How Little Emma Launched A Nationwide Lemonade Empire

Emma started her first business at the age of 5 when she was selling homemade lemonade at a folding table in her parents’ driveway – more or less successful. She’s gone through all the ups and downs that running your own business brings with it. At the very beginning she put too much lemon into the lemonade leading to lots of funny grimaces but also a high rate of refunds. Then she occasionally forgot to add sugar to it leading to the same result. Once in a while, her neighbour boy Biff – well, the name says everything – robbed her cashier and watered the flowers with the lemonade. That all changed one day to the better.

The Turning Point

She finally managed to create a lemonade whose taste was more or less the same all year round. Of course there were variations, but this is after all a natural product. To cut a long story short, people fought over her lemonade, which certainly had something to do with the newly added secret ingredients. Organic stuff, of course. And the problem with Biff? Well, he really didn’t want to mess with Bruno, her actually lovable German shepherd dog.

After making a detour via a small stall at markets, she finally opened a small restaurant with a tiny shop attached shortly after her 18th birthday, where you can buy more than just lemonade. Due to the success and the national inquiries she now had the idea to open an online shop along with an online takeaway ordering system for her restaurant. Oh, yes, the coronavirus has an enormous impact on many companies, doesn’t it?

How To Successfully Launch An Online Business

Below you will find the checklist she offered to us, which might be helpful for your upcoming project:

1. Business Idea:
   Sell lemonade and other homemade delicacies (I have absolutely nothing against some competition, but please find yourself a niche market. 🙂 )
2. E-commerce Platform:
   I really didn’t have to give it much thought. WooCommerce, no doubt here.
3. Hosting:
   Should be reliable, fast and scale with potential increasing demand: Managed WooCommerce hosting powered by Nexcess, a Liquid Web brand. Pricing starts from as low as $19 per month for the Starter plan. It includes a bunch of plugins and themes such as AffiliateWP, Astra Pro, PDF Invoices & Packaging Slips, and iThemes Security Pro. Really love the brand new Nexcess customer portal that now comes with a fresh, clean, and card-style look and feel.
4. WooCommerce Extensions:
   Identify must-have WooCommerce extensions such as WooCommerce Product Table, WooCommerce Delivery Slots, Stripe, Table Rate Shipping, WooCommerce Shipping, and WooCommerce Subscriptions for selling beverages as a subscription service.
5. SEO:
   Well, you could hire one of these SEO evangelists who will definitely contact you once your website is online. Or you could just save a lot of money by doing it yourself. SEOPress, Yoast or All in One SEO can help you achieve to stay ahead of your competition. Also you should set up a blog and post fresh, new, and interesting content on a regular basis.
6. Social Media:
   Keep your audience engaged with regular posts about your business, promotions, and everyday stories. A video of Bruno hunting down Biff will definitely help! 🙂 Check out Planable, Missinglettr, or Publer.
7. CRO:
   Use conversion rate optimization tools such as ConvertBox or OptinMonster’s mobile exit-intent.
8. Referral Marketing:
   Word of mouth propaganda is certainly the most effective marketing method, but a little help can’t hurt. Check out Viral Loops. They are also offering Online to Offline campaigns.
9. Reviews:
   Similar to the above, getting reviews is essential for your success and a great way to attract new customers to your (online) store. Take a look at Endorsal, a tool for collecting high-quality, automated customer testimonials.
10. DIY Or Freelancer:
    Do it yourself or find a developer to set up your online store.

What are you waiting for? Now is definitely the time to take your brick and mortar store and business online.

Disclaimer: Little Emma is, of course, fictitious. All similarities to real existing persons and business models are not intended and purely coincidental.