Online Business is Dying

Granted, it’s a bad joke. But it’s also true – there’s a cyber funeral service called
Basic Funerals. The business was started by a serial entrepreneur and a licensed funeral director.

They started selling funerals online in January of 2009. They grew more than 500% in 2010, mostly by word of mouth. Currently, they operate in Ontario, Canada and two states in the U.S. But they have ambitious expansion plans.

What can we learn from these two? Here are five of our takeaways:

Listen to this post. Click the player to hear George & Mary-Lynn on The BIGG Success Show Podcast.

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Join forces

An outsider and an insider came together to make this online business a reality. The business is regulated so an insider was required. But even if that wasn’t the case, there are advantages to pairing up with an insider.

Similarly, sometimes it helps to have an outsider’s perspective. They may see things that an insider wouldn’t. Like “Hey, we could sell this online!”

Differentiate

The funeral home business has traditionally required a high overhead, physical facility. Basic Funerals doesn’t have that. We’ll explain why in just a second.

In addition, marketing online is very cost effective. The combination means Basic Funerals can sell its services at half the price traditional funeral homes would require.

Collaborate with the current players

Don’t cry for the locals. Basic Funerals sublets space from them. It’s a great business model. In fact, smart locals may see this as an opportunity to do more collaboration themselves.

People want options

Basic Funerals added the online dimension to booking a funeral in person or via phone. Some people just like to click to make purchases.

Niches are still available

What’s yours? If you have an idea but don’t know what to do about it, maybe we can help. E-mail us at bigginfo@biggsuccess.com or leave us a voice message at 877.988.2444. See all of our services.

Direct link to The Bigg Success Show audio file | podcast:
http://traffic.libsyn.com/biggsuccess/00691-042111.mp3

Image in this post from jaylopez