The development and expansion of
Internet has made business opportunities, once only available to wealthy, available to nearly everyone. In past, opening a business was a huge commitment in terms of finances and risk. Traditional business owners had to quit their current jobs, obtain bank financing, and sign leases before they even made a penny. It’s easy to see why 95% of them failed within five years. Today, business opportunities are available to anyone willing to put in time and effort to learn about world of e-commerce. Best of all, you can start an e-commerce business with minimal funds and very little risk. This guide will take you though steps necessary to start your own e-commerce business.Find Your Niche
The first step to creating your own e-commerce business is to find you niche. Examine your hobbies and interests for potential business ideas. If you love soccer, consider selling soccer supplies or team uniforms online. You may also consider opening a business that is similar to your current job. For example, as a nurse you may know a lot about medical supplies and how hospitals obtain them. You could start a medical supply business. Your contacts and industry knowledge could give you an advantage over a competitor who does not know inner-workings of hospitals way you do.
Research The Demand
Now that you have a few business ideas, it’s time to research demand for your products or services. If you plan to sell to general public, you’ll want to find out how many people are looking for your products or services. As a small business owner, you will not have marketing funds to create a demand for a product. The products you sell, must already be in demand. A great way to determine product demand is to see how many people are searching for a specific product. Overture has a wonderful keyword tool (http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/) that displays number of searches for specific keywords. It will give you a good idea of which products are popular and specific keywords you should target when building your website.
Scope Out Your Soon-To-Be Competitors
Before settling on a business idea, scope out your would-be competitors. Visit their websites and compare following:
· Professional Look & Feel
· Products and Services
· Search Engine Ranking
· Page Rank (Available on Google Tool Bar)
· Keywords
· Back Links (how many sites link to them).
You’ll need to know your competitor’s websites inside and out. Spend some time exploring each one. This will give you an idea of what you’re up against. Keep in mind, that your website will need to be equally as professional or better than theirs. Don’t worry if you don’t think you have technical skills necessary to create a professional website. The use of professional website templates will be explained later.
While you’re researching your competitors, check to see if products you intend to sell are sold at large department stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon.com. It is very difficult for a small business to compete with these large companies because profit margins are extremely low. You’ll need to sell products that are in demand, but aren’t sold by corporate giants.
Establish A Business Entity
In order to conduct business, you need to establish a business entity. Fortunately this can be as easy as filing a “Doing Business As” or “Fictitious Name” form with your local County Clerk’s office to become a sole proprietor. When you arrive at County Clerk’s office, they will check their records to make sure your intended business name is not already in use. If it’s available, you will need to complete appropriate forms and pay your filing fee. Each state has different requirements. Check with your state for requirements on becoming a sole proprietor.
You will also need a sales tax id. You will need to charge sales taxes in state where your business resides. Contact your county office for details about sales tax ID’s and any other requirements they may have.
Open A Business Bank Account
Now that you are a legitimate business owner, it’s time to open a business bank account. Take your court documents to bank and open a business checking account. Most banks offer a variety of business accounts. Choose one best meets your needs. It’s usually best to start with their least expensive account because it could be a while before you start earning revenue. You can always upgrade in future.
Some banks require a business owner to wait specified amount of time, usually 90 days, after court documents are filed before opening a business bank account. These rules are in place to help prevent fraud. Check with your bank to obtain waiting period information.
Choose A Domain Name
While you wait to open a bank account, you can start building your website. First, register a domain name. Names that end in “.com” are best. If possible your, domain name should include one or more of your target keywords. For example, if you are creating a yoga supply business, you’ll want to choose a name with word yoga, such as yogacenter.com, yoga-supply.com, or yogastuff.com.
Create Your Website
One of keys to successful e-commerce businesses is a professional website. Your website is first and often only impression your visitors will have of your business. A professional website can be difference between your visitors viewing you as a home-based business operating out of your garage and a multi-million dollar business with hundreds of employees. Fortunately, you don’t need to be a web programmer to create a professional website. There are companies that sell professional website templates. You can get website templates for free, but it’s much better to pay for a highly professional template. To find these templates, simply search for “website templates”. You should expect to pay $50 – $150 for a good template with multiple pages and professional images.
