Here is a success story shared by a good friend of mine. She owns a struggling apparel shop in the town market, where human traffic abounds but buying capacity for trendy clothes is often very low. The business has been operating for 10 months when she decided to take a leap of faith and rent a tiny space in the local shopping mall. The lease is, of course, much higher but she hoped to find more customers there who could “afford”. Sales did increase, but sad to say profit was at an all time low due to the high cost of rent.

Fortunately, there was an internet shop in front of her’s that provided fast internet connection. She created a website for her shop from a selection of distinctive domain names. Her business was plugged online and started to be advertised on popular social networking sites. She was doing her own marketing using connections to friends and family, and to local groups within the area. Soon, more people started visiting her shop, which in turn brought in even more traffic. Shortly after, she started on other ventures using her existing shop and marketing strategy.

This story is one of the many I’ve heard over the past few years. Having your own business space may often times not be enough. Getting connected online and linked to other marketing websites may be the key to having a more successful business. It can also lead the way to other ventures once your existing business has been established.