How do you start a web-based business? Part 2
Posted on | February 18, 2009 | No Comments
Continuing from the earlier article “How to Start your online business“ you will need to consider the following…
1) Business plan
A business plan is more than a mission statement or a description of your business. Even if you put this down on one piece of paper a business plan outlines all the potential issues and concerns of your new venture and helps determine its feasibility. What do you want the business to accomplish? Who are your target customers and how do you reach them? What do you need? Along with the risks it details the operations and costs associated with running the business. Just like any business the success of your eCommerce business will be determined by how well you plan it and how well those plans help you to fulfill your goals. Remember your business plan isn’t just the idea it is how to execute the idea and make it a reality.
2) Capital
A very simple rule is this – for every dollar you expect to make off your website at least 10% of that should be paid on the website. So even if you only plan to make $500 per month you should be spending $50 per month on the website itself. This doesn’t include marketing costs, other operational costs and the like. Like most business you should be able to run for at least 6 months or as much as year without making a profit. While the upfront costs may seem low no one got a website business off the ground and making money without spending either a lot of their own time and/or paying someone. So a reasonable budget is $1000 to $5000 with $1000 meaning doing most of the work yourself. Not all of this has to spent right away so don’t panic if you have less than $1000 but its necessary that you are willing to work hard to get started.
3) Suppliers/products/services
If you don’t already have a business you will need to determine what it is you plan to sell. Most everything can be bought and sold over the Internet including perishable items such as fresh fruits and veggies – this is often for local deliver only mind you. But this kind of sale highlights the power of eCommerce. Using the Internet to conduct business even in the same town makes sense as it is easier to plan deliveries, co-ordinate purchasing and deal with repeat orders, process payments and handle returns etc. It also helps promote your business and keeps you focused on running your business. In choosing what to sell you need to find something that your passionate about and love to do. Whether its selling your own knitted sweaters, camera batteries or lawn care… sell it because you want to and are willing to work hard to make a successful business.
…more to come in Part 3
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Tags: Budget > Business > Business plan > Consulting > Electronic Commerce > Internet > Marketing > Mission statement > Sales > Services > Small > Small business
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