom and gloom of Brexit predictions for months now, recent reports showed that London remained the top city for Generation Z.
It is particularly great place to be if you are an online startup or entrepreneur: there is a wealth of opportunities and funding possibilities in the UK capital, and it is a hub for innovation, where you are sure to find motivation and inspiration from your fellow entrepreneurs.
If you want to launch an online business but haven’t settled on a niche as yet, take a look at this round-up of the best online businesses for London entrepreneurs in 2019.
- E-commerce businesses
E-commerce is big right now, and it is only set to grow in the future. In 2017, global e-commerce sales totalled around $2.5 trillion, a figure which is expected to double by 2021. As more and more consumers discover the joy and convenience of shopping online, this represents great opportunities for entrepreneurs to set up their own online store. Additionally, there are various reasons (environmental concerns, quality control, and so on) why UK customers would prefer to shop with a UK-based e-commerce business, giving London entrepreneurs an extra incentive.
If you would like to start your own e-commerce business the first thing you’ll need is a site. Luckily, these days it is quite easy to do this yourself: see this list of the best ecom website builders for ideas on how to get started. Product development is also key in the initial stages: it is a good idea to pick a particular niche in terms of what you plan to sell, preferably something you are passionate about, while matching your market research of
- Digital Marketing
Another area which is absolutely booming at the moment is digital marketing. Essentially every business from SME’s and startups to the world’s biggest brands know that a strong digital marketing strategy is essential to being a success in 2019. Whether you focus on digital marketing in general or a particular aspect such as SEO there are an almost endless number of clients available.
This is particularly true in London, where the thriving community of entrepreneurs and startups represent a ready-made client base. Granted, there is quite a lot of competition in this space, but if you come up with a unique idea to position yourself in your niche, then you will put yourself on the road to success.
- Freelance content creation
A big part of digital marketing is having the right content, and content creation represents a huge market in itself. The face of the UK workforce is changing rapidly: there are now 2 million freelancers in the country, and growing. Becoming a freelance content creator is a very lucrative niche, and one which is also set to grow as more and more businesses invest in content marketing. Companies understand the value of content marketing to build their brand, expand their customer base and drive more sales. Furthermore, this is also an area that small businesses and startups often look to outsource to freelancers as they do not have these skills in-house.
- Monetise your blog
This is something that is best done if you already have a blog or at least a passion for blogging, which you can then convert into a money-making enterprise. Even if you don’t already have a blog it is not too late to start, though you will need to allow extra time to build up your audience if you don’t have one already. Once you have a steady following for your blog, you can use this to make money and even potentially turn your blog into a full-time income, or at least a profitable side hustle. There are many different ways to monetize a successful blog, from paid advertising to affiliate marketing and paid content.
- Business coaching
If you have skills and experience to share, you may be perfect as a coach. More and more budding entrepreneurs are looking for guidance, support and mentorship, and this has led to a large market for business coaches. Business coaches help to guide business leaders in a variety of ways, but one of the key things they bring to the table is an outside perspective. For many startup and other business leaders, they are so bogged down in internal workings that what they really need is objective advice. This is something you can do partly or wholly online. Generally, to become a coach you need a solid background, the right personal skills, and specific training. If this is an area you want to pursue, undertaking the training will likely be worth the investment.
