These days everybody is talking about starting an internet based business. One of the largest advantages of this type of business is that it involves very little start-up capital and risk. You do not have to quit your job – you can start your business working after hours from home.
Accordingly the barrier to entry should be very low, and every Tom, Dick and Harry should have a web based business running, right? Wrong. Starting a web based business is easy. Sustaining a profitable web based business is hard. There are a multitude of aspects to consider, most of them quite complex and hard to understand for the average man-in-the-street.
Let’s assume you have a good business idea backed by a solid business plan. You must not underestimate the importance of having a solid business model before attempting to penetrate the massive market the internet opens up to you. Merely having a good website with no business model backing it will get you nowhere. So go sit down and construct your business model in detail, and then read further.
It is often assumed that the creation of the website is relatively simple, and that it is a question of getting someone to design a site for you. This is unfortunately not the case – the design and development of your site will entail much more than this. Note that we talk about the design and development, not just the design. Many people believe that Setting up a great website is as simple as doing a nice design, saving it as an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language for those who aren’t computer nerds), and uploading it to the web. In truth, the design is but a small part of the process. Equally as important is the development of the site.
The development of the site includes all the functionality of the site, and if you desire to have more than a static page that does nothing, the development is where the big work lies. The development includes all the scripting that allows the browser to obtain information from fields on the page, connect to a database, submit or retrieve data from the database, and all other functionality of the site. The development also includes the setup of payment functions, newsletters and security.
There are a myriad of companies offering web page design options. Before choosing a company do thorough research into what the capabilities of the company are. Have a look at the work they have done on other pages. One of the best things to do is to contact one of their clients and to ask them what their experience with the company was.
Do not underestimate the value of being able to visit the company and to be able to talk face-to-face with them. Electronic communication is a brilliant tool, but nothing beats face-to-face communication. It is therefore important to consider making use of a company that is located near you, so that you can visit them in person. Remember, the development of a website is not a short term project, and if you hope to have a successful online business, you’ll have to have a long term relationship with your web design company in order for you to keep improving and altering your site.
One alternative to consider if you do not have a large budget for your site is to make use of open-source Content Management Systems (CMS). These are systems developed that allow you to build an entire webpage that is extremely powerful. It is also very flexible, with a multitude of components and modules that plug into it that allows you to build almost any functionality into your site. You do need some web development skills to make use of this option successfully, but the system is set up in such a way as to guide you through most of the process. You can have a look at one of the leading CMS sites at www.joomla.org
It can be very rewarding to have the site created and working just like you planned. However, don’t expect to have it up and running in no time. Depending on how much time you can put into it, the process can take a long time. Many of the really impressive websites working well and generating income streams took a number of years to build to the level they are currently at.
