1. Do I have the skills to manage the online business website, blog, etc. If yes, then jump in with both feet. You can use Blogger or Wordpress or others to start a free blog. You can also buy your own domain name (www.yourname.com) from GoDaddy or others and link it to your free blog so that people can visit www.yourname.com instead of www.yourname.wordpress.com. You simply change one setting in Wordpress setup to make this happen.
If you don't have the skills, then explore two things: (a) How can I develop my own skills through some type of education; and (b) Can I hire a web developer to get some help? But be careful. If you don't know what you want in terms of look and feel for your website, you can spend lots of money (possibly part of your startup capital) just searching for a look instead of developing one. So, browse lots of websites, and note what attracts you to those sites. Is information easy to find? What is the site selling? Make sure these and other aspects are clearly communicated. Then take those same lessons and apply to your own site or blog.
2. Have you completed a business plan for the e-business. No excuses here folks. You HAVE to do this part. You need to know the fixed and variable costs associated with starting an e-business. You also need revenue projections for products sales or services to understand the profitability of the e-business. Business planning is fundamental. If you don't spend the time answering these questions, who will?
3. How will you market your site? You need to budget resources for marketing your site/blog. How do you plan to connect with e-customers? Are you going to start a Facebook Fan Page, use Twitter, LinkedIn, or other social media tools? These all have to be spelled out in your plan along with estimated costs. How will you link to Google Maps? How do I develop an e-newsletter? All of these questions should be answered as part of an e-business plan.
The old saying, "Build it and they will come" just isn't true in the global e-marketplace. You have to build and market it. But here's the upshot: It's not that difficult. Lots of tutorials are available online. Simply "Google" for e-business plan, marketing websites, etc. and you'll find lots of good information to get started.
The hardest part of anything is starting. But with a little research and some planning, you can launch an e-business following these three simple steps.
