You’ve thought long and hard about your business idea and finally decided to take the plunge. You’ve figured out partners, managed the seed money, and even worked out a name for your venture. How long after this do you think about giving your business a website? In today’s hyper-connected world, the first point of search for any product or service is online. Wholesale or retail, commoditised or unique, local or not, if you have something to sell, chances are your customers will use search engines, online yellow pages, trade portals, or other such aggregators to search for it. Having a website, instead of only social media accounts or trade listings, greatly increases your chances of being contacted. Because, having found your listing or post, customers would want to know more about your business; and if you don’t have a website, they will probably lose interest. According to a May 2019 study, only 8% consumers don’t look at the website of a local business they wish to use! Now, you might ask, what is the ideal time to think of setting up a website for your business? Well, it should start as soon as you start thinking of a name for your business. The Internet is a crowded place today, and the name of your website, or its domain name, can make or break your success in the online marketplace. Before you finalise your business’ name and spend on branding and design, make sure the same name works well online too.