Before that first cyber buck finds its way into your bank account, you need to do considerable research and planning. To get started you can begin thinking about all the issues that need to be addressed before you can even put together a successful online business plan.
Planning ahead will not only save you redevelopment time down the road, but it will also help you make educated decisions as you choose the right e-business solution for your company. Before your can even select the right setup for your e-business, you must determine exactly what you need to be competitive online.
Most likely you will need some software to help you manage your products, your promotions, your customers, and their orders. You may also need some additional programs to handle the tax, shipping, and payment processing of your orders.
A number of off the shelf solutions have grown over the past few years that give you these core features and allow you to plug-in other software modules to handle the complexities of taxation, the varieties of shipping options, and all the popular forms of payment. Just pick a design and fill in your products and you are ready for business.
As soon as you are building your plans you should construct a requirements document. At this point it is a good time to get the attention of all the corporate departments involved. That way everyone's input is in at the beginning, instead of too late. All ideas and potential conflicts are confronted early.
It is hard to know which technology solution is good for you, until you have a detailed list of requirements that you can compare the solutions against. Therefore, you can choose an e-commerce platform that will deliver your goals to the online customers. You should also take the chance to plan for where the company is going to be in 2, 5, and 10 years. If you set your solution up correctly now, when your company grows and expands its range for service, you can simply add to the original foundation and not throw out your work.
More specifically your plan should answer the questions of how the products will be presented. The organization of how you would expect your customers to shop online, pretty cautiously when looking to order an automobile. The cars may be searched for through keywords or features.
You will need a tool that can make changes to the product you offer in real time. At this point the Internet is not reliable enough to take this high of priced orders safely so consumers will only be able to compare features and make requests online.
Orders that arrive on the server need to be relayed to the fulfillment center quickly so that you can pick, pack and ship the product before the fed ex truck leaves the dock at 5:00pm. Also let customers know the status of their orders so they don't need to call the company. A third party host may be a wise choice, as you don't want to stay with the orders around the clock. All these factors and many other make up a successful web based business.
The new entrepreneur is not content with just buying a job; her business and personal goal is not to work hard and make a living in the 'traditional' sense. She understands that it's better to become an employee of someone else than to run a mediocre, stressful and problematic business. Besides, mediocre business is no fun.
Mediocre is just not interesting and not acceptable; much pain, little gain. With little or no potential, why even bother? Thus the appeal and potential of the new hybrid business models which are based on results and not just working harder.
These new business models can be called hybrids because they evolve and combine more than just one business idea or concept. The success of companies in the future will depend on their ability to utilize and adapt multiple ideas and concepts at once to create value.
The bad news is the hybrids are more complex and the strategies more tedious to implement; the good news is a world of new marketing opportunities opens up.
In terms of the model infrastructure, technology is the key driver. The capability to creatively combine technologies for new applications in the marketplace is creating a new series of 'hybrid' business tools for the entrepreneur. This open way of thinking helps owners and managers apply new methods to old processes and gain competitive advantage, even on a local level. Public Relations is being replaced by internal marketing.
The clearest advantage of a hybrid model is low cost expansion of the targeted market. No longer relegated to just local sales and marketing, the new hybrid models look to a mix of local, regional and world markets. Success is now defined as the matrix of the right mix and match across markets for profitability and growth. The new hybrid models all look to new and expanding revenue streams; it's all about strategy and process.
These hybrid models are not only proactive but also results driven. If a marketing campaign is not working, the new model says either fix or replace it.
Since traditional media are bringing in a reduced return on investment (ROI), more internal, guerrilla and Internet based marketing is used. The new entrepreneurs do not contract out all marketing because they create most of the marketing themselves.
These hybrid business models are designed to grow and expand. By leveraging technology the new entrepreneurs make sure they get the data and information they need when they need it.
And since they just are not content with 10% gross margins, these hybrid models have built in feedback and ongoing research looking for ways to expand and grow with minimal capital and debt. Many of these companies can plan expansion with little capital outlay. The quest is constantly one of tapping into opportunities and for new and expanding revenue streams.
This growth may also require diversifying into new products/services or expanding into new locations but not necessarily major franchising, maybe three or four locations. Slow and steady is the course and these new models are a bit averse to rapid and unwarranted risk.
Since working capital is often used, expansion is OK if it is a sure thing or as sure a thing as one can anticipate in business. Each small expansion is a calculated winner.
Almost all these of these new models have mix and match products and services to fit specific customer/client's needs, a customization the customer cannot get elsewhere. As this creativity drives customer value an increasingly clear distinction is made from the competition.
If the perception is relayed successfully to the target market and the price versus cost analysis is positive, then the conditions are conducive for a successful sale and transaction.
But the new hybrids also bring new challenges.
Not all employees are appropriate for these new models so the new entrepreneurs look for employees that 'fit'; they understand a good employee is a productive employee and not just a time and space physical presence.
The key is to provide opportunity and the chance to learn and develop especially by developing those skills needed in the new hybrid business models; for example, working with computers and dealing professionally with prospects and customers at the same time.
The bad news is the new hybrid models are multidimensional and are also driven by a time factor meaning they can be unwieldy and at times very frustrating. The good news is a good hybrid business model can offer a powerful series of strategic advantages enabling today's entrepreneur to develop new products, services and combinations to deliver increasing value across an expanding marketplace.
Both Ray La Foy & Jack Deal are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.