subject: Starting Up An Ecommerce Website - Part One Of The Business Plan [print this page] You would be surprised how many people forget to write a complete business plan for ecommerce websites. Even though your business is essentially virtual and online, like any business you will need a business plan to strategically reach your goals, to inform prospective investors or loan companies and prepare for expansion. Heres a few tips on how to create an effective business plan for an ecommerce website.
The Mission Statement: The first part of the business plan is setting out your aims, goals and history. For instance, you may have many years of experience in sales and customer services, which you would note down in the summary. This experience is relevant because it shows what you can already bring to the business, a knowledge of sales and customer service. Before you project for the future, also describe what stage the business is in now (i.e. equipment used, if in an office etc) and how long it has been up and running or thought about for.
Now you should think about the future of your business. What are the goals for it? Clearly in the context of an ecommerce website, you want an increased number of sales and growth. But you will need to ask yourself at what rate you want to grow, after all you may not be able to cope with a fast growth spurt, so slowly but surely may be better for you.
Market Research: This is of great importance as it will inform your marketing strategy. First of all conduct your market research this will help you to discover who will visit your website and buy your products. Look at groups, such as age, gender, culture etc. Also consider the places where people might buy from, such as local, national and international.
After completing your research and translating it into statistics, then you can decide upon how you are going to market your ecommerce website to them. Write up your market campaign, which will demonstrate how exactly you will drive traffic to your website, as well as keep customers.
Your Unique Selling Point: What is your unique selling point? What will make internet users buy off your website, rather than others? Any business person knows always look out for the competition, but also learn from them too. You have to able to give exactly the same good deals as the competition, plus more. Always drive your unique selling point, whether it be free P&P or an environmentally friendly statement, as this will be what makes people buy your product over the competition. Remember your unique statement has to be true.
Look out for part two of the business plan which shall cover finance, employees and skills needed to run an ecommerce business.
by: Marie Coles
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