Determining market demand for an online business
It is so easy to set up an online business. On the other hand, it is very hard to succeed in an economy as shaky as ours. So, what can an aspiring business person do? First, according to Kevin Colleran, you have to fake it. People have a real difficult time trusting online businesses, therefore, you need to create a trustworthy company. Make sure that your payment pages are secure. Create a clean and clear privacy policy. Besides, you have to give the company a lot of online presence. 
Colleran writes,  An online faade of a company can be created overnight (long before the product or service is ever developed), allowing immediate feedback from the target consumer. You can quickly utilize ads on Google and Facebook and word-of-mouth to start recruiting potential consumers to give product feedback, place pre-orders, sign up for a mailing list, or be placed on a wait list to be notified when the product is launched
So, you are going to rely on the internet and real life friendships to market your business. Colleran explains, Between Twitter, Facebook and real life, you have a significant sampling of friends, family, acquaintances and followers who could all be potential customers willing to offer feedback. 
But, aside from feedback from friends, family, and followers, you are going to have to rely on research. Research often. Research carefully. Colleran writes, many potential entrepreneurs dont search for market data or surveys that may already exist on your desired topic/industry. A few quick searches could either justify (or kill) the market opportunity for your idea. Through searches you may also find other businesses in the same industry that could provide a strong indication of the market opportunity. Research will give you an opportunity to know what the market is like, what people want, what people like and dislike about your products. People will write about the products on their blogs, in their tweets, in their Instagram descriptions. You can trust that the reviews will be candid, and no one will be sucking up to you. The reviews will be honest because the raters will be reflecting on the product for their readers. 
The other thing to keep in mind is that your idea will change over time. You will start with something very complex, perhaps, and then simplify it. Or, the opposite can happen. You can want something very easy to make and then grow to make it more complex. It all depends on your personality and thought process. When you have that a ha idea, sometimes its hard to think beyond it. Yet many of the most successful companies in the world originally started with a very different product or focus. Remain flexible and open-minded enough to allow others (especially potential customers) to influence your product development even if it means radical change.
It is going to take you a while to set up your online business, but it is every bit worthwhile. 
