What is ecommerce?
Thanks to the internet, it is now possible for service providers and sellers of products to exchange their goods and services online with their consumers without necessarily meeting physically with them. These commercial transactions which are conducted over the internet can collectively be referred to as ecommerce.
Ecommerce has been an integral part of modern day business. It has revolutionized not just the way people spend their money, but has entirely changed the way businesses market their products and services to their target consumers. So much has ecommerce grown in the modern world today, that in the next two decades, it is estimated that the number of brick and mortar stores will reduce by a whopping 90%.
Just like the traditional commerce, for one to succeed in ecommerce, he/she has to carefully plan his/her business in advance. To achieve the business targets and plan for any eventualities, an ecommerce entrepreneur has to plan for eventualities and have a clear vision for what his/her business will entail. This is why it is essential to create a good ecommerce business plan.
Ecommerce business plan
As earlier on mentioned, a business plan is vital in helping an entrepreneur have a clear roadmap to set goals for the business, understand the resources needed to run the business, understand the viability and have a better sense of what is needed for the business to succeed.
An ecommerce business plan is almost similar to the traditional business plan only that some of the aspects of the traditional aspects such as organization and management are truncated. Here are the key sections of an ecommerce business plan;
Key sections of an ecommerce business plan
Creating a good proposition
Here, you should write a short, precise and crisp value proposition which clearly outlines what your business entails and why you feel your idea is right. Value proposition should be as short as possible but should be engaging enough to attract the attention of any potential investor.
Understand the best model for your business
What products/services are you intending to sell? Who do you intend to sell your services to? Where do you intend to outsource your products from? Understanding these questions, will help you have a clear framework of the most suitable model for the business you are intending to start running. You have to choose the business model which best suits your product and is economically viable.
Market analysis
How is the current market situation in the field you intend to dive into? How is the overall industry outlook? Who are your closest competitors? You have to conduct good market analysis to have a clear understanding of the current market situation and grasp the fundamentals of operating a business in the said industry.
Marketing and sales
The other key facet of an ecommerce business plan, is the marketing and sales department. How do you intend to reach your target audience? Which avenues do you intend to use to drive traffic to your services/products? How much can you afford to set aside for marketing? The beauty of ecommerce is that there are very many inexpensive mechanisms you can use to market your products and services and you just have to choose one which best suits your business model.
Choosing the best technology for your business
Ecommerce is reliant on technology and if you don’t choose the right technology to run your business, your business is bound to fail. There are very many software which are created specifically to make ecommerce seamless and you should choose one which best suits your business model and the products you have on offer.
Do you intend to use a shopping cart integrated in your social media platforms? What payment processing methods do you intend to use in your services? These are some of the key questions you’ll need to ask yourself when choosing the best technology for your business.
Financial management
How do you intend to keep your business afloat financially? What are your estimated expenditures for the next financial year? What are the fixed expenses in your business? What are some of the variable expenses in your ecommerce business? These are some of the key financial questions which you should answer before you delve into the ecommerce business to ensure that you will stay afloat financially.
Run-through
The final section of writing a business plan for ecommerce business, is to run through all the sections again to ensure that everything is in place. By revisiting every section of the business plan, you will be getting a better understanding of the business and get ideas of how you can maximize on the resources you have.
Talk to the experts
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