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What Does it Really Take? - October 1999We've all heard the stories about the little guy who made it big on the Internet. More and more individuals and companies are racing to develop online businesses. But how many really have an "Internet" strategy?
Too many folks are missing the point that the principles that apply to businesses in the off-line world apply to businesses in the on-line world. So many people come to us with great ideas who believe they will get rich by simply developing an Internet business. Most have not yet written a business plan, have no funding, have not developed a business model, and have not thought about fulfillment. They have no logo and no company name. They generally haven't done their homework either. They don't know who their competition is, what they can legitimately price their product at, and whether they potentially have a large enough market to bring in the amount of sales they would need to succeed. Many have not thought about hosting costs or capacity. Some sites can run successfully from an Internet Service Provider. Many cannot, and will require that you set up your own network of servers and high-speed connections to the Internet. And then there are the folks who give a blank stare when asked how they plan to market their site. Why should they market, they say, it's going to be on the Internet!
A web site needs to have a business purpose and a marketing strategy. The effectiveness of a billboard site is questionable. After all, how is anybody realistically going to find your site, and what are they going to do once they get there? For example, if you had a business where you sold computer mouse pads, and you put up a web site with pictures of all your mouse pads expecting to sell a lot of them, you'd probably be disappointed. But, if you had that same business and had just run advertising in a couple of computer magazines listing your web site address where folks could see all your really "neat, cool" designs and order them online, then your site has a purpose and a chance to be successful because you did something to drive traffic to the site.
Another issue that comes up a lot in client meetings is the idea that it's okay to copy from other sites they saw and really liked. While I usually ask clients for a list of sites they admire, the purpose is not to steal from those sites. The purpose is to identify the style that my client relates to and incorporate that style into their site, assuming it makes sense. There are the issues of intellectual property rights, royalties for image use, and copyright infringement. You shouldn't expect your web designer to risk his or her reputation by doing something unethical or worse, illegal.
Finally, what about the long haul? Who is going to maintain the site? Try to imagine going to the mall every week, week after week, and looking into the windows of the major stores. Most of them change frequently to keep pace with holidays, fashion trends, and current specials, right? If all of them were changing except one or two, wouldn't you assume that the ones left unchanged were going out of business soon? What if your fulfillment needs double? Most folks worry about what they'll do if their site isn't successful, but what if it is? If your advertising really pays off, you could be faced with fulfillment problems. Do you have a solution? What do you plan to add to your site over the next 12-24 months? Few businesses remain static and your site shouldn't either. If you were a retail store, you wouldn't keep exactly the same merchandise day after day, week after week, would you?
A web site business has tremendous advantages because it's "virtual" and can be changed easily and frequently. But it's still a business and has to be supported by certain basic business elements that are critical to any business whether it's on-line or off-line. If you're considering doing business on-line, please make the commitment to evaluate your business model, take a look at the competition, develop a realistic business plan, decide how you're going to market it, and plan how it will be maintained. Remember the saying? Proper prior planning prevents poor performance. It may be an old saying, but it certainly still has modern relevance even in this cutting edge world of technology and the Internet.
For more information regarding web site development contact sales@xpernet.com or call 281-392-5292.
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