Traditional business ideas can feel like the ideas of yesteryear, making them harder to engage with and use in the rapidly developing digital business world. Where do you even begin?
The good news is that most of these ideas have stood the test of time—they’re not as hard to engage with as you might think, and modern-day tools can take them to the next level.
In our guide, we’ve detailed everything you need to know about traditional business ideas so you can start the business of your dreams.
What Are Traditional Business Ideas?
Traditional business ideas are business ideas that involve a more classic, time-honored business setup. These ideas are reliable and are less likely to go wrong because they have worked for years before. An example here would be a brick-and-mortar store that serves local people by selling products and services physically. Other examples include restaurants, manufacturers, and retailers. These are in contrast to more trendy digital business ideas such as Netflix, Amazon, and Facebook.
The Basics of Traditional Business Ideas
Below we’ve listed the basics of traditional business ideas to help get you started.
Business Models
There are several types of traditional business models, including manufacturer, retailer, distributor, and franchise.
The manufacturer model is where a business uses raw materials to create new products sold to the market. A retailer is where a company purchases products from a wholesaler and then sells this inventory to the public—essentially brick-and-mortar stores.
The distributor model sees a company buy products directly from a manufacturer and then sell them to retailers or consumers themselves. Finally, the franchise model is where a company buys the franchise of a successful brand and promotes the services.
These models are important as they each provide a unique part of the process, so knowing which to go for is an immediate decision for new businesses to make. Traditional business models get improved by using modern technology to bolster them, as we’ll see later.
Distribution
Traditional business models, such as retailers and wholesalers, are involved in the physical distribution of goods from one point to another.
This fact is in stark contrast to more modern business ideas, for example, Netflix, Dropbox, and Spotify; these all fall under the term known as software as a service (SaaS). Nothing needs to be “moved” around in these modern business ideas, and all of them rely on transactions made through the internet alone.
The method of distribution is fundamental to how the business operates and sells its goods. However, that doesn’t automatically mean there’s no room for traditional business ideas. Instead, today’s conventional business ideas get improved in a hybrid approach that combines reliable ideas with technological progress.
Cost
Modern businesses tend to have fewer overhead costs as more traditional companies do. People involved with traditional business plans will typically decide on a good location to set up and then rent out the place to sell goods.
Digital businesses avoid much of this because they usually don’t need a physical site to sell their products—although this isn’t always the case.
Cost is a hugely important factor for businesses, and some great ideas never get realized due to the high kick-off expenses involved. Again, this is where contemporary solutions can improve traditional business ideas, as we’ll see in the next section.
Four Tricks for Making Traditional Business Ideas Work
Here are four tricks for traditional business ideas, enabling you to improve your game.
Understand the Problem Your Business Solves
You may be right at the start of your traditional business idea, but as all successful businesses know, your company needs to be about solving a problem. If you don’t solve a problem for customers, then you don’t have a business. So you need to have a solid understanding of the area you want to focus on and how your business can help.
For example, if you’re a restaurant, the problem might be that there’s no good Italian food in your neighborhood, that is until you show up and offer a solution.
It might surprise you to know that many businesses forget to think about this central problem in the level of detail required, and they fail as a result. Do your best to understand your customers and how your business improves their lives, and you’ll have a successful business in waiting.
Join Search Engine Land’s Email List
You might be a bit further down the line and already have a great business setup. The issue traditional businesses often face is learning how to market their business online. Regardless of what industry you’re in, you need a digital presence but may not have the skills or knowledge to get online.
Well, Search Engine Land is the answer here. It’s a site covering all the critical marketing angles, from digital marketing to new marketing technology and advertising models. By simply signing up for the email list, you’ll receive daily news comprising the latest marketing trends and feature announcements.
You can stay on top of the latest digital trends, learn new tips, and reinforce your business. It takes less than a minute to sign up, while the benefits of getting those tips and trends delivered straight to your inbox could last for years.
Join a Social Media Marketing Email List
We’re not done with email lists just yet. Other invaluable lists you can join include Social Media Today and Social Media Examiner. As you would expect, the pair of these cover the expansive world of social media—a world, like it or not, that you need to do well in to stay relevant.
Social media can grow your customers, provide you with reviews, and increase the all-important awareness around your company. You might be busy most of the day working in your restaurant or shop, but by signing up for an email list, the latest trends and tips come straight to you, ready for when you finish. Even better, you can share what you’ve learned with your team, and the effect multiplies.
The most successful traditional businesses realize that embracing the sometimes-scary online world isn’t optional, so get started while you can.
Invest in Digital Advertising
Did you know online advertising can significantly boost your traditional business’s online presence? Consumers are spending more and more time online, so reaching them there is essential. It doesn’t take long to get up and running with digital advertising, and how much you want to spend is mainly up to you.
Digital advertising comes in many forms, including pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns with Google Ads and media advertising on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. For example, on Facebook, you can market and boost your company page and blog posts, driving more customers to your traditional business.
With the immense growth in mobile traffic, mobile ads are vital in getting your fledgling business noticed and customers engaged with the brand.
Mobile ads come in various forms, with distinct formats like video ads that drive new customers to your door. A typical mobile video ad only runs for around 15 or 30 seconds when a user taps to play it, and they don’t have to break the bank. It’s also important to ensure your site is mobile-optimized, but’s that a matter for another day.
What To Do Next
There are plenty of topics to dive into from here and an almost endless number of things to learn, especially if you’re just getting started. In fact, you should always ensure you’re learning something new each month because as you learn, your business will grow in response—the most successful business leaders in the world still learn new things every week.
If you haven’t got a website up and running for your business, now would be the time to do so. Our comprehensive guide on creating a website covers everything you need to know, including picking the perfect domain and creating compelling content. It’s not something any business can afford to skip today, so the sooner you know what you’re doing, the better.
You may be further back from that and still need to come up with a viable business plan. If so, we have a second guide that focuses on how to write a business plan for your start-up. The guide covers market research, sales strategy, executive summaries, budgets, company descriptions, and more. Writing your business plan gives you a much better understanding of your business, increases your chances of success, and you’ll see higher growth rates too.
Traditional business ideas thrive when you combine them with modern tools and software, so as long as you remember that, stay focused, and continue learning, the sky’s the limit.