What To Consider When Starting an E-commerce Business

With the advance in technology and the internet, people are opting to start an online business as opposed to working a 9 – 5 job every day. The idea is especially tempting if you have a nasty superior micromanaging you and watching your every move like a hawk!

Starting your own e-commerce business and become your own boss? What could be better? However, it’s not something you should just jump straight into.

You guys are in luck today, because here are five essential points to take into account before starting an online business.

 

1) Understand Your Market

It is paramount to have a strong knowledge of the industry you are venturing into. It could be a product or even a service; you have to know everything you can about it, or at least have a good understanding. Of course, if you possess experience in that particular industry, even better.

Ever heard of a SWOT analysis? A SWOT analysis is a simple framework to guide you in understanding both your Strengths (perhaps a brand new idea) and Weaknesses (this could be a lack of resources), while identifying the available Opportunities presented to you (maybe a gap in the market) and the Threats that you are bound to face (other competitors, or a new technology suddenly coming along to wipe out your business).

 

2) Prepare A Business Plan

Many people overlook this part because they think it’s time consuming and unnecessary and just want to get started!

However, this is a crucial step in the process. Having a business plan allows you and your team to stay focused on your business strategy, to define and manage specific measurable objectives, organise your priorities, better manage your cashflow, and provide you with course corrections that will keep your business from failing.


 

3) Work Out Your Finances

Creating a budget for your business is a necessity because you will be incurring overhead costs such as stock, marketing, building your website, hiring staff, storing products… the list is endless! You ought to have different options for accessing your finance or even have a back-up plan. Some financing options available include bank overdrafts, bank loans, equity investment (Business Angels/ Venture Capitalists), Small Loans Firm Guarantee, and even your own personal savings.


 

4) Create a business brand and identity

The business brand and name is imperative as it lays out how professional your company is seen. Establish an identity that is consistent with your company’s beliefs and missions.

Your company’s name will be the first impression to your potential customers. So, choose it wisely. There are people that have chosen quirky/ridiculous names for their companies such as Donkey Balls Chocolate Factory, PMS Mortgage and Haart Removals. You don’t want people to point you out as the weird named business, do you? Then again, Richard Branson chose the name ‘Virgin’ for his company, a word that was considered quite risqué in the 70s – and look at the success he’s had!

 

5) Make it easy for your customers to pay

Last, but not least, to set up an e-commerce business the payment method has got to be as straightforward as possible and very customer-friendly. If it’s complicated, we bet that you’ll be losing your clients before you can count them. Generally, there are two ways of doing it, i.e. via online payments, or through a shopping cart. We advise you do some research on which way suits your business best.