How to Start Your Own Business   

Why Go Online?

The most amazing aspect of e-commerce is its ability to impact sales and marketing efforts immediately. By going online, suddenly a neighborhood bakery or a homebased consulting service expands its reach to a national, or even international base of potential customers. Web-based sales know no international boundaries.

* Of small businesses that sell online, 64 percent said the internet has increased their revenues or sales. * 48 percent felt the internet helped to expand their geographic reach in the United States. * And 73 percent saved money by decreasing administrative costs.

Cash flow is of significant importance to a new business. Small business owners who conduct business online feel it allows them to receive payments faster and conduct business easier. On the internet, even the smallest online retailer can be as attractive and as functional as the largest big box store--without the need to have a physical presence on every street corner. Often, small shops project a "boutique" feel that attracts shoppers, who perceive smaller businesses as more distinctive than larger stores.

What It Takes to Go Online:

setting up shop online takes passion and demands a high level of optimism. The passion is the desire on the part of the entrepreneur to find something he or she loves to do and make a career out of it. Positive thinking allows a person to stay focused in the face of cynicism from banks, peers and competitors. A "yes, I can" attitude quickly translates to "Wow, it's working" as an online business opens its doors to the world.

To set up an online business, entrepreneurs should apply their passion and positive thinking to three key areas:

1. The planning process. Everything an entrepreneur needs to know, consider and decide before starting an e-commerce site. 2. Developing a marketing strategy. Determining how to get the word out and how to maintain good relationships with customers. 3. Understanding technology needs. The tricks and tools that make it all happen.

The Planning Process:

The internet is the best place to find information, learn from peers and effectively manage resources to formulate a plan that is perfect for a particular business and its owner.

The plan should look at every aspect of the proposed online business with a critical eye. There are several important questions to address here.

A company can sell tickets or offer discounts through its website, show images and videos of its facilities, set up online games that relate to and increase demand for its offerings, or enable customers to make payments over the internet.

Typically, online business owners find that their hands quickly fill up with the chores and challenges involved in simply running their businesses. They'll often turn to web experts, or professionals who coordinate online business tasks every day. With the numbers of well-trained web professionals out there today, consider these possibilities when looking to hire:

* Hire someone who will be dedicated solely to web management, if the nature and size of the business supports it.

* Hire temporary employees to help set up the business and bring them back periodically to make changes to the site, expand online capabilities or launch new ventures.

* Outsource the development, design and hosting of the website and rely on an outside organization to keep it up to date and to manage growth.

* Use an "e-commerce in a box" product to set up an e-commerce site. These products typically charge a monthly fee (around $25) and provide an online store with virtual shopping carts (locations where shoppers electronically place the items they want to buy). They also include online catalogs, customized product pages, tools that help merchants list their products and services on online auction and shopping sites, secure online payment options, discount coupons for customers, and technical support.

Who is your target audience? Anytime a business opens its products or services to a new market, management must consider the geographic, demographic and socio-economic factors that determine how it will approach the consumer. Some offerings, such as toys, school supplies or nursing services may be targeted primarily to a specific age group. Other products or services, like snow blowers or swimming pool supplies, could target a specific set of geographic areas. Every audience is unique, so merchants should tailor their marketing and communications in a way that connects consumers to their businesses.

How far will the business cast its net? In a global economy it's entirely possible that a small business owner could start the morning with an e-mail from Milan, asking if he'll accept payment in Euros with a CartaSi credit card. Online entrepreneurs must understand that, from day one, they are international businesses with display windows and checkout stations in every corner of the globe.

A business could tell its customers that it ships only to North American locations or accepts only U.S. dollars. But it may turn out that the overseas market is the company's very best sales opportunity. Therefore it's important for the online business to determine how it will work with customers in foreign nations. How will shipping be handled? Is the company prepared to convert currencies? How will the business communicate with customers who speak different languages?

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If you found this article helpful I have put up another article called: "10 Steps to Move a Business Online" You can find it on my weekly blog. Good Luck

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