5 Reasons Why a Digital Product Business is the Smartest Business to Start Going into 2021
Let’s start with the basics: what is a digital product? Truthfully, you probably use them all the time, but you might not be aware that it’s a digital product you’re using. If you’ve ever purchased an e-book or an online course or downloaded a stock photo, you’ve used a digital product. Digital products also include things like templates, Wordpress themes, patterns, digital planners and printables.
So, now that you know what a digital product is, let’s talk about why you would want to sell them. First of all, digital products are big business. More and more people are consuming digital products through platforms like Etsy. Digital products give you passive income, which means, once you create a digital product, it’s always available and there’s no such thing as running out of stock. That means you can sell infinite numbers of a digital product and the more products you create, the more you can sell.
Having something like an Etsy shop to sell your digital products is a great way to earn income, especially if you’re someone who dreams of living the laptop lifestyle/digital nomad lifestyle where you’re not tied to a desk job or a physical location. Selling digital products allows you to travel and work online, something so many people is actually doing these days.
There are lots of reasons to start a digital product business.
Here are my top reasons why launching a digital product business in 2021 is the smartest move you can make:
Reason #1 No inventory issues
Once you create a product you can sell it over and over again. There’s no such thing as “running out” of a digital product. Once you invest the time and energy into creating your product and putting it into a shareable format, that’s it. There is no limit on how many you can sell. I design digital planners. I can sell 10 or a million of them. There are no limits like with paper planners.
Also, digital products sell any time of the day or night. People are shopping 24/7 and they can buy your product from your website or Etsy shop while you sleep. Think about that! Going to bed at night and waking up with sales! How’s that to put a smile on your face?
Reason #2 No physical address
In today’s global world, selling online is truly a benefit. Your customer base isn’t limited to who happens to walk by your brick and mortar store or receive your newsletter. With digital products, you can live in Los Angeles and sell just as easily to someone in Hong Kong, Sao Paulo or London. Of course, with an online business, you can also sell to people living in a jungle hut in the middle of the rainforest or in a cabin in the North Pole, as long as they have a wifi connection, they’re your potential customers.
You’re also free to travel yourself and aren’t tied to having a physical store in order to make your sales. Having a digital product business means that you’re free from costly overheads like rent, insurance, employees and storage. These expenses often prevent designers from opening a business because the financial commitment is too overwhelming. With a digital product, you don’t have any of those costs.
Reason #3 Instant gratification
We also live in a world of instant gratification. Think about it, retailers like Amazon are so successful because their delivery guys are knocking on your door practically before you’ve even pressed the Buy button. That’s because people want instant gratification. With digital products, they get it. All they have to do is click Buy and download the product and they can already use and enjoy their purchase. People often buy digital products because they have a need that needs to be filled right away. Maybe they need stock photos for their blog or they need a printable for an event or they’re starting a website and need a WordPress theme or they need to learn a specific technical skill and you happen to have an online course on it. When you have a digital product business, you’re able to meet those urgent needs and satisfy your customers.
Not to mention that with an online business, you can sell to customers from all over the world and not have to ship them a product. Gone are the days of standing in line at the post office and figuring out shipping costs to faraway places or dealing with customer complaints about undelivered or damaged goods. You also no longer have to deal with customer returns- you know, those customers who use a product and then want to return it and get their money back. Those things are draining on time, energy, and money. Digital products go right to your customer where they are, and you hardly even have to be involved in the process. No muss, no fuss.
Reason #4 Low cost
Maybe the best thing about starting a digital product business is that literally, anybody can do it. As mentioned before, you don’t have the overhead of opening a brick-and-mortar store. You also don’t have the cost of materials. With my digital planner business, I can pay attention to making beautiful planners that I can sell for an economical price because I have no overhead or material costs. If I had to pay rent on a store and make physical planners, my costs would be much higher.
The minimum you will need is an iPad or a computer, the will to start an online business, and ideas. You can spend much more time being creative because you don’t have to limit yourself because of money. The sky is the limit with a digital product business. They are low cost and give you passive income. That’s what I call a win-win.
Final thoughts!
It’s hard to list all the benefits of starting a digital product business. Besides avoiding costly overheads like rent and storage, you can work from anywhere and fulfill your dream of living the laptop lifestyle or digital nomad lifestyle. Also, you can give your customers instant gratification with digital products they can download and use as soon as they make their purchase. Also, there really is no good reason not to start a digital product business, especially since all you need is a computer and a few ideas.
👉 Want to start a digital product business, but not sure how to get started?
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