Starting a Home Business - How to Write a Business Plan that Guides Your Success!

By Bibi LiewYour excited. You have a great idea for a profitableonline business. Maybe it is an original idea that hasnot been marketed online before. Maybe you have comeup with a new spin on the ordinary. Whatever it isthat has influenced you to start your online business,be sure that you have a plan before you begin. This isnot the time to “pick it up as you go”. These are somebasic things that should be included in your businessplan.The business summary should give a brief descriptionof the entire business and is an integral part of theoverall business plan. After you have completed thebusiness summary you should begin to list theobjectives or the goals that you want to accomplishthrough the business. Next and perhaps mostimportantly, you should develop your marketing plan.The marketing plan will address all the specifics ofthe business. When developing the marketing strategyyou should consider the following:The target market. The target market is the customersthat you expect to see visiting your site. For examplewill your product be more appealing to collegestudents or those who are in retirement?Consider the competition for your product whendetermining the marketing strategy. Choose a productthat will be seen as unique and useful. Visit sitesthat are offering the same or similar products. Findout the cost, and how they are marketing theirproduct. Finds out the pros and cons of their businessand try to improve your product based on their flaws.Research the various methods for advertising online.You should become educated about search engines andhow they work since each one is different. Also besure that you know how to submit your site to searchengines. You should be prepared to spend a smallamount of money on advertising, but the profits thatyou will gain from the advertisements will prove to bemoney well spent.Think about pricing. Again, look at the competitionand see what similar products are selling for. Pricingcan play a big role in the success of your productsince selling a product well below the average pricemay lead customer to think that there is a problemwith the product or that it is not of the bestquality. However, pricing items too high could alsodetour customers.Determine the shipping method. Be sure that you knowhow products will be shipped so that you can haveshipping details clearly posted on your site. If youare shipping things of great value, you shouldconsider providing shipping insurance. Also thinkabout shipping outside the country that you live in.Think about the different methods of payment that youwill accept. If your business does not accept creditcards, you should be ready to give up half if not moreof your sales. If you decide to accept credit cardswill you use a merchant account or will you use athird party credit card processing center? Both willhelp you get started and the third party processingcenter will handle all of the business so you don’’thave to. You should decide which you will use and alsoif you will accept checks or money orders. It isessential to have a secure server when taking creditcards.These few things will help your online business tobecome a great success and also provide you with peaceof mind knowing that you have thoroughly thought aboutand planned for the opening of your online business.