Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies

Shannon Belew, Joel Elad

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781119648482
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Comercio electrónico

The tools you need to follow your dream of starting and running an online business!

With the right knowledge and resources, you can take action to start the online business you've been dreaming of. This comprehensive guide provides tips and tricks for turning your dream into a reality.

The sixth edition of Starting an Online Business: All-in-One For Dummies will teach you the basics and beyond. It will prepare you to set up your business website, offer your products in an online store, and keep accurate books. The authors help you navigate the primary legal, accounting, and security challenges related to running an online business.

• Fund your business for success and future growth
• Use SEO strategically to drive traffic to a well-designed site
• Market your business effectively as an entrepreneur
• Stand out, build customer relationships, and sell on social media
• Keep up with ecommerce trends to stay a step ahead

With some guidance, you can find your market niche, create a business plan, and decide on a revenue model. Then, it's time to set up shop! Starting an Online Business can help bring your dream of an online business to life and guide you on the road to success.

Book 1

Start-Up Essentials

Contents at a Glance

1. Chapter 1: Starting from Scratch
   1. What Are You Waiting For? Start Your Business Now!
   2. Choosing Just the Right Business
   3. Getting Started
2. Chapter 2: Turning Ideas into a Viable Internet Business
   1. Thinking Like an Online Entrepreneur
   2. Putting Your Business Idea under the Microscope
   3. Identifying Your Market and Target Customer
   4. Competing to Win: Analyzing Your Competition
3. Chapter 3: Getting Real: Creating a Usable Business Plan
   1. Understanding the Value of a Plan
   2. Recognizing That the Parts of the Plan Make a Whole
   3. Getting Help to Write the Plan
   4. Using a Business Plan Today, Tomorrow, and Always
4. Chapter 4: Funding Your Online Business
   1. Bootstrapping the Low-Cost, No-Cost Site
   2. Finding the Perfect Investor
   3. Checking Out Alternative Financing
   4. Taking a Shortcut: Purchasing an Existing Site
5. Chapter 5: Creating Policies to Protect Your Website and Customers
   1. Taking Care of Customers
   2. Putting Policies in Place
   3. Delivering on Your Promises
6. Chapter 6: Setting Up Shop: What You Need for Online Efficiency
   1. A Floor Plan for Success
   2. Must-Have Equipment
   3. Tools for Your Desktop
   4. Your Essential Software Toolkit
   5. Connectivity: Today’s Internet Options and More

Chapter 1

Starting from Scratch

IN THIS CHAPTER

Recognizing when the time is right

Understanding the different types of online businesses

Gathering your thoughts and getting started

It’s sometimes difficult to remember a time when we didn’t have instant online access to almost anything desired, from finding a phone number for a new business (no phone book necessary!) to buying a hard-to-find bottle of your favorite wine (even if it’s located in a vineyard across the country!). The Internet has replaced or supplemented trips to the library, grocery store, travel agency, bank, auto dealership … the list is almost endless. You name it; there’s little you cannot find, access, or buy online. Behind each of these unique and convenient online retailers are entrepreneurs that started out just like you — with a good idea for an online business and the motivation to turn it into a reality.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that everyone from consumers to investors now recognizes the legitimacy of online businesses. It was once considered risky to shop online. But an Internet-based business model has proven to be a worthwhile investment time and time again, with the same potential risks and rewards as any other type of business. Add to the mix that technology has also come a long way, and shopping online using everything from a desktop computer or laptop, to a tablet or a web-enabled mobile phone (smartphone) is as easy as ever. And individuals are not the only ones spending more on online transactions. Increasingly, businesses of all sizes are also buying products and services online. Those same companies are also spending money to advertise on the Internet and reach their customers through traditional websites and social media sites. All these interactions represent a business opportunity by which people earn a living on the Internet. Why shouldn’t one of those people be you?

Online revenues continue to grow — for all types of products and services in almost every industry. Even during challenging economic conditions, when traditional retail stores have struggled with growth, online retail sales continue to surge. Increasingly, retailers are seeing more revenue come from their websites, accounting for more than 10 percent of total retail sales in the first part of 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. More than 270 million consumers are expected to browse and buy online by the year 2020, generating $523 billion in online sales, according to research and advisory firm Forrester. U.S. companies selling services online to other businesses (B2B) are also seeing impressive growth. Companies adopting an online software as a service (SaaS) business model are experiencing two times the revenue growth and three times the customer growth, according to research from management consulting firm McKinsey and Company. Even social media sites are providing an avenue for making and increasing online sales, with revenue from social commerce reaching $14 billion in the United States and $30 billion worldwide, according to eMarketer, an independent market research company.

Speaking of worldwide sales, consider that North America represents only a small portion of potential online consumers. The international market is growing, with Europe accounting for more than 20 percent of Internet users and Asia accounting for close to half, according to Internet World Stats. Some European countries continue to have double-digit growth in online sales, and $53 billion in online sales will come from Southeast Asia, alone, by 2023, according to Forrester. These statistics represent substantial potential from online shoppers around the world. Isn’t it time you join this generation of online entrepreneurs and take advantage of these rapidly growing markets and start an online business? In this chapter, we describe the kinds of businesses that exist online, and motivate you to get started.

What Are You Waiting For? Start Your Business Now!

You might have dreamed for years about starting an online business. Or perhaps you woke up just yesterday with a brilliant idea. What are you waiting for? The truth is that the most difficult part of beginning a new endeavor is making the decision to do it. You can easily get bogged down with excuses for why your business won’t happen. To keep you motivated and on track, here’s a list of the top reasons to start an online business now:

• You can gain financial freedom. One major incentive for owning any business is the potential for a better income. The Internet offers the opportunity to create your own wealth.
• You have unlimited customer reach. No geographical boundaries exist when you run a business over the Internet. You can choose to sell your products or services in your community, in your own country, or to the entire world.
• It’s affordable. You can now create a website inexpensively and sometimes for free. The cost to maintain your site, secure products, and cover related expenses is often relatively low. This low start-up cost is especially evident when you compare the start-up costs of an online business and a traditional bricks-and-mortar business (a physical building from which to sell retail merchandise).
• Your schedule is flexible. Part time, full time, year round, or seasonal: Your schedule is up to you when you operate your virtual business. You can work in the wee hours of the night or in the middle of the day. An online business affords you the luxury of creating a schedule that works for you. (Of course, the more time you invest, typically the greater your earnings potential!)
• Novices are welcome. As the Internet has grown, e-commerce (or electronic commerce, a type of business activity conducted over the Internet, such as sales or advertising) applications have become increasingly simple to use. Although you benefit by having experience with your products or services, the process of offering those items for sale online is easy to understand. You can set up shop with little or no experience under your belt!
• You can start quickly. From online auction sites such as eBay to storefronts powered by Amazon.com, the tools that can help get you started are readily available, essentially overnight. Many of these sites (such as Amazon) handle all the details for you — they set up the website infrastructure, manage the payment and shopping cart system, and even provide easy access to merchandise.
• You can expand an existing business. If you already own a business, the Internet provides you with the most economical and most efficient way to expose your business to a huge new group of customers and increase sales.
• No age barriers exist. You might be retired and itching for extra income, or perhaps you’re a teenager who’s only beginning to consider career opportunities. Online businesses provide economic opportunities for entrepreneurs of all ages.
• A variety of ideas qualify. As proven time and again, the Internet supports a broad range of business concepts. Although some ideas are better suited to long-term success, almost all your ideas have potential.
• Niche markets hold unlimited potential. Thanks to the reach of the Internet, unique or custom products and services have a potentially lucrative home in e-commerce. These products and services may not generate a large enough demand in a local market to sustain an offline business, but can find a...