ADVICE
ONLINE ENTREPRENEUR
Want to start your own web-based business?
Read Louise Ramsay’s tips on how to get more
bang for your bucks
A
s the majority of people
are now online, doing
business on the web
seems to make perfect
sense. But before you shell out on a
glitzy website and flashy online store,
follow our tips on how to get the best
bang for your buck.INFORMATION WEBSITES
Even if you aren’t a purely web-based
business, chances are you’ll need a
basic website to provide information
about what you do and to work as a
marketing tool.A Non-interactive site can be cheap
or even free to set up. Most of us are
capable of building a simple website
through the likes of WordPress in a
few hours - or for something more
elaborate a designer built website
can be achieved in a week or two at a
reasonable cost.INTERACTIVE SITES
You don’t have to be a tech superstar
to build a simple interactive site.
If you’re just starting out, templated
systems including Magento andShopify.com will allow you to get
up and running with a basic set up,
which you can customise to your
own design. This will allow you to
test your business idea and build a
customer base.
Once established, you can opt
to build a custom made site if need
be. Alternatively, you can add a
‘shopfront’ to your existing website.
You can take payments through the
likes of PayPal using a resource such
as E-junkie. This is cheap, but means
you’ll have to deal with each sale
individually and also be responsible
for ensuring you’ve paid the correct
amount of VAT, which is crucial for
any sales you make outside of the
UK.
Whether or not you pay VAT in
other countries isn’t dependent on
whether or not you pay VAT in the
UK.
Another option is to add an
end-to-end ecommerce system
such as that offered by FastSpring
to your website. This acts a bit like
a reseller for your goods, ensuring
a fully automated service, which
is particularly useful if you sell
downloads, and ensures all your VAT
responsibilities are met.
Fees vary - you may pay a monthly
fee or a percentage of sales, but will
most likely work out at about 20 per
cent of turnover.WEBSITE DESIGN
Keep your website design simple.
Choose one or two plain fonts on a
neutral background and make your
navigation as clear and consistent on
every page.
Ensure copy is designed to
sell. Talk about the problem your