Are You Ready to Own Your Own E-Commerce Business ?
Starting a business is exciting and nerve-wracking. It will be one of the
biggest investments you'll make during your lifetime. Not just financially, but
emotionally as well. Doing it right will mean taking on a lot of
responsibilities and making a lot of sacrifices. It will also mean working
harder than you ever have before.
For these reasons, business ownership
is not for everyone. If you don't have the right skills, personality, and
commitment to operate a business, you'll be in trouble before you make your
first sale. So before you begin planning your E-Commerce business, you need to
take a hard look at yourself, your family, and your finances, and give honest
answers to some very important questions.
The following questions
will help you weigh your personal characteristics and beliefs against the
realities of business ownership. Don't worry if you find that a few of the
questions reveal doubts or weaknesses. Nobody's a perfect match for any
profession. But if you find many of the questions troubling, you may want to
rethink your decision to go into business.
1) Are you willing to accept the responsibility of operating your own
business ?
Forget the tidy little
set of responsibilities that came with a position in corporate life. When you
run a business, you're in charge of everything—from opening the doors in the
morning to cleaning up at night. Then when you go home, you worry.
The hours are long, there's a high degree of stress, and there's always too much
to do and not enough time to do it. You'll have to deal with your customers and
your employees. You'll be responsible for the finances of the business and
dealing with taxes. And you'll need to fill out a lot of forms and sign a lot of
checks.
Make sure you understand what
you're getting into. As a business owner, you'll have more responsibilities than
you've ever had before, no matter what your previous jobs have been. If you
understand this simple fact, you'll be ready to take your responsibilities on.
2) Are you comfortable making hard decisions ?
As the owner of a business, you'll
also have to make many decisions that affect the business, your livelihood, and
that of your employees. Many times they will/11 be tough to make, including the
decision to lay people off if your business falls on hard times. It will require
decisiveness, mental toughness, and resolve. If you have trouble when faced with
tough choices, this could be a problem area.
Do you think owning your own business is
the way to easy money ?
Think again. Many people actually end up
sacrificing income to open their businesses, at least at first. That's the price
they're willing to pay for independence.
If you're thinking of giving up a promising career and a lucrative income to
start your business, be realistic about what your financial needs are and
whether or not the business will meet those needs. Remember, you're building a
business.
It may take you a number of years to get to the
income level you want or need. On the other hand, you may decide that you're
willing to sacrifice some money for the reward of being your own boss. Many
people have found it to be worth every penny.
3) Are you starting a business out of desperation ?
This is a very real concern, particularly in
light of the huge number of experienced businessmen and businesswomen who have
been cast adrift in the job market through corporate downsizing in recent years.
If you're one of these people and are thinking about starting a business because
you think it's your only option, be very careful. Yes, it can be the answer to
your future security, but only if you're willing to make the necessary
commitments and sacrifices. The world of business ownership is vastly different
from the corporate world. Make sure you recognize the differences before you
make the move.
4) Are you well organized ?
The day-to-day operation of your business is
going to require you to assume many responsibilities. Let's consider an average
day. You may need to do the payroll, talk to suppliers, pay a few bills, work on
a new advertising pamphlet, and prepare some tax forms. At the same time you'll
be filling orders and making sure they get sent out on time. Then there's always
the unexpected—your computer bombs or the air-conditioning conks out.
As a business owner, you'll need to keep many
balls in the air at one time. Your ability to juggle all these responsibilities
will directly affect your success. If you're well organized, you'll have a list
of the things you need to do, and you'll methodically go through it during the
course of the day. If you're interrupted, you'll pick up where you left off
after you've dealt with the problem. If you're still not through at the end of
the day, you'll sit there and work until you've finished. Procrastinators do not
do well in business. If you get behind, you're sunk.
5) Are you creative ?
It's an asset to any business. No matter how
great your product, you're not going to be the only one selling it. Marketing
and advertising are critical to getting customers' attention and encouraging
them to buy. If you have a creative streak—whether it be copywriting, graphic
design, or even an offbeat sense of humor—it will be an invaluable asset to your
business.
This is doubly true in E-Commerce . Since your
customers can't see the items they're purchasing "in the flesh," so to speak,
they need to be enticed by the visual presentation and written description in
your promotional materials.
6) Are you flexible ?
In business, if an idea or plan doesn't work, you
can't let yourself waste time, energy, and emotion bemoaning its failure. You
need to quickly come up with an alternative solution. Flexibility and
adaptability are the key. You'll need to stay focused to achieve your goal, but
you may need to try several different paths to get there.
In E-Commerce order, for example, one
marketing approach may work for a while and then stall. At that point you'll
need to come up with something new. Remember, every business plan and every
business can benefit from a fresh look every once in a while, even when things
seem to be going along just fine.
7) Are you goal orientated ?
This trait is obviously helpful in all parts of
life, but it's particularly helpful in business. As a business owner, your goals
will be defined in very simple, concrete terms—gross sales and net profit.
A good businessperson approaches each year
with new goals and uses them as motivating forces throughout the year. Let's say
gross sales for your first year of operation were $500,000 and your net profit
was $ 100,000. For the following year, you might set as your goal a 20 percent
increase, or $ 600,000and $ 120,000. Achieving or surpassing those figures will
drive you day after day.
Goal-oriented people also plan for the future. Eventually, you may want to
expand your product selection and your target market. You'll have a long-term
plan that includes the timing of your expansion and what every aspect of your
business will do to accommodate increased volume.
8) Are you an optimist ?
Having the right mental attitude is important for
every aspect of life. When you run into hard times, keeping an upbeat attitude
and looking for the positive side of things is critical to riding out the storm.
This is particularly true in business. By
nature, it's a trip with peaks and valleys. For instance, the hardest time for
any business is the first year or two. You may spend months getting things ready
to go, carefully selecting the merchandise you'll carry, and getting your
advertising strategy together. Then you'll send out your first e-mailing and
wait anxiously for the phone to begin ringing off the hook and your emailbox to
be jammed with orders.
But nothing happens. Maybe a few orders
trickle in, or you get some phone calls with questions about certain items. This
isn't unusual, but even knowing that, you'll still worry. If you're the type of
person who gets down when things don't quite go the way you'd like, you might
have trouble with the roller coaster ride that any business will take you on.
Keeping a positive mental attitude is essential to weathering the bad times and
working hard to make the good ones arrive that much sooner.
9 ) Have you any experience you can use in running the business ?
If you have, it will make learning the business a
lot easier. Experience in sales, accounting, advertising, marketing, personnel
management, taxes, or any other business-related responsibility is a definite
plus for a potential business owner.
Experience with computers is mandatory since in E-Commerce of course computers
are your lifeblood .
You have to have hands on experience with
computers both hardware and software and not be intimidated by computer experts
and geeks but rather be able to work with these other eccentric individuals who
command often unique skills.
10 ) Do you enjoy working with people ?
One of the painful realities of being in
retail is the fact that the customer is always right. Granted, running a
E-Commerce business distances you from your customers in the sense that there's
rarely face-to-face contact. But that doesn't mean you don't owe them the same
service and courtesy you would if they were standing right in front of you.
As an E-Commerce retailer, you'll have the
same problems with customers that storefront retailers experience. You'll have
complaints about your merchandise, your prices, your service, your policies, and
your employees. Believe me, no matter how well you think you have things
organized, someone will find fault with them.
This is where tact, patience, and
understanding come in. When a customer is unhappy, you must put up with their
behavior and try to amend the situation. The last thing your business needs is a
bad reputation. If you allow a customer to go away unsatisfied, you can be sure
the person will tell all their friends how terrible you are. That, in turn, will
keep a lot of potential customers from becoming regular customers.
So there will be times when you'll have to bite
the bullet and make amends quickly and courteously when you'd really like to
tell the customer to take a hike. Because you're dealing with someone who may be
halfway across the country, it may take a personal phone call, an overnight
special delivery, or a refund with a handwritten note saying you're sorry the
purchase didn't work out but you look forward to helping them in the future.
Just make sure you leave the customer happy. .You'll also have to deal with the
people who work for you. As the owner of a business, your behavior will set the
standard for your employees' behavior. If you're negative and critical, they'll
be negative and critical. But if you're cheerful and upbeat, that will also be
reflected in their behavior.
You'll have to be tough at times. Managing people
isn't easy. If you're lucky, most of your employees will be pleasant, will work
hard, and will contribute positively to the business. But you'll also have a few
who will turn out to be unpleasant, lazy, incompetent, or even dishonest.
Motivating them will be a challenge. If you can't change their behavior, you
have to be able to fire them.
11) Are you comfortable dealing with money ?
Some people are terribly inept at finances.
Others can do it but hate it. Like it or not, financial management is an
inescapable fact of business ownership. You'll be dealing with complex monetary
issues, from financing the business to handling the day-to-day receipts. You'll
be responsible for paying the bills, making the bank deposits, doing the
payroll, and sending in withholding taxes and quarterly reports to the IRS and
the state. You may be handling substantial amounts of cash, and there are
certain risks inherent in that responsibility.
You'll also be making business plans. These are
detailed projections of your income and expenses for a given period of time,
usually three months, six months, or a year. In some ways, they're quite
simple—you want to maximize your income and minimize your expenses. But they
take careful planning and budgeting. What are the minimum staffing expenses
going to be to operate the business? What will your overhead and utilities be?
How much money can you spend on advertising? When are the taxes due? How will
you determine the price of your products? What will you charge for shipping and
handling?
Any financial experience you may have had will help you with this aspect of your
business. And if you like this type of activity, it will be to your advantage.
But if you find it burdensome, you'll have to be ready to deal with it.
12 ) Are you financially prepared to open a
business ?
Starting any business requires money. The nice
thing about E-Commerce is that you can make it about as bare-bones as you care
to, particularly if you're starting a small operation that you'll operate in
your spare time. Many people have started E-Commerce businesses for just a
relatively small amount of capital .
But the bigger your dreams, the more money you're
going to need. If you're planning a full-time E-Commerce business with numerous
products, the start-up costs will be considerably higher. Then a whole new batch
of considerations comes into play. Do you have the financial reserves to support
you and your family for a period of time until business picks up? Some business
advisers say you should have enough on hand to survive for a year with no income
whatsoever. While that may be an unrealistic goal, you do need to consider what
happens if the business fails altogether. Do you have the resources to weather
such a catastrophe?
Before you begin planning your business, you need
to take a careful look at your finances. How much of your available capital are
you willing to risk? Are you willing to personally sign for a business loan?
What do you have to offer as collateral? How much cash will you have in reserve
for emergencies? If you don't have enough to start the business yourself, are
you willing to take on a partner or partners? Are you staking your entire
financial future on the business?
Undercapitalization is the main cause of failure for
small businesses in the United States. Yet many people, caught up in the
entrepreneurial fever, continue to start businesses on a shoestring, woefully
unprepared to deal with the bad times. If you can't start your business with a
comfortable financial cushion beneath you, you may be taking a risk you can't
afford.
13 ) Is your family ready to make the commitment
Whether your family is actively involved in the
business or not, business ownership is going to have a huge effect on them. If
you're the only one involved in its day-to-day operation, the rest of the family
isn't going to see you very much. If they're used to having you around on
evenings and weekends, this may cause problems.
Your spouse may be unhappy having less time to go out to dinner or the movie
duties. Your absence may also mean he or she is going to have to assume a lot
more responsibility at home— chauffeuring the kids here and there, helping with
homework, doing the shopping, cooking the meals, cleaning the house, paying the
bills, and all the other odds and ends that are part of day-to-day life.
Your kids may have to make some big adjustments, too.
You might not be available for Little League games, dance recitals, school
plays, and all the other events of childhood.
There may also be some financial adjustments for your
family. If you're like most fledgling business owners, you'll be running a tight
ship for a few years. Your family will have to realize there might not be money
for some of the luxuries they used to take for granted.
It's extremely important to think about potential
family problems early in the process. Sit everyone down together and tell them
what you're thinking of doing. Make sure they know what it will mean to the
family's day-to-day routine and find out how they feel about it. Their support
will make your life a lot easier. You're going to have enough stress just
handling the business. The last thing you'll need is a family crisis.
The other side of the coin is having your
family members working in the business with you. The dynamics of family
businesses can be quite volatile, and you'll want to make sure everyone can get
along. A major question will be, Who's the boss? Are the lines of authority
clearly drawn? Are you and your spouse going to be equals in ownership and
operation of the business? If so, are you able to work together cheerfully and
consider each other's opinions? If you are, you'll probably have no problem
running the company together. But if you can't even agree on what kind of soap
to use, you may have trouble.
14 ) can you handle stress ?
It comes with the territory. Long hours,
endless responsibility, dealing with customers, worrying about money—these can
take a huge emotional toll. Some people thrive on stress. It actually makes them
perform better. They stay calm in a crisis and can react quickly to change.
Others fall apart when things get too hectic. Which kind of person are you?
15 ) Are you in good health ?
Running a business can be physically taxing as
well. You may have to spend a lot of time on your feet and not get as much sleep
as you'd like. You may not have as much time to eat properly or exercise
regularly. There may be activities in the business that require a fair amount of
physical strength. Take an inventory of your physical health. Do you have any
chronic problems that might prevent you from operating the business efficiently?
Remember, when you own the business, you have to be there day after day. A long
absence because of a serious illness could spell disaster.
These questions may be heart wrenching and difficult to consider but
are essential if you are to consider whether you are ready willing and able to
run your own E-Commerce BUSINESS?
Ace Training Net
www.ace-training.net