Coming up with the Ideal Idea
Let's start with the concept for your online business. Actually, let's start further back than that. In the beginning, there were stores and they were good stores. Those stores had "storefronts" and they also were good. They allowed people to see the store and, more importantly, see what was inside the store. From inside the store, people could purchase things. Sometimes they purchased things they needed, but many times they purchased things just for the heck of it. Those were called "impulse buys." To get to the stores people had to get in cars or on buses or trains and travel there. Then they had to carry their purchases back home with them. It was a hard time back then.Then came mail order catalogs. With a simple catalog that was delivered -- often as a surprise -- to people's mailboxes, stores could now sell more things to more people -- people who were all wearing their bathrobes and slippers. This was a great time for buying things -- especially for buying things people didn't realize they needed until they saw them in those catalogs. To get these catalogs to peoples' homes businesses had to spend lots of money creating the catalogs, and then lots more money buying mailing lists and mailing the catalogs. Then they had to have employees answering the phones and taking orders from the new customers who were sitting in their homes shopping. It was an expensive time back then.
Then, one day some business person said, "hey, this is costing me a lot of money. How can I get people to buy my stuff without having to spend so much money on printing, mailing, and people answering the phone?" That's when the Internet said in its big spidery voice "Me! Me! Look at me! I can do it. Give me a chance!" And they did. Now, not only can customers shop from home, they can visit almost any kind of store in the world, buy almost any kind of product they could possibly need, and comparison shop to their heart's content, all while wearing mismatched sweats and holey socks. They can look at your storefront, buy impulsively, and leave if they can't find what they need. Their purchases come to them in big brown or blue or white trucks. Life is good.
The rest is recent history. OK, so maybe that's not an accurate historical record of the evolution of business commerce, but it does loosely follow the evolution of convenience shopping. Read on to find out how you too can take your business online and sell to the masses wearing their bunny slippers and sipping lattes!
If you are starting an online business from scratch -- meaning you don't have an existing business that you're thinking of taking online -- then the most important thing is to make sure you're starting with a good idea for a business. For some, that means thinking about what they do best and capitalizing on it, but for others it means looking out at the world of commerce and searching for holes, gaps, slight cracks and even just places where there is room for improvement. Either of these may work, but a combination of the two is more the ideal solution. If you are really good at something -- or pretty good -- or even just better than the average Joe -- AND you've seen a need for it in the market then you may have a good opportunity to succeed.
If you're in that idea-forming stage thinking about what you're going to offer then take these things under consideration. According to Ernst and Young, the best-selling products online are:
- computer products
- books
- travel
- clothing
- music and subscriptions for music
- gifts
- investments
You may decide on selling downloadable how-to or other information, products, consulting, services of some type for a regional or local area, providing auctions, hobby sites, or even selling words (e.g., syndicated Web content).
You may find that distributing products for several manufacturers' would work well with your skills and could fill a need in the market. Maybe you have connections that will give you better deals so you could sell items at lower prices than your competitors can. Or, maybe you live in an area where a product is produced and could save on shipping costs from the manufacturer to you. Think about the resources immediately available to you. Specialize in something. In order to succeed on the Web you have to offer something slightly different, better, cheaper (meaning less expensive), or have some other "edge." There are many things to consider, but remember that people go to the Internet for information. You may find that your best bet for a successful online business is to offer something information-oriented like books, manuals, how-to's, or do-it-yourself kits.
The ideal business idea will also have inherent positives and negatives, so think about:
- startup costs
- labor needs
- product quality (it's got to be high quality)
- competition
- the size of your potential market
- profitability
- necessary product support
- legal issues and regulatory concerns
- associated costs like shipping, inventory, or repairs
- repeat business potential
- cross-selling potential
Don't forget to think about what you would enjoy selling. Feeling good about and enjoying what you do to make a living is as important as being successful. Remember our motto here at HSW, "business doesn't have to be boring!" Do something fun. It keeps you young!
As with any other business, before you get too far along in the process you need to write a business plan. Writing a plan, even if your business is small, is never a waste of time. It will always help you organize yourself and improve your chances of success. It will also help motivate you to keep plugging away if you've seen the potential right there in the pages of your own business plan!
