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Saturday, May 23, 2020

Is this a high time to start an online business?

HMS Khalid 5/23/2020 03:05:00 AM 0 ,

The need for online presence in any sort of business is acknowledged in the current crisis. Especially small businesses are encouraged to develop their online infrastructure for better survival. Companies like Facebook come to support the business community in these crises. Mark Zuckerberg revealed Facebook shops, a wonderful idea to support small business owners.


Every business owner needs to understand a few important points at the initial stage. Let us brief you on the logic behind the online business. We will also discuss the pros and cons of online business in this article so be with us for a few minutes. This will help you to establish your long term successful online business presence.

Difference between Freelancing and Online Business


Many people don't understand the difference between online business and freelancing. Both are entirely different things. Freelancing is a kind of self-employment. You work with clients directly by using third party platforms. You are bound to follow the certain TOCs that agreed among all stakeholders. i.e Payment method, delivery schedules. You have to communicate with clients through a third party system as well. Any breach of contract can cause permanent cancellation of your account. You can even lose your hard-earned money as well.

 There are many such platforms where thousands of freelancers are working already. They earn a good amount of money by selling their service against different requirements.

Some of the famous freelance platforms are:
Some frauds/scams have been faced by the clients or sellers while working on these platforms. Freelancing is not a life long opportunity to earn money online. It can be considered part-time or second source of income stream but to fully rely on it would be very risky. Moreover, the freelance market is becoming saturated day by day. Many companies have already started outsourcing digital services in the freelance market. An influx of freelancers has created a very tough competition among them. They are not only facing extra hustle to get the orders but also facing tough price competition as well.

Why is the online business presence important?



This is a widely discussed topic on the internet already. People are encouraged to buy different products online by many sellers. From necessities to luxuries, online buying is helpful to maintain social distancing. Consumer buying trends are shifting towards online purchases. Companies availed the greatest benefits out of this crisis with an online presence. Many have missed this opportunity those were lacking behind. Another important factor is the product type. Certain products were not in demand in the days of the crisis. Those products couldn't make any difference in sales for their companies. It helped them to take prompt actions to enhance their product categories. Their proactive approaches supported them to grasp future business opportunities. They launched the need-based products out of their available resources and capabilities. Strategy to sell the right products at the right time helped them to increase their sales.

How to start an online business

Step 1

Understand the needs and demands of your products

For example, you have your pharmacy, general store, or selling bakery items. You might not be losing your sales revenue even in the crisis time due to your product category. You are selling high in-demand items for which supply will remain consistent. You might be losing a good amount of sales for not having an online presence. Your competitors may be earning more with their online selling platforms. Customers always want convenience and fast response with better quality products. You would be able to earn more by meeting customer's needs in all sorts of situations.

An online presence can help you to target the right customers even if you are selling luxury or beauty items. You will keep your brand image alive as well as remain in touch with your loyal customers.

Evaluate your market and it's potential

You can not sell your product even online if you are not targeting the right customers. For example, you are selling frozen food items and try to sell them at different locations in your city. Your competitors have already established their presence there. You first need to evaluate the type of products being sold in that market and with what price and level of quality. Of course you need to enhance your level at less price if you want to beat them. Brand loyalties of the people would be challenging for yourself.

My advice is to start with an online presence first. Investment in the traditional market should be the second priority. Target the right audience through Facebook ads. If you don't see the desire results then your presence in that market would be difficult. If you can generate a good amount of revenue then move forward to scale up your business.

Understand the customer psyche

In the online business world, the customer always expects...
  • Quick response
  • Better quality products
  • Fastest delivery
  • Easy payment options
You would be successful in a shorter time if you keep following the above parameters. Always remember, one bad customer review can cost you losing many loyal customers.

Buying power for your products categories

Always keep an eye on the buying power of your targeted customers. Try to keep the same or less price from what your competitors are using in your targeted market. If you are a pioneer in your product category then focus on developing your customers first. Remember sooner or later anyone can jump into the same category as soon as they find it higher in selling online. Moreover, respect the income of your target audience. Their loyalty to your brand would depend on their affordability.

Step 2

Investment cost analysis and understand the best suitable online platform for your business

For your online business, you always have to rely on a third party. For example, you might have to start with Facebook pages or accounts on Instagram. You can sell food-related products on Foodpanda. If you are a graphic designer or photographer then you can sell your work on Shutterstock or Istock. You can develop your e-commerce website. You need to buy templates, hosting services, and plugins. You can also make a blog on BlogSpot/WordPress etc to promote your products and services online. If you can start a business with Amazon or dropshipping through Shopify. Every platform has a certain initial investment cost. It depends on your budget and business needs. In any case, you are dependent on third parties which can cancel your account at any stage of the process.

Whatever you decide, do proper research first. Also get expert advice before finalizing anything.

Step 3

Split the business into sections, traditional and online

Total dependency on the online platform is not good due to any of the below-mentioned problems.
  • Internet connectivity issue
  • Website or pages technical issue
  • Hacking
  • Laptop/machines out of order situation
  • Issues at third party service provider or courier/supply chain companies
  • Account cancellation by your third-party service provider. 
To keep your business dealing and sales smoothly. Keep both sections of your business alive. It will always give you better results even in tough situations.

Step 4

Scale-up the business gradually and add up products of different types

In online business, you will see the opportunity to target a larger audience at once. But you should not be greedy in the beginning. You should always start with a specific and limited part of your targeted audience. Do some trials again and again with different demographics, interests, and behaviors. These trials will help you to analyze your true audience in a shorter time. You can start scaling up your business after proper research and analysis.

The same method should apply to add new products. Always launch new products with proper RND before adding them to your existing range. Keep an eye on trending products in your niche market before launching it.

Step 5

Always think for long term business

The traditional business method can be enough for you to earn a good amount of money but If your competitors are selling the same products online then you will be losing the share of your sales.

We always suggest keeping the portions of your business in both splits. Online businesses mainly rely upon...
  • Supply chain methods
  • Reliability
  • Product appearance from image to physical
  • Reviews and ratings
  • Customers support, returns and claims policies, etc. 
You must not be lacking in any of the above-mentioned criteria. Otherwise you may end up losing your online business share. Your competitors would easily take advantage of this situation. You should also have good knowledge of online business strategies, tools, and procedures. You can outsource the products or services. Having basic knowledge can help you to better negotiate with developers, designers, or digital service providers. You can save your money by learning the required skills on your own.

You can hire the best virtual assistant or graphic designer through Fiverr.

Best Fiverr Gigs To Order For Web Development, SEO And Internet Marketing

You can also learn skills through Udemy online courses.

Business Category (English) 640x480

We wish you the best of luck for your online business ventures!

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Why Should we watch Turkish Drama Dirilis Ertugrul ?

HMS Khalid 5/17/2020 03:30:00 AM 0 , ,

Turkish season Ertugrul has become a sensation in Pakistan especially when it went on air by national television network, a country largely accessible channel. It was also a highly recommended drama by the country's Prime Minister Imran Khan. It did not only help PTV in gaining thousands of subscribers and millions of views on Youtube within two weeks but also the current government efforts are being admired by many for showing the true events of Muslim history at a national level. It is helping the state-owned television in a monitory term as well. Although the credit must be given to the Turkish government and their national television network TRT world for making this masterpiece but showing this Turkish Drama Ertugrul in Urdu in Pakistan is a blessing in disguise for this nation.


I have been watching it from the last five to six months and kept me consistent before I finished it up. There are many lessons I learned through this drama but before I write anything further, I want to bring something interesting, unique, and surprisingly shocking remarks about this drama as soon as it went on air.

There are different types of people in our society who are absorbing it differently. The most disturbing factor is that criticism coming from those who did not watch even a single episode of this drama but there are many as well who are discussing it upfront with their followers positively and constructively. In the end, it depends on your mental capability and perception of different things or creations.

Qasim Ali Shah is a famous motivational speaker, he recently explained in one of his videos about the reason why did he start watching this drama. He seemed positive throughout his video even after a few glimpses of it and people like QAS don’t convince with anything like this so easily.



Ashraf Chaudhary is a Pakistans number one sales trainer, He has a great fan following on his Facebook page as well. His efforts in training and motivating people in freelance markets are commendable. He has not only started watching it recently but explaining sales and marketing tactics by using the characters and storyline of this drama which will help his audience in understanding the real essence of sales, marketing, and business-related fields.

#LessonsFromErtugrul

Law #15

(The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene)

"Crush Your Enemy Totally."

I have watched...
Posted by Ashraf Chaudhry on Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Jibran Nasir is a famous social activist, I recently came across one of his statements about this drama where he showed his concerns that it will invoke the identity crisis in Pakistan. Infact he was trying to keep authorities stick to our own culture rather showing others on our national television. Some people replied to him beautifully in tweets.


Shan Shahid is a famous film star of Pakistan, He showed his concerns as well on his twitter account.


Pakistanis are very innocent, as soon as they start watching it, they start feeling the characters and assuming that all will be living with the same school of thought in their real life. That’s why when they jumped into their social media accounts and could not find any such thing, they start spitting poison in comments section. For all of them, our famous Junaid Akram came up with this amazing response.



Lastly, a good positive sign is that a piece of news is circulating that a famous Pakistani writer Khalilul Rehman Qamer is planning to write something similar to Ertugrul which people are anxiously waiting for now.

10 Lessons I learned from Turkish Drama Dirilis Ertugrul



  • True family values and culture have been depicted in this drama, whether Turkish or Pakistani, being a Muslim nation, All our Islamic traditions are the same. Like we should eat together with family, how to behave with elders, How to treat kids and slaves, How to deal with Non-Muslims etc.
  • All our basic obligations have been practically demonstrated in this drama like sometimes we see them offering daily routine prayers practically as well as funeral prayers, Simple wedding ceremonies with complete Nikah procedure. All these things are important to learn for our young generations.
  • On many occasions, Muslim scholars guide the people in the light of Quranic verses and Ahadith to boost their religious moral and faith in Allah. That helps them to conquer any battlefield with a strong belief in Islamic teachings.
  • Many stories of Islamic worriers have been narrated especially to kids in this drama by elders that were the good part to educate children as well as to grasp their attention through this drama.
  • Excellently portrait Islamic values while doing any sort of business especially with non-Muslims where providing them equal rights was the responsibility of Muslim nation.
  • Women have been shown brave and fully supportive to their brave men and their rules in dealing with businesses and other day to day family matters have been presented solidly.
  • Muslims' histories are full of traitors, highlighting this part in this drama is important for people so that they can keep their eyes open in their surroundings and proactively act before any storm which can thrash them out.
  • Muslim Scholars, Educationist, Qazis (Judges), and Physicians, etc have been shown great respect by the Muslim state, infact their security has put on top priority whenever they felt any danger or treacheries within state or from enemies.
  • They always used to discuss all the important matters in council meetings, established mutual agreements with unity or in some cases, leader's vision and planning had been shown respectfully acknowledged. 
  • No one was superior before the law, especially when it comes to business trade, all the merchants were bound to abide by the rules defined by the state with strict criteria of meeting product qualities and maintain ethics among people of different communities and religions.
Lastly, those who are not interested to watch this drama due to personal reasons or considering it fictitious or over manipulation of a truly historic event, They should stick to their thoughts, No one is forcing them to watch it but at least they should accept the fact that such serials are far better than those rubbish dramas or films which have nothing to do with our true religion and family values. 

Now if you have decided to watch this drama then have a look at this amazing Turkish Kebab recipe and enjoy your food while watching Dirilis Ertugrul :)


Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Changing buying patterns on Amazon during quarantine

HMS Khalid 5/05/2020 04:35:00 AM 0 , ,

Like all other occasions or happening across the year, the retailers want to know what the bulk of consumers intend to buy intensely, in this quarantine period, as well. 


The consumer needs in this unpredictably ending lockdown is quite an unusual trend to the world yet perfectly suited to the situation. 

 Customers intend to buy more of indoor clothing along with other products that may help them to crush the boredom or maintain their well-being inside their homes.

As it is evident from the top selling products on amazon, consumers no longer have interests spending cash on products not used indoor. However, this buying trend may shift abruptly to the opposite categories once there are announcements of the lockdown ending. Endurance related floods topped in ahead, until mid-March, yet declined strongly before the finish of the period broke down, while the more "needs" based ventures, for things like bread machines and open-air furniture, were on the ascent at that point.

Concluding from an overall survey, the consumer buying behaviors on amazon are fluctuating depending on these two:

1. Protection from COVID-19

Optimistically, the coronavirus awareness campaigns have had a positive effect. People have understood the importance of hygiene and isolating. Therefore, the fastest growing categories on amazon include products maintain the social distancing and aiding to hygiene.
Disinfectants

People have been ordering disinfectants belonging to registered pesticide companies from amazon. In order to choose the right ones, consumers consider the products with a proper registered EPA number. Keeping in mind that reading the label directions are important for the perfect use. Other products in demand include hygiene care items like Lysol Spray and Clorox Wipes. These two mentioned products specifically had also faced shortage at the start of quarantine due to their high demand in the market. Apart from this, hand sanitizers are also sold rapidly.

House-Cleaning Kits

A couple of house cleaning products are also the need of the hour. Amazon has also seen buying patterns intensively increasing from products like cleaning buckets to disposable nitrile cleaning gloves. Other in demand products include:

Canned food Items

In the lockdown period the buying behaviors at amazon have revealed that perhaps the most straightforward approaches to start a nourishment plan is to purchase a couple of extra canned products at each outing to the supermarket. This technique, got back to stocking, can assist you with building an underlying nourishment stockpiling supply. Afterward, when you include more mass merchandise, these can in any case serve to increase the value of your endurance unit. A number of canned tomatoes, corns, baked beans and food survival kits are in trend and intensively craved by consumers.

2. Making Quarantine Productive

People also tend to make there isolation periods quite productive. Consumer buying trends have also unleashed their urge to polish their abilities to come out of this quarantine as a better person that pursues extraordinary fitness or skill goals. From being interested in the best bread maker machine to the best weight training equipment for home, making the most out of this quarantine break is what the consumers tend to do. Here are few trends summarized to understand the buying behaviors better:

Fitness

In light of the shutdown, and to catch customers stuck at home, the boutique wellness development, particularly bunch wellness, presently lives on the web. People have been focusing on fitness and wellness of their bodies and as a result, huge amounts of weight training equipment, exercise machines and other fitness kits are sold on amazon since the last month. Weight bands and similar items are sold on amazon now with the intensity in which outdoor clothing was bought before the lockdown.

Online work/study

This crisis has driven numerous to remain at home, which spells a strong open door for development in online instruction. Understudies can continue learning with different video addresses, online classes, activities, understanding materials and furthermore decide on online tests. Office going people also have to work online now. Therefore, best computer monitors for home office and computer chairs and screens are in demand on amazon.


How to Teach Online and Start earning from your Home

Indoor Games

Every other consumer these days stuck in quarantine looks for prepackaged games, computer games, trampolines and warmup pants. Games are unmistakable from work, which is generally completed for compensation, and from craftsmanship, which is all the more frequently a statement of tasteful or ideological components. 

In any case, the differentiation isn't obvious, and numerous games are additionally viewed as work, (for example, proficient players of observer sports or games) or workmanship, (for example, jigsaw riddles or games including an aesthetic format, for example, Mahjong, solitaire, or some computer games). Games are hence one of the most convenient ways to kill time during this pandemic. A report took a gander at Amazon successes during this period and found certain items soared to the highest point of the blockbuster records in their classifications. The Jenga game rose to be as high as No. 1 in its class. The business positioning of the KBS STainless Steel Bread Machine rose as well.

Cooking Freak

Under typical conditions, the standard would be first in, first out in case of food items. In any case, right now, you need to ensure you'll have a pleasant assortment of nourishments for the following month or more, it's an ideal opportunity to cook somewhat more deliberately. Cooler things are the most probable ones to have real lapse dates, rather than best-by dates, so shop from your ice chest first. Huge numbers of those should be eaten inside a week or something like that. Therefore, people willing to make the yummiest things out of frozen items are also enhancing their cooking skills. As a result, the consumers are buying more of cooking utensils on amazon.


Home decor

Handling home improvement ventures during the coronavirus isolate presents a specific test. While you may have a wealth of time at home to finish them, you probably won't have the entirety of the essential supplies and apparatuses close by. What's more, you'll unquestionably need to abstain from anything too risky that could bring about an excursion to the medical clinic. Cultivating gives remedial advantages, remembering decreases for both nervousness and misery. Studies likewise show that investing energy in nature and doing gardening has tremendous emotional well-being benefits. With an uptick in emotional well-being protests amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, presently may be the ideal time to snatch a spade. People seem to be following these facts and spend time in gardening and decorating their homes along with keeping them clean. Evidently, the latest buying trends on amazon have also have seen items like gardening tools and painting kits.
These trends in consumer buying behaviors are not going to change any soon. The selling out of these in trend products may intensify in the upcoming weeks as well. Another fact is that, with the increase in demand of these products, these products may also become short if the quarantine lasts longer. The reason is that, industries making these products have been shut and the stored stock may not last that long. However, the retailers will surely find solution to this.

Conclusively, this might be a period of crisis, but if you dig into an optimistic approach towards it, it will surely help you stay physically and mentally healthy. Moreover, cherishing what you like can help you enjoy the boring isolation period.

 If you are a person not able to relate this with your buying behaviors this quarantine, adapting to this, like the rest of the world, will help you become a better person. Hence, stepping out of quarantine, you will feel much lively unlike ever before.

Authored By Nabeeha Zahid
"Nabeeha Zahid is a curious one by nature, and her determinations to fulfill that said curiosity has turned her into a sophisticated writer and an excellent researcher. Her interests usually revolve around how the human brain thinks, perceives, interprets and understands, ergo, she likes digging around and writing on how the twisted human psychology works. You can contact her at znabeeha08@gmail.com"

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Strategies That International Clothing Brands will consider After Global Pandemic

HMS Khalid 4/11/2020 04:25:00 AM 0 , ,

The coronavirus outbreak has lead the world to confront a serious critical situation that can’t be ignored nor can it be taken easy. The lockdowns and social distancing pessimistically effecting all other industries around the world hasn’t spared the apparel industry as well. From average costume shops to the most celebrated apparel brands, the sales rate is falling and the post crisis realities and how do retailers maintain cash flow from operating activities are yet to be sorted.

Global Pandemic and Apparel Industry






Impacts on the Fashion Industry

Analyzing the current situation of earnings that the International Clothing Brands have after the business closed down nearly 80 percent of all enrolled brands will suffer really low EBITDA ratios. To overcome this crisis, a serious calculated action should be taken to avoid the worsening of the consumer buying behavior. The offline shopping platforms obviously faced a rapid decline during the start of the quarantine break in the sales and the sales rate has now, with the passage of time reached the percentage zero. To cope with this, some of the retailers are seen adopting temporary furloughs instead of layoffs and salary cut off of employees. 

This measure of saving money is however not that effective and legally safe. Another impact is that the retailers also need to cope with the fact that the people seeking unemployment advantages will also increase rapidly. The rate of e-commerce sale is also declining as the masses seem to save money during this pandemic and not to buy clothing which they wont get to use in quarantine. As a result to this, the online traffic on these sites is increasing but sales rate has been abandoning continuously and is said to drop more in the upcoming weeks of the pandemic. If the retailers think of opting the 50% off sales or some other eye-catching offers as an attempt to increase the sales, it will eventually become mainstream, lost and even after some time hard to afford for them. The amazon U.S deals  selling rate has given an outcome that the clothing worn inside the house like pajamas sales rate has gradually increased as compared to other apparel items but in the long run, these garments are not sustainable fashion and can not be saving retailers from the crisis completely.

Business Continuity Plan

There are a couple of measures the apparel companies should adopt by now, in order to survive this pandemic and maintain business opportunities. The first thing is retailers need to be supportive and concerned about the health and well-being of their employees. The hygiene should be properly maintained, in all sorts of stores. The measures briefed by the government should not be avoided. Moreover, chiefs of companies should alter purchase amounts for the fall and special seasons, representing first half persist and any normal classification shifts. Also, accelerate investments to enhance their digital presence and shift media spending to the online channel. 

For certain organizations, that may mean imparting to customers why it is still sheltered to shop on the web and how the organization is guaranteeing that distribution center laborers remain sound. 

For other people, it might mean starting real to life discussions about how something as apparently silly as another pair of shoes or another container of lipstick can get solace and satisfaction a period of disorder. The point to be noted here is that this is going to be the case with best selling products on amazon even.




Short-term actions until quarantine lasts

The most highlighted problem in this time of crisis is that the unsold inventory is increasing. 

Here are some ways to reduce inventory that will help building customer loyalty in this time. 
  • Make attentive, store-by-store choices as you revive the store arrange, not exclusively to shield the well being and trust of workers and purchasers, yet additionally on the grounds that most ventures will be operationally compelled. 
  • Look to your most steadfast purchasers first to kick off development and avoid going out of business. It's normal for 10 percent of a brand's buyer base to drive 60 percent of its business, making actuating these VIPs an absolute necessity do. 
  • Emergencies can make new roads for development. Organizations will have entered the emergency from different places of solidarity, so go-ahead circumstances will be, somewhat, limited by beginning positions. The crisis situation is ready to accelerate a gigantic shakeout, and the retailers that ask and answer the extreme inquiries will be better situated to resuscitate their business. 
  • Accept this open door to jump into the computerized field by making it the focal point of your working model. Start by overhauling channel-blend targets and speculation assignment to give a more noteworthy offer to online channels. 
  • Quicken personalization in computerized showcasing with the goal that you can convey a similar nature of connections online that customers are acquainted with in stores. 
  • Investigate better approaches for joining forces with e-retailers to pick up development energy through their channels while ensuring your image value.

Actions to survive post-virus crisis

 The corporate and business level strategies will include making attentive, store-by-store choices as you revive the store, organize, not exclusively to shield the well being and trust of workers and purchasers, yet additionally on the grounds that most endeavors will be operationally compelled. You may conclude that specific stores ought to revive in a totally different limit. For instance, serving a more worth situated customer section and assisting with clearing overabundance item or shouldn't revive by any stretch of the imagination. 


Brands should screen deals information and trade bits of knowledge with their merchants and providers, at that point survey their marketing plans for the fall and occasion 2020 and spring 2021 seasons. Another import strategy is that most companies/brands should open their stores slowly from one region to another and monitoring the staff again, rehire in case you feel it is necessary.


These strategic actions will surely help you enhance your sales alongside maintaining your health and safety management system. This is all to keep your business going during this outbreak and making sure that you don’t go through huge pre and post-crisis effects.

 Top Online Courses - Learn and Start Your Online Business Today
Authored By Nabeeha Zahid
"Nabeeha Zahid is a curious one by nature, and her determinations to fulfill that said curiosity has turned her into a sophisticated writer and an excellent researcher. Her interests usually revolve around how the human brain thinks, perceives, interprets and understands, ergo, she likes digging around and writing on how the twisted human psychology works. You can contact her at znabeeha08@gmail.com"
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