Starting An Online Or Any Other Business

Some years ago when the dot com boom was in full flow, everyone thought that the internet was a sure fire way to become a millionaire overnight. Then came the big crash which left most of the start ups with burnt fingers, or worse. There are many reasons why this happened, but the biggest one was that people were so involved with the potential of the internet and the incredible business opportunities it offered that they forgot the most basic issue.

Success cannot be based purely on technological capabilities or potential or on exciting business models. Any enterprise, be it on the net or an old fashioned brick and mortar operation needs to know the basics of its business – how to produce products or services, how to sell them and how to make money of this effort. The ways of doing this online may be different, but the same principles apply.

The first thing you need to do is know yourself – your strengths and weaknesses. Make a list of all your strengths. Then add all your weaknesses to the same list. Now forget looking at them as strengths and weaknesses and instead look at them as qualities. What you think of as strengths and weaknesses may change places depending on your business. For example, you may list impatience as a weakness but it could be a strength if your business requires tight turn around, deliveries or customer responses.

Look at the qualities you will need to succeed in your new business and compare them to your list. This will give you a good idea of how suited you are for it; and even if you find this is not the business for you, doing this exercise will help you better define the kind of business you should be in.

Identifying the right business is something you need to spend time on. It not a question of what you want to do (although that is important) but on what has the best chance of success. The way to do this is to make a business plan and circulate it to those you trust and who’s opinions you value. Ask them for improvements, but more importantly ask them to knock holes in it – anything and everything, no matter how small. Plug all the holes and answer all the objections in as detailed a manner as possible.

Then do a SWOT analysis of you proposed business. SWOT is:

• Strengths – what do you have that give you an advantage over others?
• Weaknesses – what are the weaknesses in your proposed plan that could cause it to fail? What can you do about them?
• Opportunities – What are the opportunities that your qualities and business plan will be able to exploit (perhaps better than others) to get you success.
• Threats – What are the external threats that could cause your business to fail? Things like changes in technology that could make your product or service out of date, a sharp rise in costs (rising fuel prices are an example), changing lifestyles and so on. Weigh the threats. Look at ways of protecting yourself and then decide if you want to go ahead.

There’s a lot more to look at but if you have completed these first few basic steps, you will have made a good start. For more information on what a brand is or what quality management is, check out our company blog. Also check out an article names, What do you need to start an online business.