3 ways for digital transformation - a step by step guide

Here are 3 ways for digital transformation - how to move your business online and protect it during pandemic times with a bonus tip for improving online presence.

As we are publishing this article, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a pandemic state of emergency regarding the infamous Coronavirus. We wish that you stay safe and respect the regulations recommended by the WHO.

As you are well aware many governments were forced to impose strict regulations to protect the citizens of this world from the aggressive virus. This has inevitably affected the global economy in ways we barely begin to understand. Nevertheless, we believe that hard times are here to make us stronger and with the right attitude, we will rise again stronger and more resilient than ever.

At this moment businesses across various industries are affected to one degree or another. Although many voices claim that the software industry wasn’t touched by this pandemic virus, we wish to disagree. Although our business can be conducted 100% online, this may or may not be applied to our clients, to whom we dedicated our time and resources.

Our mission has always been to help others strive and we took this time to write a few ideas that we hope will help small and large businesses shift the focus toward online. So we decided to present you with a list of top things you should consider in order to get your business going also online.

Why move your business online

First, we should say that we are experiencing the first pandemic in the age of the world wide web. The internet offers the opportunity to connect with clients both locally and worldwide. This means one thing - endless possibilities to be creative and innovate in your area of interest, and of course, capitalize on it.

So why innovate your business and get it online? Well of course because as you are noticing right now, pandemic times or economical crises tend to put one out of business very quickly.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to give up the brick and mortar business, this just means that in case you haven't done it already you need to have both ways: offline and online. Each way will be a step close to clients and of course, when one doesn’t work (due to extreme measures) you can always rely on the other to help you stay in business and reach your customers.

How to move your business online

1. Own a state-of-the-art website

Well, this shouldn’t be news by now but building a website may be vital for your company, in times such as these, when your offline business is not working.

Creating your own personalized brand and website is not such a hard task and it will prove a worthy investment. It is important that you take the time, that you now have, to put your ideas and strategy in order and create that personalized image that you were looking for.

We did go through a rebranding phase for our website recently and we know how important it is to have clear objectives. You can find out how we envisioned and created our website by following this article - OceanoBe Website. 

2. Sale online with an e-commerce strategy

Selling online these days has become the number one strategy for many companies. Why?! Because it is safe for everybody and quite easy for the customer.

Brick and mortar stores usually argue that their business is better offline and can’t be shifted to an online presence. That may be true for some, but if you think about it long and hard there might be a way for you to build that online sales strategy after all. This is a time for innovation and technology has evolved in ways that can help you and your business faster than you can imagine and with relatively small investments.

If you are pondering the idea of moving your business online here are a few questions you can ask and research:

• Can I sell it with an e-commerce website?
• Apps are very easy to use for the customers, how can I build one?
• Where do I find strategic partners to help with: distribution, financial, marketing, and technical?
• How can I find support and capital, if needed?

These are all good questions that you know have time to contemplate and start analyzing the possibilities. OceanoBe has an excellent Equity program that might help you in this direction, be sure to check it out.

3. Create your own platform

Some ideas can be entirely disruptive to the industry. You can escalate your own technological platform and boost your online sales and presence with a custom-made platform or app. Innovation is at the heart of development and although planning takes more time and resources, you stand to gain more in the long term.

Custom developing and selling your story online can be the more strategic course of action for you, so be sure to think about it. Of course, if you never found time to act on a strategic business plan, know more than ever you have the time and hopefully the energy to start building for the future.

Also, bear in mind that custom software development can also help your business by digitalizing your workflows and help you better manage your inventories, finances, sales, and so on. Here are some suggestions for Java Development Companies. 

Bonus tip for improving your online presence

If you are already online with your business we recommend using this time to assess the situation and find new ways to improve your presence. One way you could achieve this is through feedback.

Asking your faithful clients for feedback is always a source of great innovative ideas. Your client knows who you are and what type of services you run, and more often than not he is willing to let you know what can be improved.

The thing is that your clients don’t have the time to always get to you or you didn’t have time to get in touch with them (or you don’t know how). As “luck” will have it, know more than ever there is plenty of time to spear and if you act on it you can reach your customers and benefit from their input.

Finally, we recommend approaching your customers for feedback in a practical way using a tool that will offer a great user experience for the customer and also help you in gathering all the data and analyzing it. FeedbackStreet is such a platform, and our trusted partner, be sure to check it out.

Marketing tip here: you can also use the platform if you have an idea and want to do quick market research to test it out.

A final word of consideration to you would be - don’t be afraid to take action. This is a time to lead and as Jeff Immelt, former CEO of GE, said “We will get through this. Don’t retreat, hide, or wait for a return to normal. This is a time to lead."