Introduction
You’ve been thinking about starting your own business, but until now, it was just a dream. After all, you’re a busy person. You have a full-time job, whether it’s running your home or as part of the rat race. Perhaps you’ve been through a life-changing event and are ready to move in a new direction.
Well, we have news for you: Now is the perfect time to turn your dream into reality by starting your own Web-based business. People just like you are making money and enriching their lives by starting up online. Opening hours don’t exist, but you can work when you need to, and the location of your business makes no difference. Anyone can run a small business from the comfort of a home office – even if it’s just your spare bedroom. And there’s an ever increasing number of ways you can make money online, such as running your own blog, starting a business on eBay, or dreaming up something entirely unique.
If you like the idea of being in business for yourself, but you don’t have a particular product or service in mind at the moment, keep a look out for openings and ideas: What could you put online that isn’t there already? The Internet is home to many diverse businesses that have ‘made it’ in their own way. Among the entrepreneurs we interviewed for this book are a woman who sells her own insect repellent, a housewife who sells sweetener and coffee on eBay, a sculptor and painter, and a young man who started selling electronics online at age 16. With help from this book, you can transform a simple idea into your very own online empire.
About This Book
You say you wouldn’t know a merchant account, domain name, or click-through if you sat next to one on a train? Don’t worry: The Internet (and this book) levels the playing field, so a novice has almost as good a chance at succeeding as the MBA-clutching whiz kids you hear about.
The Internet is a vital part of what makes a business these days. Whether you’ve been in business for 20 years or 20 minutes, the keys to success are the same:
Having a good idea: If you have something to sell that people have an appetite for, and if your competition is thin on the ground, your chances of success are good.
Working hard: When you’re your own boss, you can make yourself work harder than any of your former bosses ever could. If you put in the effort and persevere through the inevitable ups and downs, you’ll come up smiling.
Preparing for success: One of the most surprising and useful things we can discover from online businesspeople is that if you believe that you will succeed, you stand a much better chance of doing so. Believe in yourself and go about your plans like they’re dead certs. Together with your good ideas and hard work, your confidence will pay off.
If you’re the cautious type who wants to test the waters before you launch your new business on the Internet, let this book lead you gently over the learning curve. Once you’re online, you can master techniques to improve your presence. Even if you aren’t among the lucky small business owners who make a fortune by connecting to the Net, the odds are very good that you will make new friends, build your confidence, and have fun, too.
Conventions Used in This Book
In this book, we format important bits of information in special ways to make sure that you notice them right away:
In This Chapter lists: Chapters start with a list of the topics that we cover in that chapter. This list represents a kind of table of contents in miniature.
Numbered lists: When you see a numbered list, follow the steps in a specific order to accomplish the task.
Bulleted lists: Bulleted lists (like this one) indicate things that you can do in any order or list related bits of information.
Web addresses: When we describe activities or sites of interest on the World Wide Web, we include the address, or Uniform Resource Locator (URL), in a special typeface like this: http://www.wiley.com/. Because popular Web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox don’t require you to enter the entire URL, this book uses the shortened addresses. For example, if you want to connect to the Wiley Publishing site, you can get there by simply entering the following in your browser’s Go To or Address bar: www.wiley.co.uk.
Don’t be surprised if your browser can’t find an Internet address you type or if a Web page that’s depicted in this book no longer looks the same. Although the sites were current when the book was written, Web addresses (and sites themselves) can be pretty fickle. Try looking for a missing site by using an Internet search engine. Or try shortening the address by deleting everything after the .co.uk (or .com or .org.uk).
Foolish Assumptions
This book assumes that you’ve never been in business but that you’re interested in setting up your own commercial site on the Internet. We also assume that you’re familiar with the Internet and have been surfing for a while.
We also assume that you have or are ready to get the following:
A computer and a modem: Chapter 2 explains exactly what kind of stuff you need.
Instructions on how to think like a businessperson: We spend big chunks of this book encouraging you to set goals and do the sort of planning that successful businesspeople need to do.
Just enough technical know-how: You don’t have to do it all yourself. Plenty of entrepreneurs decide to partner with someone or hire an expert to perform design and technical work. This book gives you your options, as well as a basic vocabulary, so that you can work productively with the consultants you hire.
How This Book Is Organised
This book is divided into five parts. Each part contains chapters that discuss stages in the process of starting an online business: designing the Web site, getting it hosted, choosing what shape your business will take, and figuring out what you plan to sell.
Part I: Strategies and Tools for Your Online Business
In Part I, we describe what you need to do and how you need to think in order to start your new business. Throughout the part, you find case studies profiling entrepreneurs and describing how they started their online businesses. Within these pages, we tell you what software you need to create Web pages and perform essential business tasks, along with any computer upgrades that will help your business run more smoothly. You also discover how to choose a Web host and find exciting new ways to make money online.
Part II: Establishing Your Online Presence
This part explains how to create a compelling and irresistible Web site, one that attracts paying customers around the world and keeps them coming back to make more purchases. This part also includes options for attracting and keeping customers, making your site secure, and updating and improving your online business.
Part III: Running and Promoting Your Online Business
Your work doesn’t end after you put your Web site online or start to make a few sales. In fact, what you do after you open your virtual doors for business can make the difference between a site that says, ‘Buy from me!’ and one that says, ‘Get out quick!’ In this part, we describe cost-effective marketing and advertising techniques that you can do yourself to increase visibility and improve customer satisfaction. You discover how to create a smooth shopping experience for your customers, how to accept payments, and how to provide good customer service. You also find out about ways to increase visibility with search services.
Part IV: The Necessary Evils: Law and Accounting
This part delves into some less-than-sexy but essential tasks for any online business. You find out about general security software designed to make commerce more secure on the Internet. We also discuss copyrights, trademarks, and other legal concerns for anyone wanting to start a company in an increasingly competitive atmosphere online. Finally, you get an overview of basic accounting practices for online businesses and suggestions of accounting tools that you can use to keep track of your e-commerce activities.
Part V: The Part of Tens
Filled with tips, cautions, suggestions, and examples, the Part of Tens presents many titbits of information that you can use to plan and create your own business presence on the Internet, including ten hot new ways to make money on the Web.
Icons Used in This Book
Starting and Running an Online Business For Dummies also uses special graphical elements called icons to get your attention. Here’s what they look like and what they mean:
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Where to Go from Here
We’ve made this book into an easy-to-use reference tool that you should be comfortable with, no matter what your level of experience. You can use this book in a couple of ways: as a cover-to-cover read or as a reference for when you run into problems or need inspiration. Feel free to skip straight to the chapters that interest you. You don’t have to scour each chapter methodically from beginning to end to find what you want. The Web doesn’t work that way, and neither does this book!
Want a snapshot of what it takes to get online and be inspired by one man’s online business success story? Jump ahead to Chapter 1. Want to find out how to accept credit-card payments? Check out Chapter 11.
If you’re just starting out and need to do some essential business planning, see Chapter 2. If you want to prepare a shopping list of business equipment, see Chapter 3. Part II is all about the essential aspects of creating and operating a successful online business, from organising and marketing your Web site to providing effective online customer service and security. Later chapters cover advertising, legal issues, and accounting. So start where it suits you and come back later for more.