how to open an online buisness

[DreamGirlie]

I currently have a buisness idea that I would like to start working on...however I do not know where to start. I know I would need to buy a domain name but, would I want to buy it from yahoo and pay them 35.00 a month for their 'store' options that come with it plus other fees as well or is there a way to do it on my own without them?

Also, i am weighing out the options of .com VS .us and ideally i would love to have the .com but it is taken whereas the .us is not and i dont really think i want to be involved shipping internationally anyways so wouldnt the .us sorta tell people that its a buisness doing its work within the US.

If you were shopping would you prefer macromedia/flash etc, what do you think is easiest when you personally shop.

I know I have some other questions but these are off the top of my head. You guys are full of info here and I know I will get a wide variety of answers (i hope )

[tiddles]

Re: how to open an online buisness

aren't online excort services illegal?

[DreamGirlie]

Re: how to open an online buisness

only if you get caught

[audiotherapy]

Re: how to open an online buisness

try google checkout.

[KinKyJ]

Re: how to open an online buisness

I currently have a buisness idea that I would like to start working on...however I do not know where to start. I know I would need to buy a domain name but, would I want to buy it from yahoo and pay them 35.00 a month for their 'store' options that come with it plus other fees as well or is there a way to do it on my own without them?

Also, i am weighing out the options of .com VS .us and ideally i would love to have the .com but it is taken whereas the .us is not and i dont really think i want to be involved shipping internationally anyways so wouldnt the .us sorta tell people that its a buisness doing its work within the US.

If you were shopping would you prefer macromedia/flash etc, what do you think is easiest when you personally shop.(pm Kamal for that)
I know I have some other questions but these are off the top of my head. You guys are full of info here and I know I will get a wide variety of answers (i hope )

Step 1. Get your paper work in order (meaning that you have to register your business 'n' shit). That way your costs will be tax deductable from day one.

Step 2. Do a SWOT analysis of the market you want to dig in (info here) before you start investing time and energy into any ventures.

Step 3. Make a business plan: what are your costs, planned return on investment, projected break even point, ... When you're working with goods and logistics this is something you have to estimate as accurate as possible. ( more info and samples here and here)

Step 4. Get yourself hosting with a decent PHP environment (database). MJWebhosting has a nice webshop application and the hosting plus domain name is shitloads cheaper than Yahoo (m. Furthermore I have this aversion for generic webshop services like Yahoo. I was in the team that developed the first shop-out-of-the-box solution in Belgium and personally, I'd NEVER go for that sorta shit. Too rigid, too little freedom, too buggy, ...

I prefer a plain XML/HTML environment for shopping instead of flash because flash shopping aps sometimes tend to get funky. Personal taste though.

[thesightless]

Re: how to open an online buisness

DONT, that my professional advice. just dont. the laws are changing every day ere in the US, the taxation of them is a bitch, and there are legal issues regarding certain sales tax jurisdictions.....

ask ruby, the man knows his shit.

[KinKyJ]

Re: how to open an online buisness

don't what?

[thesightless]

Re: how to open an online buisness

even attempt to open an online retail business in the 50+

[KinKyJ]

Re: how to open an online buisness

^^^ you're right. targetting the EU is smarter: one big homogenic commerce zone and more people with money than in the US.

[DreamGirlie]

Re: how to open an online buisness

DONT, that my professional advice. just dont. the laws are changing every day ere in the US, the taxation of them is a bitch, and there are legal issues regarding certain sales tax jurisdictions.....

ask ruby, the man knows his shit.

really? hmmm.

ill look into that too.

[RiseandShine]

Re: how to open an online buisness

we have and here is what I think you should do:

.com over ANY other domains
you need a shopping cart, the one from yahoo is good. just depends how much hassle you want to go through. you have teams of people who cand esign a website and do the whole thing for about $1500-$2500. good thing with yahoo is that you get support and don't have to deal with a lot of crap.
Flash is good, very nice but less easier for you to manage than html.
next step is referencing in search engines.
down the line, it all comes down to the budget you have
pm me if u want

[thesightless]

Re: how to open an online buisness

kinkster, my country has recently topped 900 million. roughly 100 mill more than europe's census from last year. and our people are at an entirely different level of stupidity and marketability.

[Jenks]

Re: how to open an online buisness

[Lorn]

Re: how to open an online buisness

^Spam

[Jenks]

Re: how to open an online buisness

^Not much gets by you, does it?