In The Beginning

Making a Business Plan By Ray Mann
http://NoMore-Boss.com

You're excited. You have a great idea for a profitable
online business. Maybe it is an original idea that has not
been marketed online before or a variation of an idea. Maybe
you have come up with a new spin on the ordinary. Whatever
it is that has influenced you to start your online business,
be it success or money be sure that you have a plan before
you begin. This is not the time to "pick it up as you go" as
this could be very costly. The following are some basic
things that should be included in your business plan.

The business summary should give a brief description of the
entire business and is an integral part of the overall
business plan you should know the point you are starting
from and the goal you are aiming for. After you have
completed the business summary you should begin to list the
objectives or the goals that you want to accomplish through
the business. You should write down your goals and then try
to work backwards so that you know the requirements in order
to reach those goals. Next and perhaps most importantly, you
should develop your marketing plan. The marketing plan will
address all the specifics of the business. When developing
the marketing strategy you should consider the following:

The target market. The target market is the customers that
you expect to see visiting your site. For example will your
product be more appealing to college students or those who
are in retirement? By targeting your customers you will not
be shooting in the dark after all you wouldn't think of
driving a car with a blindfold on

Consider the competition for your product when determining
the marketing strategy. Choose a product that will be seen
as unique and useful. Visit sites that are offering the same
or similar products and remember always make notes on the
good and bad points that you come across. Find out the cost,
and how they are marketing their product. Remember there is
always room for improvement. Find out the pros and cons of
their business and try to improve your product based on
their flaws.

Research the various methods for advertising online. You
should become educated about search engines and how they
work since each one is different. Also be sure that you know
how to submit your site to search engines. There are many
ways to submit without any cost to you. You should be
prepared to spend a small amount of money on advertising,
but the profits that you will gain from the advertisements
will prove to be money well spent.

Think about pricing. Again, look at the competition and see
what similar products are selling for. Pricing can play a
big role in the success of your product since selling a
product well below the average price may lead customer to
think that there is a problem with the product or that it is
not of the best quality. However, pricing items too high
will generate a higher profit could also deter customers so
the number of sales is much less.

Determine the shipping method. Be sure that you know how
products will be shipped so that you can have shipping
details clearly posted on your site it may be an advantage
to offer a choice but it clear what the charges will be. If
you are shipping things of great value, you should consider
providing shipping insurance. Also think about shipping
outside the country that you live in if you are not sure of
the cost of postage always include the words plus p.p.

Think about the different methods of payment that you will
accept. If your business does not accept credit cards, you
should be ready to give up half if not more of your sales as
many people want prompt delivery that comes with instant
payment. If you decide to accept credit cards will you use a
merchant account or will you use a third party credit card
processing center? Both will help you get started and the
third party processing center will handle all of the
business so you don't have to. You should decide which you
will use and also if you will accept checks or money orders.
Make sure that payment has cleared before dispatch of goods.
It is essential to have a secure server when taking credit
cards.

These few things will help your online business to become a
great success and also provide you with peace of mind
knowing that you have thoroughly thought about and planned
for the opening of your online business.


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