So ‘ve started a new project. Its an information resource web site called topicles ( http://www.topicles.com/ ). Now if you go there you might only find one page, the “Finance” page, or you might find a small write up on what topicles is about (‘m going to try to do that today), and that’s about it.
So a thought that might come to mind is “Why would I bother putting up and advertising a presently useless site?” This is a good question and when most of us try and take a standard approach to setting up a business this definitely goes against the grain.
The conventional method to setting up a business is to sit down with your Idea, then make a one to two page business plan, start to do some market research, product research, and cost evaluations, then create your detailed business plan (25 – 50 pages) to take to the investors for financing.
I think that the conventional method was better suited for a time when most businesses requiredsignificant start-up capital and risk and needed that ridgedmethod.
Today with the Internet you can start almost any businessfor a few dollars ( afree domain name registrationand simple hostingpackage cost $2.25 at www.1and1.com ), so at most you would benefit from a simple one page business plan.
Now what about market and product research and costing? Initially my main interest is the market research, and I like to test this in real time.
With the world of blogging this has become even easier. I set up my simplified test site with a blog, advertising my product, then I go to blogs where I feel the readership might benefit from what I have to sell, then I look for things to comment on with a link back to my site. I also will place links on free advertising sites like www.craigslist.com .On my siteI will not only sell my product but I also ask for feedback on my site, for example questions on appearance and ease of use.
Since I haven’t done and major product research or purchasing, then what do I do when people order?
If the product is something that can be bought from a store, then I simply buy the product at retail and ship it to the customer. In this way I will either make a few dollars in the shipping cost or take a small loss if I plan to sell below retail. Either way I still have not made a large investment.
If the product is something that I plan to have manufactured then my site polls interest and does not sell anything yet.
The benefit of this is that instead of just guessing what market interest might be I can gather hard data which Ican then take to wholesalers and manufacturers and get the best purchase price.
Now hopefully I have also gottenfeedback on my site which I use to enhance my site to my customers needs, as opposed to trying to guess what they want.
This Ready. Fire. Aim. approach is highly effective today. In general I think that because business changes so rapidly today it is hard to create the perfect situation. If you take the Ready. Aim. Fire. approach you will always be aiming because just as you find the target it moves.
If you would like you can take a look at my site www.label-land.com, I started this site very simply and have used my customers feedback to create a site that looks good and is easy to use. I am always asking my customers for feedback because I am never see my site as a finished product, it is continually a work in progress.
Be successful.
Have a great Day
