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"The
Internet will not just change the way we do business; the
Internet will change the business that we do."
-aamjr
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"Everything we
know to be true about the Internet will be proven wrong over the
next five years."
-John Warnock
co-founder of Adobe Systems, Inc.
"One day, a
business not in the internet, will not be in business"
-Cisco
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To go into e-commerce, you have
to learn more about the following:
1. The business side:
What products or services should you have? Some products and
services are easier bought and sold on the Internet than others.
Consumer items like CDs, Tapes and books are easier because most
people will know exactly what they are buying based on the titles
of these items. Others, like clothing or food might be more
difficult because they vary according to size, taste, shape and
other non-standardized factors.
One measure of product viability on the Net is to ask yourself:
"If I were buying this product, would I buy it on the Net?"
2. The financial side:
How much money do you need? The amount of money you need to start
a web business depends more on what you have and what you can get.
Some individuals have started their webs practically for free
using the free web sites offered by several web businesses like
geocities.com, tripod.com and angelfire.com. This of course means
you will have to rely on yourself to learn how to build web pages
eventually.
If you are not the hands-on type and would like to seriously
pursue a business on the web, you may spend anywhere from
PhP10,000 to PhP100,000 to start your web business. Again, the
amount will depend on how much information you want on your web
and what kind of functionalities. The amount will also depend on
the price your web developer will charge.
Weigh your investment against the potential return of your web
business. Most likely, the investment will be well worth it.
3. The technical side:
How much IT knowhow must you have? Unless you decide to so some of
the technical design and development of your web, you will need
very little technical (web) knowhow to start your e-commerce
business. What is more important is to get a consultant or inhouse
person or team who knows how to set up and maintain your web
business. Once you decide to go into e-commerce, you will
eventually learn the business and management side of the
e-commerce business, very much like you learn the other aspect of
your business--on the job.
4. The management side:
What kind of skill and thinking should you adopt? In the web or
e-commerce, many thing are different and fast-changing. Judge not
this new business culture and practice with old or traditional
thinking. Better yet, learn to experiment and invite failure. The
initial investment to get into the web or e-commerce does not have
to be such that when you fail, you totally fail.
In the world of e-commerce, when you are building websites instead
of corner stores and physical infrastructure, you have the
advantage of experimenting and re-configuring your business
approaches and strategies. The important thing is to have the
willingness to understand what is happening, what others are
doing, and what you need to change in order to adopt to the
fast-changing and fast-moving e-commerce business. |
