An eBusiness of Your Own

First Steps

Even the simplest Web-based business requires a considerable amount of planning if it is to have a chance of success. A formal business plan may not be strictly necessary for a very small or home-based business, but it is a useful exercise to go through. At the very least, the following topics have to be covered.

Business Idea

What is the business going to do and how is it going to make money? If you are this far along the road of starting up on your own, you may have a good idea of what sort of business you want to run. If you don't, then clearly your first task is to find a business idea that will work

USP

Once you have worked out what your business is going to do, you need a USP. USP stands for Unique Selling Proposition. This is a bit of marketing-speak that basically means you need a reason why customers should buy a product or service from you rather than from any of your competitors. This is particularly important when doing business on the Net. Conventional small businesses often rely on being the only such business in a particular area. They don't have competition. On the Net you will always have competitors and you need something that will make your business stand out from the crowd.

Marketing Plan

Marketing is of crucial importance for Web-based businesses. There may be plenty potential customers out there, but if you can't get them to visit your Web site you won't make any sales. You need to consider how you will market your business at a very early stage in planning your business. A common mistake is to concentrate on all the other aspects of the business and then only think about marketing when it becomes apparent nobody is visiting your Web site.

Business Infrastructure

The Web-based side of your business is only part of the story. Depending on your particular business idea you may need to build relationships with suppliers, find storage, or build a production facility. Even if you don't, you may need to hire an accountant or business advisor. The point is that a Web-based business has many of the same requirements as any other type of business and it's important not to get carried away with the Web-based side of it and overlook some of the other fundamentals.

Order Fulfilment

An important point. How are you going to deliver your product or service? Reliable fulfilment of orders is essential if you are selling tangible goods. Selling intangibles like software or subscriptions may seem to be easier, but there are lots of problems associated with on-line delivery.

Web Site

Yes, you'll need a Web site too! If you can afford it it's best to get this done professionally. Despite what you may have been told, putting together a good E-Commerce site isn't easy. Realistically though, many small businesses have to take the do-it-yourself route, and the selection of the correct tools and services is important.

Server or Hosting Service

You can host your Web site on your own server if you want, but these days even large corporations prefer to make use of 3rd party hosting services. For small businesses, cost and reliability are the most important factors when looking for a host for your Web site, although security is becoming increasingly important.

Payment Processing

Finally there is the nightmare that is payment processing. For a small business trying to keep costs down, finding a reliable low-cost payment processing service while avoiding the scams and rip-off merchants can be a real pain. Research and recommendations are important here. I'll be covering each of these topics in more depth in future articles in this series.