Here’s how I can help you set up your online business, from scratch: I can be involved from start to finish, or you can bring me in at any stage in the process.
Business Plan
I’ll work with you to create one. I’ll identify the critical issues, talk to the people I need to talk to, process the numbers and then put it all down on paper.
The goal is to develop a document that tells potential investors and other interested parties, what the short and medium term prospects are for your business and the resources you’re going to need to take your business where you want it to be.
A very important document, especially if you’re planning to talk to the bank or an investor.
Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan is also an integral part of your business plan, so each must be consistent with the other.
As well as identifying and analysing your products and markets, the plan will spell out precisely what your business is ‘about’, describe any marketing initiatives you intend implementing and what kind of financial return you expect from those initiatives.
Your marketing plan will probably be no more than 6 pages long and look no further than 12 months ahead. Again, I can help you put this document together.
So knowing what resources you’re going to need to sell what you’re going to sell and who you’re going to sell it to - and how - it’s time to move on to more practical (and exciting?) matters…
Kicking off your website
Foundations
Every website – large or small – is built on the same, fundamental foundations. First, you’ll need to formulate a domain name (DN). This where you can put the knowledge and insights you gained from developing your business and marketing plans, to really good use.
The domain name is the unique name of your website and as such it needs very careful consideration. I’ll help you sort that out.
Once that’s done, we’ll register your DN and get some of the other related issues dealt with at the same time – hosting, email, setting up online payment systems etc.
Pre build
The range and types of products you’re going to sell is the core of your website, we’ll then consider what other content needs including.
That will be…a home page (the first page visitors to your site see), an order form, your contact details, perhaps a video or two, a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page and perhaps an ‘About Us’ page.
Once this aspect of planning is completed, we’ll know how big or small your site’s going to be and therefore, I can estimate what it’s going to cost to build it.
Development
Down to the nitty gritty.
We’ll get quotes from one or more suitably qualified freelancers (usually the least expensive option), and/or an established web development business (usually the most costly option).
Having chosen the supplier and agreed the cost, you’ll then be expected to supply the basic materials required to start developing the site – i.e., the words and the pictures, something which I can help you with.
Armed with those basic components the website designer can then develop the initial overall look and feel for your site and then progress to final designs for all the pages.
An important consideration at this stage is whether you want your website to be prominent in the search engine listings. If that’s important to you, then that requirement needs communicating to the person or people building the site.
Post build
Once the site’s been tested and is absolutely wrinkle-free then we launch your online business by submitting it (by hand) to all the search engines that count. What you’ll need at that point are a range of analytical tools that enable you to monitor visitor numbers, on-site activity, and where your site stands in the search engine listings - I’ll set those tools up for you and show you how to use them.
The cost
It all depends on the scale of my involvement. Sometimes, it only takes a day’s consultancy, in which case the cost would be £500 + VAT; if however you required my assistance from start to finish, then my daily rate would reduce.