Success is about making fewer mistakes

Why you should read this Guide

Whilst failure is one of best ways we can learn, learning from others’ experience is far less painful - and that’s essentially point of this guide! Learning from others makes achieving your own goal quicker and easier, plus lets face it, making unnecessary mistakes is just plain dumb!

Spend just 2 hours digesting information in this guide and you could save years of trial and error. Which route do you think will put your e-commerce venture into profit fastest?

Whether you are thinking of starting a new Internet business, or you already run your own business and are interested in developing a website or perhaps an e-commerce operation; if you are considering developing a presence on Internet then this guide is for you.

If it seems too good to be true, it just might not be.

Why e-business?

Since early ‘90s Internet has shaped way we do business. At first it was peripheral nowadays it is central to business life. Technologies have advanced and access is more widespread, meaning businesses can do more things for more people. But Internet is really just another communication channel, though unlike other communication channels it differs in that it can offer a uniquely interactive experience, serve multiple data formats, and provide information on-demand.

This said Internet is still a communication channel and successful web applications usually leverage one or more of following benefits.

Immediacy. With today’s data transmission rates communication can be almost instantaneous.

Frequency. The convenience of Internet and particularly email, means that communication is likely to happen more often.

Cost efficiency. Migrating traditional communication to utilise internet technologies can greatly reduce costs.

So how can your Business leverage Internet and in particular communication benefits? Below are just a few areas your Business should consider.

Commerce - e-commerce has become synonamous with Internet; from presenting product information, to marketing, to communication with Customers - costs are often very low.

Business Awareness - Industry sector, latest news, product range or simple directions. The Internet is an ideal vehicle for delivering information about your Business to a wide audience at low cost.

Image - Brand and Image are important assets to Business. The Internet can be used to promote an image and reinforce a brand - perception is all!

Community - A web site can provide a superb focal point for people with similar interests, especially where visitors are encouraged to interact with your Business and each other.

Support - Providing post sale support, or just dealing with frequently asked questions, a website can be used to provide a structured mechanism for providing help or information.

Competition - In an age where businesses without a website are increasingly exception, a professionally designed website may differentiate your Business from your competitors'.

Think of any web site you use, and you’ll see that benefits users and Business itself derive will mostly relate to communication and fall into one of three categories previously mentioned; immediacy; frequency and cost efficiency. 

Ten Golden Rules of e-business

1.Start re-skilling now. If you don’t have huge financial backing your idea will not get off ground UNLESS you can do much of work yourself.

2. You have more chance of making money if you can take just one step up supply chain.

3. The real profit makers on Internet match supply with demand, but do not sell anything!

4. You can’t just build a site and expect to start generating income any more.

5. There are few truly new ideas - most things have already been done. Exploit a niche, leverage breaking technology, or do same thing but just better.

6. If you come across an idea that hasn’t been done, congratulations you could be on your way - but think long and hard about why no one else is already doing it.

7. Expect any competitive advantage you may establish to be short-lived. Where will your profit come from tomorrow?

8. Be amazed at how little your e-business is worth.

9. Don’t buy an e-business “off shelf”. At least one person does not want it – why not?

10.Establish a budget to build your site then add at least 30% more to build an adequate administration interface.

1. Start re-skilling now

Here’s an unwritten law of Jungle; many businesses thrive off other start-up businesses. This is true whether your business is offline or online. Just getting your Business off ground can seriously stress your cash-flow. e-business can be even more expensive as additionally you’ll need technical services like web hosting, graphics design, site design and database development, search engine optimisation, secure servers, bandwidth, data backup, credit card processing, disaster recovery and insurance to name a few; these are on top of your other overheads!

Technical services are always expensive, and true experts in technical areas are worth their weight in gold - but sometimes what is actually being done is not that complicated; understanding what is involved can help inform your decision about when to bring in an expert, but more importantly allow you to perform some of this work yourself.

Start re-skilling and outsource less, or your ground breaking e-business idea may never see light of day!

2. You have more chance of making money if you can take just one step up supply chain.

Mention e-commerce and you immediately think of retailing; businesses selling to consumers. But what are they selling and where are they sourcing it from? The answer, in majority of cases, is from other businesses further up supply chain.

Retailing really is front line in e-commerce, hard fought and often a war of attrition. For many reasons if you can take just one step up supply chain and into wholesale supply, odds of succeeding move in your favour plus, you could always retail as well! This is why.

Your Customers are people just like you - would be entrepreneurs, people who want to do their own thing, run their own business and make a success of it. Unfortunately unlike you, they haven’t read this guide, so whilst they have enthusiasm, work hard, and have money to spend, they start at bottom of supply chain and opt to retail someone else’s (your) products. Ask yourself this; will you sell more with all these enthusiastic entrepreneurs promoting your products, or less? Though many may fail, if they succeed you succeed also, so make supporting these people focus of your own e-business efforts. Excellent product, price, and customer service.

There was a time when I had no idea how I could earn money on net. I had just purchased my computer and got an internet connection. I knew nothing about internet beyond checking my mail and do search.

I do not remember how I got started but after a while I started searching for money earning opportunities on net. I would sit and search for long hours every day. I would search till my eyes get sore. I was wasting my time but I did not know. Everyday I would search and click new sites.

I laugh now at what I searched for! I would type ‘Earn without investment’, ‘Money on net’ etc. etc. I did not want to invest. I wanted free money. Are you laughing with me!

Search for these terms and see. You get tons of results but nothing is actually what it promises.

Then I got something. I came to know about ‘Get paid programs’. Wow! Finally I would be paid for doing nothing (Are you sure you do nothing. Just calculate amount of time you spend to earn a pittance. Even if you make few cents it is not guaranteed that you will ever lay your hands on that.)

Excited I joined many. Everyday I opened my mail box and clicked. Everyday before sleeping I checked my accounts and calculate how much I made.

A number of months passed before my slumber broke. I was getting sick of this clicking and checking timers and not being paid that pittance I earned with so much labor. I was disappointed and disillusioned too. But I could not give up. Idea of making money from computer just did not leave me.

I needed to change my attitude.