Start an Online Business in easy steps, 2nd edition

Jon Smith

• Publisher: In Easy Steps Limited
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781840788600
• eBook ISBN: 9781840788884
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Start an Online Business in easy steps, 2nd edition will show you how to research, prepare and run your own online business and will also give you the tools and the confidence to be able to explain to other staff members, clients, potential suppliers and of course customers, about what your online business is, and what it can do for them.

Now fully updated for today's online market, it will guide you through:

• Planning, registering, and financing your business.
• Setting up your business online, and marketing it effectively.
• Monetizing your site.
• Managing and retaining customers.
• The tricks of the trade to earn more from your website, and much more to make your site successful!

This book is intended for entrepreneurs, employees, employers, parents, students... in fact anyone interested in starting a business online no matter what their level of experience. It is for the non-techie who wants to be involved with every facet of setting up and running their own e-business.

Whether you have a great idea for an online business but don't know where to start, or you've just launched your online shop and need to attract customers, this book is for you!

Table of Contents:

• Start an Online Business
• Business Planning & Finance
• Setting Up Online
• Monetizing Your Site
• Supply Chain
• Marketing Your Online Business
• Customer Relationship Management
• Useful Resources

1

Start an Online Business

So you want to run your own online business?

This chapter will explore whether you’ve got the determination to succeed, help you assess in which areas you may need assistance, and empower you to ask the right questions.

Preparing Yourself

It’s So Easy

The media loves to over-simplify online success stories and if you’ve watched the news or read a newspaper over the last few years you’d be forgiven for thinking that all you need for a successful e-business is a desk, an internet connection, an idea, and within a matter of months you’ll be selling the business for millions or floating on the stock market.

It seldom works like this. Although you will need a place to work (a garage is fine, or a kitchen table will do), an internet connection and an idea, a whole lot more goes into getting an online business off the ground and into profitability. There are numerous pitfalls to avoid and a lot of knowledge that you must gather and apply to ensure that your online business not only starts, but succeeds.

Prepare for Success

Start an Online Business in easy steps will show you how you can be one of the success stories rather than one of the statistics. You’ll learn how you can get your idea to market quickly, which features your website should include, and how to market your website effectively. Whether you’re intent on working full time on your business from day one, or whether you’re looking to improve your work/life balance and secure a second income with a business on the side, this book will walk you through the steps to creating and running a sustainable and profitable online business.

The key to a successful online business is a clear, straightforward plan, a determined entrepreneur at the helm, and a dogged determination to succeed. If the answer’s so simple, why is there any need to read on? Well, paradoxically, building a successful online business that is both clear and straightforward is difficult and fraught with problems. Not in terms of coding or development issues, but because we like to believe that everyone thinks like we do. They don’t.

Your online business needs to appeal to customers and clients possibly from a whole variety of countries, age groups, and social demographics. If you’re venturing into retail, then you will also need to appeal to your potential suppliers and manufacturers.

Planning a business is hard work – be prepared for late nights and frustration.

Whatever your online business, you need to stand above the competition and give your website users a very good reason to become consumers. It doesn’t stop there; once they’ve bought from you or used your services once, you need to get them back again and again and for them to tell their friends all about you.

Life is all about learning. The resources listed in Chapter 8 are there to help you.

Using this Book

So how do you use this book? Well, you won’t go far wrong reading it from cover to cover. Alternatively, you can dip in and dip out depending on which stage you are at with your online business; it really doesn’t matter. The structured approach contained within is there to guide you through to online business success. Even if your budget is modest, implementing just a handful of concepts from this book will improve your online business and will help you realize your ambitions.

Good luck on your new, exciting adventure!

Is it Right for You?

Who can start an online business? The simple answer is anyone.

This book is intended for entrepreneurs, employees, employers, mums, dads, students, existing website owners – in fact, anyone interested in starting a business online no matter what their level of experience. It is for the non-techie who wants to be involved with every facet of setting up and running their own e-business – this book will show you how to research, prepare, and run your own online business and will also give you the tools and the confidence to be able to explain to other staff members, clients, potential suppliers, and, of course, customers about what your online business is, and what it can do for them.

Starting an online business is by no means easier than starting a regular offline business – it still has to be well planned, it will require some funding to get you off the ground, and it definitely requires hard work and determination. However, the beauty of launching online is the immediacy of your proposition being brought to market, your potential reach and access to an audience of millions all around the world. A fully-functioning, all-singing all-dancing fully-transactional website will cost money, but nothing compared to trying to set up one or more retail units or establishing a fully-functioning comfortable office in a city-center location.

No matter what your background, with the right tools you can succeed.

Starting an online business is not easier than an offline business – it’s just different.

Online versus Offline:

•Relatively inexpensive to create and maintain an online presence.

•Opportunity to attract a worldwide or geographically targeted audience.

•Easy to give the appearance of being well established, even if you’re a new business.

•Possible to compete with larger players through a clever online marketing strategy.

Although there are a raft of formal qualifications available in business administration and these courses are without doubt valuable, they are not a pre-requisite to business success. Successful business owners share two things in common: the desire to succeed and the determination to turn their dream into reality.

Regardless of your socioeconomic background, your work experience, your education, or your current knowledge of the online marketplace, if you have the desire and determination you can run your own successful online business.

Some Friendly Help

Starting a Business with a Friend, Colleague or Partner

Many hands make light work, so the phrase goes, and it’s true: having another person on board will reduce your individual workload and provide both of you with additional input, ideas, inspiration, and energy.

The Positives:

•Having worked with a colleague or former colleague before, you know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, skills, and work ethic.

•Running a business can impact the time you have to spend with your partner and family – if you’re both involved, you’re able to enjoy t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1 Start an Online Business
• 2 Business Planning & Finance
• 3 Setting Up Online
• 4 Monetizing Your Site
• 5 Supply Chain
• 6 Marketing Your Online Business
• 7 Customer Relationship Management
• 8 Useful Resources
• Back Cover