Posted by: Andy on August 31st, 2007
Category: General eBusiness, e-Business Basics
Viewed: 848 times
It is often difficult to figure out how to research your idea, especially if you have never been in business for yourself. You will need to decide if your idea has profit potential.
Use the following 5 steps as a guide to help you determine if your idea is worthwhile.
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11) Estimate Sales for the first year.
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Base your estimates on the size of your market, level of competition, your price, your plans for promotion and trends in your industry. Create a pessimistic, an optimistic, and a middle of the road forecast.
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12) List any government approvals necessary to launch your idea.
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There may be some extensive or expensive regulations involved with your type of business. The Information Sources for Small Business Directory can to assist you with determining provincial regulations affecting your business.
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13) Briefly describe your manufacturing or purchasing process.
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State how you will make or acquire the goods you plan to sell. Use your sales forecast to help you plan this part of your operation. Think about potential growth in future years.
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14) Briefly describe your fulfillment process.
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How does your customer get their order and how do you get paid.
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15) Estimate the capacity of your operation in the first year.
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How big will your operation be? What is the limit of what you can produce, stock, service and sell. Can you meet your sales forecasts? Have you taken future growth into consideration?
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Posted by: Andy on August 24th, 2007
Category: General eBusiness, e-Business Basics
Viewed: 818 times
It is often difficult to figure out how to research your idea, especially if you have never been in business for yourself. You will need to decide if your idea has profit potential.
Use the following 5 steps as a guide to help you determine if your idea is worthwhile.
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6) Estimate what price you can charge, yet still remain competitive.
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Determining how competitive you can be is a big step toward how feasible your idea is. If your product is superior to your competition and your market is not very price sensitive then you may be able to charge considerably more than your competition. If you are selling to retailers or wholesalers, you will have to leave enough room for others to mark your products up.
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7) Why would your customers buy from you instead of your competition?
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What is unique about your offer that would benefit your customer? There may be something about your product, your price, the friendliness and speed of your service, your hours of operation, your level of quality, the skills of your employees or other aspect of your business.
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8) List and briefly describe trends in your market or industry.
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Knowing trends in your market or industry will help you determine where it's going and how your business can take advantage. Check business and industry/trade magazines for recent articles. Some libraries have a "business periodicals index" to help you find these articles.
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9) What is the growth potential of the market?
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Is your industry or market growing or declining? Are trends or fads new, peaking or declining? Generally, you will be more successful being part of a growing market. Check business and industry/trade magazines for recent articles.
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10) How are you going to let your customer know you exist?
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So now you know who your customer is, where they are and why they will buy your product. How are you going to communicate your offer to them? Will you rely on having a good location? Will you use advertising? Sales calls? Direct marketing? Yellow pages?
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Posted by: Andy on August 16th, 2007
Category: General eBusiness, e-Business Basics
Viewed: 1,039 times
It is often difficult to figure out how to research your idea, especially if you have never been in business for yourself. You will need to decide if your idea has profit potential.
Use the following 5 steps as a guide to help you determine if your idea is worthwhile.
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1) Make a list your potential suppliers
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Your concept may rely heavily on the reliability of your raw material suppliers and/or your subcontractors. How dependent will you be? Figure out who your suppliers will likely be and try to find back-up suppliers.
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2) Make a list of the resources you will require to start your business.
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List the employees, floor space, leasehold improvements, equipment, vehicles, inventory, supplies and services you will require to open your business. Estimate the costs of each item on your list. You will need this list to determine your start up costs.
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3) Determine what resources you will finance, lease or rent.
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You will probably not pay for large purchases outright but will instead lease, rent or finance these items. You will need to estimate your monthly payments to help you prepare a cash flow worksheet.
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4) List your financial strengths and weaknesses.
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How much of your own money do you have for this business? What assets can you use as collateral to secure a loan? Do you already own the vehicles, computer equipment or tools needed to start your business? Do you have family, friends or others who are prepared to invest in your business? Do you have a strong personal credit rating?
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5) Prepare a monthly cash flow forecast for your first year of operation.
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Posted by: Andy on August 16th, 2007
Category: General eBusiness, e-Business Basics
Viewed: 2,498 times
by Rick Sloboda
webcopyplus!
Why do so many businesses lack respect for online customers?
It's bizarre, especially in this day and age with Internet usage and spending relentlessly on the rise. Perhaps with so many suspect websites hovering in cyberspace, even credible companies tend to lose perspective.
Maybe it's time to start thinking of visitors as online guests . It's a simple ‘mind shift' that might get companies to better recognize how their websites communicate with those they intend to serve.
For instance, consider promotionally-driven pop-up windows. Would any credible company have a salesman jump out of nowhere and shove signage in front of a customer's face?
Or there's the all-too-common self-centric web content going on and on about how marvelous a business is, and not paying heed to what it is the customer actually wants or needs. It's like having a loud, obnoxious salesman greet you in a showroom by endlessly boasting how great he is.
It's time to pay your online guests the same respect you grant people in your stores and offices. Here's a checklist to ensure your business website provides your guests the respect they deserve:
- Spam - Are you boring or irritating your guests with marketing hype? Your web content should be informative and objective. Be sure to back any statements up with facts and figures.
- Approach - Don't be arrogant and bore guests with self-absorbed web content. Put your guests first with customer-centered messages. You'll enjoy greater success by focusing on what they want versus what you sell.
- Style - Speak to your guests, not at them. It's effective to demonstrate authority with insightful, useful information, but never talk down to your audience.
- Pop-ups - In almost every situation, pop-up ads will only frustrate guests and turn them against you and your advertisers. That's why the vast majority of Internet users now employ pop-up blocking software.
- Deceitful ads - Disguised ads and misleading links confuse and frustrate guests, prompting them to leave your site. Clearly identify ads and plainly tell guests where a link will take them. Get too cute and you'll hinder your site's ease of use.
- Content that flashes or moves - It's amateur from a design perspective and distracting from a usability standpoint.
- Slow-loading web content - Again and again, Internet users state slow-loading web content is one of the main reasons they abandon websites. Streamline and optimize your site, and eliminate those unnecessary intros.
- Automatic sounds and music - If music is necessary due to your business or industry, give your guests full control. Otherwise, it's best to keep it quiet so you don't annoy your guests and cheapen your brand.
There's no denying the way you treat your online guests directly impacts your bottom line. So drill it into your culture: old-fashioned respect goes a long way, cyberspace included.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Webcopyplus is armed with a motivated team of communications professionals, each possessing at least 16 years of experience in their respective fields.
Clients range from small, independent retailers (Shop Cocoon) to some of the world's largest service providers (Cingular).
We maintain strategic partnerships with branding, information technology and online marketing experts to ensure you benefit from leading edge webcopy techniques.
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Posted by: Nathan on August 1st, 2007
Category: General eBusiness, Hardware
Viewed: 1,190 times
Beginning August 1, 2007, the Government of British Columbia requires that all sellers of electronics adhere to the new recycling regulations.
This may require collection and payment of an Environmental Handling Fee for certain electronic products, such as computers and TVs. For more information on the new regulations and the Electronics Stewardship Association of BC go to http://www.encorp.ca/electronics/.
The GVRD alone sends over 20,000 tonnes of e-waste to landfills every year. Due to the composition of many electronic devices, the release of extremely toxic materials occurs when they end up in landfills. Most of these materials can be recycled.
ESABC has all the information you need to act responsibly, either as a consumer or producer of electronics. Visit their website and do your part.
Tags: e-waste, electronics recycling, recycling regulations, BC recycling, electronics retailers
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