Do you have a brilliant idea for an online business? Online businesses – sometimes known as e-commerce sites ‒ can seem like a great way to change or boost your style of working as they can provide a source of income, often from home and in an industry of your choice, with very few overheads or setup costs. However, there are some key points of advice that budding entrepreneurs should follow before taking the plunge.

First of all, you should just start, without worrying too much about getting everything perfect. Some businesses triumph from precarious beginnings, such as Jennifer Varner’s US-based maternity wear company, which was started using $7,000 funded on a credit card. Some may have called this kind of borrowing reckless, but it allowed Varner to simply begin, enabling her to launch her company, which is now highly successful.

Australian pet supplies delivery company Barking Orders is another example: co-founders Ryan and Jarryd Boyd coined the term “fail fast” to describe how they launched their concept, testing the waters quickly and seeing what worked, without getting caught up in too-detailed plans or beautiful websites. As Ryan Boyd said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald: “If you are waiting for everything to be perfect before you start your business, you will be waiting forever.”

It’s also about hard work and self-education. Varner herself admits that at first she ordered too much stock and didn’t make enough use of the online tools out there, which could have helped with the earlier stumbling blocks.

“Failing fast” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare at all. The internet has many easily accessible tools available to anyone seeking advice on the best way to run a new business. One such example is the YouTube channel from Matomy Media Group, which contains a host of videos designed to offer advice to those based online. Topics covered include tips on how to maximize your social media advertising, develop apps, send impactful email communications, and buy effectively.

Developing strategies to increase sales via the web is a way to engage customers in an arena they already know well; operating your business online means that your customers are by definition pretty savvy when it comes to the internet.

Keeping an open mind is also important: online sites can connect customers with buyers who may otherwise never have met, such as the charity Made by Survivors, which sells artisan jewelry created by women who have survived serious human rights abuses such as people trafficking. The internet can help “do good” across continents, as well as make money.

The worldwide nature of the internet, its instantaneous communication, its ability to connect people, and its accessibility to nearly all make it a very attractive place to start a business.

Courage, hard work, and good online strategies, and the use of great tools to help you improve them, can be the key to securing sales and repeat business, and they can often be set up for little to no money for brilliant returns.