Starting an online business in South Africa can be a daunting task.

Especially if you are not sure if your website will be able to attract customers.

In this post and subsequent posts on this blog  we will guide you on your quest.

We will attempt to help you identify as many pitfalls to avoid as possible (not all because there are too many different types of businesses that you can start online).

We will mainly focus on popular South African business types that we think may do well online.

In no way does this mean that if we are not covering your area of expertise, your business will be doomed to fail.

We will try to motivate you to start and to keep going when times get tough and be prepared because it is usually more likely to get tough before you start to see success.

A test of your faith and your grid. That is mainly why only a few online businesses succeed.

So without any further ado let get into it.

Starting with questions that we receive the most relating to this topic in our roles as Mentors at Start-Up Mentors.

If you have any further questions not covered here or you need any further elucidation please feel free to ask in the comments below and we will either respond or cover it in our future articles or YouTube videos.

• How to start an online cupcake business?
• How to start an online grocery delivery business?
• Online businesses to start with 1000 rand (is it possible)?
• Starting an online t-shirt business
• How to start an online business in India (replace India with any other country outside of Mzansi)?
• What you need to know about starting an online business.
• What you need to start an online business.

Getting a website set up.

Starting any online business will require some capital.

You can set up a free website using Wix, Weebly, Google Sites, and several other free web builders. These providers also offer paid hosting to remove their branding from your “free” site.

However you will still need to register a domain name i.e. “www.example.co.za” or “www.example.com”, among others and host it on a server (where your website will live and unfortunately have to pay rent (monthly or annually).

These costs are usually rolled into one amount with the domain name usually included as “free” when you pay for hosting.

Remember to check what is included before you subscribe. Remember you usually get what you pay for, so try not to be El Cheapo on this one.

How to start an online cupcake business?

Here you can replace cupcake business with the type of business that you want to start.

Once you have your website registered and hosted you can start baking or ordering your cupcakes. Remember to take good quality photos of your products.

Upload your products per category e.g. Apple Pie, Lemon, Butterbeer, etc.

Include your prices, including your markup, and remember to add Vat only if you are Vat registered with SARS.  You are only required to register if your income exceeds or is likely to R1 million over a consecutive 12 month period.

For advice and/or assistance in setting all of this up for you at a minimal cost, you are welcome to click here and a friendly Start-Up Mentors advisor will be ready to assist you.