Setting up online business.

Shay09

Hi,

I'm planning to set up an online store, I am a complete novice. I was hoping some one could help me with the details that this will involve. I am just now registering as a business. What other costs can I expect?

My questions so far are:

Do I need to get liability insurance as I will be selling products?

I am recently unemployed and was wondering would the back to work enterprise allowance be something that I should look further into?

Basically I will be selling good online, delivered by post. I don't expect to earn much from this site, so VAT shouldn't be a problem. Any information anyone has would be great, thanks.:)

mneylon

Talk to your bank and / or local enterprise board

There are *some* grants etc., available but you'd need to see exactly what

dbran

Hi

Best of luck in the business.

Regarding Back to work enterprise allowance, this can be a useful aid to going back to work as it allows you to keep your dole for one year while you work to set up the business.

However you should not consider it to be a source of finance. At the end of the day the business itself needs to be viable and be able to give you a source of income on its own. Being eligable for this scheme should not be a factor in whether you persue the business, just something that will soften the blow of loosing you dole money for a year while you go about setting the business up.

Also you need to note that if the business does not turn out to be profitable I have heard of cases where the person lost all of their benefits when they went to sign on again after a year.

Kind Regards

dbran

PCPhoto

there is usually a lot of investment required ... do you have money behind you ? or a financial backer !!

Building an online business is not as simple as setting up a website .... there is a lot of preparation required, how much do you know about your potential market ? are you in a niche area ? what differs you from competitors ? are there competitors out there ? if so, why should someone choose you over them ?

Do you have a marketing/promotion plan ? , a marketing/advertising budget ? are you just looking at online or is this potentially a business where you may create a physical shop (lots of people prefer doing business with a bricks-n-mortar shop)

Shay09

I know quite a bit about the products and potential demographic. It is a niche market that is new enough in Ireland. There are international competitors, some in the UK. Ideally I'm offering an Irish shop that will supply at home and perhaps England. From extensive research competitors are large but there sites are not customer friendly and do not suit Irish clients, in price or service. My selling point will be that the store is Irish, and I will under cut my competitors prices. I have a marketing plan involving promotional materials and social networking sites, I also have links to some markets that may be interested. For now I think online is the option for me, although who knows in the future I might be able to open a small business/shop.nif the business is not profitable I don't stand to lose much. The pros out way the cons. However sone major expense that I am wondering about is, do I need business insurance if I'm trading solely online?

Thanks everyone:)

What? Oh Rly!

and I will under cut my competitors prices.

Don't make it a race to the bottom for yourself or competitors.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

Shay09 wrote: »

My selling point will be that the store is Irish, and I will under cut my competitors prices.

This is not a sufficient USP to survive, large players get large discounts on product so if they charge a lot there is usually a reason why. Cutting margins to the point where you can't afford to take on staff and expand is playing the game to loose.

Shay09 wrote: »

do I need business insurance if I'm trading solely online?

Probably not initially, unless you need to insure against your customers suing you for damaged caused by your products.

Shad0r

Shay09 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm planning to set up an online store, I am a complete novice. I was hoping some one could help me with the details that this will involve.

Do a business plan - I know its a pain in the hole but it will literally be the difference between you succeeding or not.

Get lots of advice early and before you go off spending your savings getting things up and running figure out how you are going to finance everything. If I were you I'd talk to Mustard, who are an accountant for web startups, started by Ian Lucey (Lucey Technologies). They should be able to help you big time on the financing side of things.

The likelihood is that it will take you twice as long and cost twice as much as you think it will to get up and running and making money.

If there is any way you can afford it, I would strongly recommend you pay a professional company to build your ecommerce store for you. Not because CMS's are difficult to setup (they aren't) but because if the company is any good they will give you lots of sound advice about your store you haven't thought about.

Its unlikely that your shop is going to look extremely professional if you build it yourself and most importantly of all, when you are thinking about the costs involved in getting a professional to do the work, think about how long its going to take you to get the site up yourself. Months probably, and the reality is that once the site is live you are only starting your journey towards having a business.

Best of luck with your venture!