These days, one of the first decisions often facing a novice entrepreneur is whether to set up their business in accordance with a traditional brick-and-mortar model or to focus on e-commerce. While some businesses naturally fall into one area or the other, there are certain types of businesses where the choice may not be immediately clear. To help guide this decision, it can be useful to turn to the example of an established entrepreneur who’s made this choice himself. Towards that end, we’ve examined the career of Jesse Willms. The work of the well-known e-commerce entrepreneur provides some great points to consider when choosing which path you want to pursue.
Jesse Willms Leverages Existing Education
One thing to consider right away is the role that education can play in any business decision. If one’s existing body of knowledge is geared more towards in-person commerce instead of online commerce, or vice-versa, then this can be a deciding factor in your search. If there’s not a clear standout with your existing knowledge, it can still play a factor in your decision if it leans you in one direction or the other.
It should be noted that when we talk about education in this context, we’re not just referring to a degree you may have attained at business school. While this type of formal education can certainly be useful, there are plenty of additional sources of education that can be helpful in this area. These days, the internet abounds with online courses, many of which are self-guided, that touch on practically every area of business. Looking to these resources can provide a great head-start on making this type of business decision.
In the case of Jesse Willms, we can see that education played a pivotal role in his development as an entrepreneur. In his case, this came in the form of a voracious appetite for reading that manifested beginning in his teenage years. At that time, the future entrepreneur first became interested in business and began reading a variety of books on business leaders of the past. Though these examples didn’t explicitly inform him on how to choose a medium for his business, they did provide him with a grounding in how some of the field’s greatest minds worked their way through fundamental business decisions.
Considering Scope
One of the biggest differences between an in-person business and an online business can be the scope of operations. While online businesses have the ability to scale up faster and expand their scope to a larger section of a market, in-person businesses tend to be more contained and may often exist primarily in one locality. Knowing which of these paths makes the most sense for your business in this context can be useful towards making a decision about how you want to run the business.
To do this, it can be useful to consider the scope of what you’re offering through your business and to whom it might appeal. For instance, is your product something that people in a variety of locations might enjoy? Or is it something that really only appeals to your immediate locality and the surrounding area? Examples of the former might be a piece of software or marketing solution, whereas the latter might entail a climate-specific product or some kind of restaurant or other food offerings. Once you’ve honed in on the scope of your product, it can make it easier to understand where you might want to sell it.
Innovation Informs Career of Jesse Willms
Another important point of consideration when deciding between traditional commerce and e-commerce can be how innovative your product is. A traditional product may have an existing customer base in a given locality that’s already familiar with its use and is willing to pay for it. Since these customers already understand the product, you may be able to build up your customers in the area surrounding your location which would allow you to concentrate on traditional commercial operations.
However, if your product is new and innovative, it may be difficult to find enough customers in your area at first. Innovative products sometimes benefit from being offered to a broader swath of the population so that more early adopters can be informed of its existence. This has been the case with the newest offering from Jesse Willms, a network of free vehicle history report sites. Since these sites represent a novel step forward for the pre-owned vehicle industry, the service has benefited from being located online, where a wide array of individuals can access it. As a result, early adopters were able to test the concept and spread it to their acquaintances upon understanding its benefits.
Consider Your Preferred Method of Working
Lastly, it should be noted that the decision of whether to go traditional or online when starting a new business can also rest largely on an entrepreneur’s preferences for their work. Some individuals crave human interaction and may even be starting a business to contribute to their immediate community. In these cases, a more traditional model may make sense. For others, the work is more about building their operations and reaching as many people as possible. In that instance, an e-commerce model can be most practical.
It’s important not to discount these considerations when first building out your business. Much of this pursuit is about longevity, since a business is rarely ever an overnight success. To that end, choices you make from the start that can encourage you to stick with the business can overall have a hugely positive influence on your success. That is to say, while it’s important to consider a wide variety of factors when starting your business, there may be no substitute for following your heart and your instincts.
While the decision of whether to go the traditional or online route with a business is a relatively new development in society, it’s not a consideration that’s likely to go away anytime soon. Such a decision rests on a number of factors, including one’s existing background of education, the scope of a business idea, and a person’s general preferences. Looking to the work of Jesse Willms, we see these considerations illustrated in his own decisions about how to formulate his businesses. Consider his example, and the points listed above, when starting on your own entrepreneurial journey in order to give yourself a heightened chance at success and business longevity.
