Because going online means you will be working in an unfamiliar environment and with new customers, you have to work out what changes and adjustments you will need to make to your business operations.
Assessing every aspect of your business operation is a sound management practice and should be done on a regular basis. Taking into account the effects going online has on your business is useful for reassessing your business operations as a whole.
The initial issue to consider is how will you pay for your Web site installation? If you do not already have the necessary funds, you will have to consider ways of raising finance. This will mean creating a new business plan or adjusting your present one before you make the approach to a financial institution or other organisation.
In addition to raising finance, you will need to draw up a budget to work out how your online venture will financially affect your current business. You need a realistic idea of how much revenue your site will have to generate to pay its own way.
How will your Web site impact your business?
To begin with, you need to identify the various financial scenarios that may unfold when you go online. These scenarios will differ depending on the kind of Web site model you develop and how you plan to slot this into your current “bricks and mortar” store.
This includes considering how much it will cost to develop and maintain and the amount of revenue you can realistically expect. You may even decide to curtail your traditional business operations and further develop your online venture or vice versa.
Effective record keeping is also extremely important when it comes to business operations. The Internet, like all modern technology, has had a huge impact on the type and quantity of records a business deals with, as well as raising questions about how to retain records.
Legally you need to keep all relevant records for five years for tax purposes. You will need to establish appropriate policy and procedures.
Then there are the current taxation issues and how they will affect you. Since going online means you may be exposed to global customers, you will need to be aware of taxation issues, such as applying GST to your Australian customers and not to your international customers. Having international clients also means looking at export and import regulations for both Australia and the countries you are sending goods too as some goods may be prohibited in other countries, as well as customs or quarantine regulations and freight and delivery concerns.
You will also need to consider the additional insurance needs of your online venture. This can include insurance to protect your computer systems, insurance to cover you against cybercrime or for loss of business should your systems crash. Likewise, you will need adequate professional indemnity insurance.
What internal systems should you focus on?
Another major area to focus on is the internal processes of your business. The Internet has the ability to dramatically alter your business, especially if you identify key or niche products that appeal to online customers.
If you manage to tap into a need your business could be faced with unprecedented demands and you could find your present systems unable to cope. On the other hand, the business generated by your online exposure may be slow, but steady, and periodic monitoring may be needed to assess when you should move to another level of Web exposure.
There are certain factors you should take into account and incorporate into ongoing plans for improving your business operations.
This includes a periodic product review of goods sold in your offline and online stores. You may find one product performs more successfully in one medium than the other. This evidence can be used as part of your ongoing market research.
Whether you need to develop your product further or adjust what your business offers, depends on the nature of your business and products you sell.
You should also reassess your technological systems and physical processes to ensure they are geared to cope effectively. This includes research and reviews of your Web site itself. It must be assessed to find out what aspects are more popular and its overall performance.
As the Internet is such a dynamic medium, you may need to make rapid amendments to your business operations, Web site or products offered, depending on what your ongoing research reveals. Consequently, you will need contingency plans for a number of possible scenarios.
Last but by no means least, you will have to assess and review your employees. They will all be affected and you need to consider how going online will impact on them and the work they do.
