Getting Started: Creating a Business Plan

You're excited. You have a great idea for a profitable online business. Maybe it is an original idea that has not been marketed online before. Maybe you have come up with a new spin on the ordinary. Whatever it is that has influenced you to start your online business, be sure that you have a plan before you begin. This is not the time to "pick it up as you go". These are some basic things that should be included in your business plan.

The business summary should give a brief description of the entire business and is an integral part of the overall business plan. After you have completed the business summary you should begin to list the objectives or the goals that you want to accomplish through the business. Next and perhaps most importantly, you should develop your marketing plan. The marketing plan will address all the specifics of the business. When developing the marketing strategy you should consider the following:

Target Market
The target market is all the customers that you expect to see visiting your site. For example will your product be more appealing to college students or those who are in retirement?

The Competition
Consider the competition for your product when determining the marketing strategy. Choose a product that will be seen as unique and useful. Visit sites that are offering the same or similar products. Find out the cost, and how they are marketing their product. Find out the pros and cons of their business and try to improve your product based on their flaws.

Do Your Research
Research the various methods for advertising online. You should become educated about search engines and how they work since each one is different. Also be sure that you know how to submit your site to search engines. You should be prepared to spend a small amount of money on advertising, but the profits that you will gain from the advertisements will prove to be money well spent.

Pricing
Think about pricing. Again, look at the competition and see what similar products are selling for. Pricing can play a big role in the success of your product since selling a product well below the average price may lead customer to think that there is a problem with the product or that it is not of the best quality. However, pricing items too high could also deflect customers.

Shipping
Determine the shipping method. Be sure that you know how products will be shipped so that you can have shipping details clearly posted on your site. If you are shipping things of great value, you should consider providing shipping insurance. Also think about shipping outside the country that you live in.

Payment Options
Think about the different methods of payment that you will accept. If your business does not accept credit cards, you should be ready to give up half if not more of your sales. If you decide to accept credit cards will you use a merchant account or will you use a third party credit card processing center? Both will help you get started and the third party processing center will handle all of the business so you don't have to. You should decide which you will use and also if you will accept checks or money orders. It is essential to have a secure server when taking credit cards.

These few things will help your online business to become a great success and also provide you with peace of mind knowing that you have thoroughly thought about and planned for the opening of your online business.

Gary Nugent can help YOU start your own profitable business on the Internet within the next 24 hours... To learn more, visit: http://www.MakeOnlineResidualEarnings.com /pips.html

---

Online Merchant Account - Costs and Alternatives

Merchant Account BasicsA Merchant Account is a commercial bank account... Read More

Intranet Portals ? Personalisation and Customisation

The key difference between an (old-fashioned) Intranet and a PortalWhat... Read More

Outsourcing Your Ecommerce Order Fulfillment

When your eCommerce business grows to the point where you... Read More

Why Ecommerce is Not Ready for My Daughter or Me

As the mother of a teenage clothing fanatic I'm often... Read More

How to Generate Cash from Your Web Site

The Internet has changed the way people do business today.... Read More

Eleven Things You Must Know About A Drop Shipping Directory And Its Company

1. Balance - You want to find a directory rich... Read More

Leveraging Open Source Technology

Open Source applications can bring unique value to business owners.... Read More

Pitfalls of Doing Big International Brokerage Business Online

Nothing has helped international brokerage business more than the internet:... Read More

A Tale of Two Revolutions - Ecommerce: A Historical Perspective

The World As It Then WasThe dynamic economic growth of... Read More

The Art of Being Human

This isn't the first time I have written about the... Read More

Online Credit Card Processing - How to Accept Credit Cards - Ecommerce 101

Back in 1998 (through 2000 or so), I worked for... Read More

E-Gold

E-gold is a digital currency, used extensively on the Internet... Read More

7 Questions to Ask A Potential Internet Merchant Account Provider

Recently I went looking for an online merchant account, with... Read More

Complementary-Relational Linking and How It Could Save Your Internet Business

The concept of linking is that sites with common interests... Read More

The Top 10 E-Commerce Ways to Follow up with Clients - Part 1

Did you know that 80% of all sales are made... Read More

Business Online ? Blind Hunt

Do you sell something online? Do you have a business... Read More

How Measuring Key Performance Indicators Can Improve E-Commerce Strategy - Part Three

The first article of this series discussed page views per... Read More

Simple Steps to Start a Profitable Member Only, Subscription Web Site

Having a successful member only, paid membership site is one... Read More

Paypal Primer

To conduct business on the Internet, whether informal, one-time only... Read More

Distinguishing Features of E-Commerce

E-commerce offers customers the chance to eliminate many stages in... Read More

The Plain Man?s Guide to Making Money Online

I'm a plain man who uses plain thinking in devising... Read More

Mr and Mrs Smith Go Online, as Internet Technology Moves from Fantasy to Normality

According to NOP World, 48% of all Internet users have... Read More

Using Credit Cards Securely Online

Nowadays, shopping online is a very common thing. Making your... Read More

What You Must Know About Selling Online to Europe

The European market is a multi-billion $ sector which you... Read More

Your Readers are Publishers Too

Too often we charge ahead and treat the web as... Read More

How Merchant Accounts Can Save You Money

We all know that accepting credit cards is the key... Read More

What is SSL (the little padlock)?

SSL ("Secured Socket Layer") is a protocol used to... Read More

Cheap Cigarettes, Discount Tobacco and Cigars Online - Is It Legal?

Many people online today still believe that buying tobacco products... Read More

Getting Started in ECommerce - Part One

In 2004, Enquiro.com conducted a study of the search behaviors... Read More

How To Turn Any Product You Sell In To Residual Income

The concept of this is for you to offer a... Read More

Rules for Achieving Online Success

The Internet brought a great deal of benefits to our... Read More

Excuse Me, Are You Wasting Traffic?

The largest cost and concern of an internet business is... Read More

The Rise of Multinational Virtual Corporations

The virtual corporation is the emerging organisational form, which best... Read More