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The Two Parts
Roughly speaking, starting an
online business is divided into two parts: the hard part and
the easy part.
The easy part is assembling your basic business structure. You'll
need to choose your software platform, set up a credit card account,
develop a marketing plan, and figure out a few more nuts and bolts
things. Oh sure, there's a lot of homework involved here — and plenty of
cash outlay — but all told, this part's not rocket science.
The hard part is developing your e-business plan. That requires
awareness and understanding of what it means to do business online, and
an inventive strategy. Developing a sound business plan is not only
critical; it's the do-or-die step in starting your online store.
'But wait,' you say, 'I already have my
business plan — I'm just looking for a little help in building my site,
and I'm rarin' to go.'
Well, hang on. You may think you have your online merchant plan — and
you might. But before you assemble your basic business structure, you
have one precious opportunity to really think things through — now.
More e-businesses have failed because of a faulty underlying concept
than because of problems with software or hosting issues. Remember the
Internet boom of the late '90s? Those businesses had full tech staffs
and fat marketing budgets, but a lot of them went belly up because their
business plan was no better than the Titanic's plans for dealing with
icebergs.
"The biggest favor you do yourself in the beginning is to take time to
really think about what your doing — make deliberate decisions," says
Jeff Binder, CEO of Saffron Rouge and an expert in starting online
businesses.
"Am I going to be niche retailer? Am I going to be a mass market
retailer?" In short, "how am I going to make money?"
"Your business model could be such that you don't make anything on the
products you sell — but you make money by selling ads on your site. Or,
you can practically give away your product, but make all your money on
your grotesquely expensive shipping fees. Or, your shipping is free all
the time, but your product costs are higher," says Binder.
Whatever the case, before you launch YourBusiness.com, make sure you've
considered the following:
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Page 3
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Online Money-Making Opportunities
Several Systems to make real money via
Internet
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