S
tarting a business, where do I
begin? Information overload.
I’ve complied what I’ve
learned over the last 8 years of
being on the internet.Write down a list of services in your
area that could be filled.
Write down a list of what your hob-
bies, interests are.
Research and see if there is a need for
the service. Check if there is competition.
If there is, see if you can do something eas-
ier/better/different.
Is there a problem you can solve for
your customers? Research a need in your
area and see if you can fill it. Research the
laws in your state. If you’re thinking of
starting a bakery, check with your local
health inspector to find out what is
allowed. If you’re thinking of running a
business out of your home and will have
customers pick up orders, make sure and
check with your local business zones.
Some areas may not allow excessive traf-
fic, it’s best to do your research.
Once you’ve decided what you want to
do, research the business name and make
sure it’s available. You’ll need to register it
with the state. Most states allow you to do
this online for a minimal fee.
Buy a domain name with your business
name. 1and1.com and GoDaddy offer
domains. This usually costs less than $10
for a year.HOSTING.
Ask friends and family for referrals. I
love my host. Uptime is very important as
well as response time. I host with a smart
entrepreneur who owns her own servers
and monitors them regularly. If there is a
problem or I have a question, I know that
she is one email or phone call away. I don’t
get referred to another person for another
issue.CREATE A WEBSITE.
There are tons of ways to do this.
There are many templates you can find,
both paid and free. I’ve used both, plus
created mine from scratch as well as paid
to have my website created from scratch.SHOPPING CART.
How are you going to sell your prod-
uct/service? There are as many shopping
carts out there as there are ways to start abusiness. A free shopping cart that is easy
to use is Mals-e. It integrates easily with
Paypal.com. PayPal also has their own
shopping cart and buy now buttons.
When considering a shopping cart,
look at the features that you are going to
need. Are you selling 20,000 different
products? If so you’ll need a shopping cart
that lets you use Excel or other programs
to upload information. If you’re selling 10
or even 50 items then Mals-e will probably
work for you. Mals-e creates a HTML but-
ton to insert into your page. The customer
is taken to a secure form where they input
their payment information.
Are you secure? If you will be accept-
ing credit cards, you will need to be certi-
fied PCI compliant for credit cards. Some
shopping carts take care of this for you. I
currently use Ultracart and they offer PCI
compliance with their cart. I have a SSL
certificate that I pay a yearly fee for. To get
the certificate, I had to prove who I was
and get it verified. This protects both you
and your customer.LEARNSEARCH ENGINE
OPTIMISATION (SEO).Learn it and keep learning it. This is
how you get the best search engine results,18 Easy Tips to
Start Your
Business
by Terra L Williams28 • Australian Opportunities Magazine • M/J/J 2017 • http://www.workfromhomemagazine.com.auSell Your
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