Ali Hasan
Our story begins on 5th January 2021 when the traders’ body Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal (FAIVM) demanded imposing a special tax of 5% on the total business of e-commerce companies. Do you know why? It’s all because nowadays people are buying more from online e-commerce platforms rather than traditional shops. But I think that demanding a special tax of 5% is simple stupid. Just imagine any on these scenarios.
- What would have happened if Blockbuster had demanded a special tax on Netflix just because Netflix was doing better business than them?
- What would have happened if other car manufacturers had demanded a special tax on Tesla just because it has better tech than traditional cars?
- What would have happened if you’re taxed more just because you were ordering your food at your home instead of going out and dining in?
The reason why some of the Indian traders are demanding a special tax on e-commerce brands is because while these e-commerce brands successfully adopted the internet and reached millions of people by having a strong online presence, the Indian traders have failed to do so. And now when these brands have successfully captured an audience which prefers to shop online, it’s hurting the business of traders.
If I have to give my personal opinion, then I will ask one more question to you. Why do we have to penalize the better business who’s delivering more for lesser money just because it’s better than an inefficient and ineffective business? I will always support a business that’s innovative and disruptive as long as everything’s done legally and ethically (no monopolies).
But why the hell are we discussing this issue? Well it’s because we will be talking about the importance of having an online presence. In the early 2000s, the internet was still a new concept and people were a bit afraid to start using it. It was because the dotcom bubble had just burst and that caused people to stay away from the internet.
But then gradually a lot of brands realized that in order to reach more and more people that too by spending less money, the internet is the best tool at their disposal. Hence, more and more brands started to have an online presence by having a website which could show their business offerings and some information about them. Nowadays brands also have their mobile apps on both android as well as iOS.
Then we can fast forward to almost 15 years later when the Jio revolution came in 2016. The Jio revolution gave the power of internet in the hands of everyday consumers as now they were getting the amount of internet in a day what they used to get in a month. To some extent, the Jio revolution made India digitally savvy and gave the power to millions of people to surf the internet instantly.
If there was a good time to have an online presence, it was then but some people didn’t change the way they do business and continued with the traditional way. But after a few years something bad happened, something really bad for those who conducted business traditionally. The bad event was the Coronavirus pandemic that shut down the entire world in 2020.
A lockdown was imposed in almost every country and the people who were conducting their businesses traditionally now understood the importance of having an online presence. When everyone was in complete lockdown, the only businesses that were able to earn profits were those businesses that had a strong online presence. They not only had a strong online presence but also had a strong social media presence to further enhance their brand value.
Working from home became the new normal as people were locked in their houses and if they wanted to shop something, the only way was to use the internet. This is where having an online presence really helped millions of businesses while many traditional businesses were destroyed as they never thought about having a strong online presence.
When I was a kid, I used to go to a shop which was used to open for 15 hours per day. It still does even after 25 years in operation. The shop owner used to work extremely hard but he didn’t have any systems and processes in place to automate the business. He never thought of having an online presence. This meant that his business can’t run without him.
The problem – Even after running the business for more than 25 years, the shop owner still has to work for 15 hours a day just to put food on the table. I feel bad for him as his life is miserable and he’s stuck in a hamster wheel. Hence, if you have a business then it’s better to invest in having a good online presence than to invest in an offline presence.
7 Reasons for Online Presence
- It’s far Cheaper and more Affordable – To open a store in a bustling area of your city you need to pay high amount of rent along with other utility bills. On the other hand, to have a website you simply need a domain name and hosting services. If you know how to code, then you can develop a website on your own. If you don’t, then you can simply hire a developer or build a website through various other sites such as Wix or Squarespace.
2. It’s More Effective – You see even after opening a store in the most hot and happening area, you will only get customers from nearby areas. You won’t get customers from a nearby city that’s far away as it’s quite inconvenient for them to travel to your store just for something. But when you have an online presence, you can attract customers from all around the globe that too 24/7/365 whereas a physical location a bit difficult to be opened 24 hours with little to no profit for going the extra mile. This means that having an online presence is not only more affordable but also more effective as well.
3. Requires Less Manpower – Operating your online business also requires less manpower. Although if you have a huge business that’s generating millions in revenues and profits, then you would have to hire more employees but an internet business can be handled with less employees as an online business has systems and processes in place and the business can be automated easily.
4. Advertising is Easy – If you have to advertise, then running ads on Google or social media is far cheaper and effective. You can not only run ads for a very small amount but also can see the results and retarget people who might be a better fit for your offerings.
5. Cashless Payment – If a customer shops online, then there’s a high possibility that he/she will pay online. Since the internet is now equipped with payment gateways that are secured with 256 bit encryption system, they allow for smooth transfer of payments without any hassle or scam. This can drastically scale your business as people can have more transactions in less time. Since every transaction is recorded digitally, tax auditing becomes easier.
6. Content Creation – Where you can really excel and create a strong brand is by using social media to engage your audience with quality content. You can educate your target audience about not only your offerings but also about your industry. If you succeed in having a strong reputation, then you’ll make your competitors redundant and create a blue ocean where you’ll be enjoying massive profits.
7. It’s compulsory – If you don’t have an online presence, then you might be losing out on various aspects of running a business. Firstly, people won’t be able to find you as easily as they would have if you were online. Secondly, if a pandemic will happen again in the future which I think it will happen then you’re bound to fail again as you don’t have an online presence which is the essence of this blog.
Conclusions
It’s high time that you decide to become an entrepreneur who takes educated, informed and wise decisions. The pandemic destroyed many small offline businesses. Hence, don’t wait for the right time. Invest in having a strong online presence where you have at least a website as well as some presence on social media as well.
