Configuration of your cyberstore

You’ve probably heard the stories of those 20-somethings who started an online business in their garage that they later sold for millions of dollars. Many people believe that those days are long gone. I totally disagree. It seems like every week I hear about another stay-at-home mom or out-of-work truck driver who started an online business at her kitchen table and now makes more than most doctors. These kinds of things still happen. It’s what keeps me going sometimes. The brass ring is there. All you have to do is reach out and grab it. I intend to use this article to help you decide how to get your website off the ground with as little hassle as possible.

Before you start bundling your resources, you need to give some thought to where you are going to set up the physical part of your virtual storefront. Yes, you have yet to find a real place to do business. you don’t necessarily have to rent office space; instead, consider setting up a home office. An additional bedroom or study is a good option. If a room is not available, then perhaps a corner in a room where computers, books, and other related equipment reside.

Although doing business online means you don’t have to rent space at a physical location, you do have to set up virtual space for your online business. This is accomplished by creating a website and finding a host for your site. These “cyber owners” are called web hosting services. A web host is a company that, for a fee, makes your site available 24 hours a day by keeping it on a special computer called a web server.

These days, web hosting is available and affordable for even the tightest of budgets. The sheer number of web hosts out there and vying for your attention have driven costs down over time. I routinely purchase web hosting for less than $5.00 per month. Don’t let the cost fool you either. My website rarely goes offline, and if it does, my web server’s customer support is available and efficient. I have a lot of storage space too. If you think your website is going to outgrow the basic web hosting package, I urge you not to worry. I still recommend starting with a basic package and purchasing additional space as you need it.

Another thing to keep in mind is the bandwidth allowed with your account. Basically, bandwidth can be defined as the amount of action (traffic) your website experiences on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Unless your website becomes a traffic magnet (my biggest dream!), the bandwidth allocated to your account will probably be more than adequate. However, it’s still a good idea to ask a potential web host how they handle excess bandwidth. The good ones do nothing more than let your website work as usual and send you an email to let you know that your account has exceeded the allotted bandwidth and that you can purchase additional bandwidth for a few extra bucks a month. Disreputable web hosts have been known to shut down your website without warning if you exceed your allotted bandwidth. They then wait for you to notice and contact them, at which point they try to charge exorbitant fees to get your site up and running again. Before you make the purchase, call them and ask them how they handle this situation should it ever arise.

Get the hardware you need

To do business online, your most important piece of equipment is a computer. Other hardware, such as printers, scanners, monitors, and routers, is also essential. You need to make sure your computer equipment is up to the task because you’ll be spending a lot of time online: answering emails, checking and fulfilling orders, reviewing your website, and marketing your product. I use a custom built PC. My reasons are that it’s expandable, more affordable than name brands, and I don’t have to worry about pre-installing any unwanted software or programs before I buy it. I also got a better warranty than I would get at one of the major office supply store computer outlets. There are thousands of websites that offer these custom computers. Take a look at some of them.

Choose your software

For the most part, the programs you need to run your online business are the same ones you use to surf the Internet. Since you will be in the business of providing information rather than collecting it, you will need some specialized programs such as the following:

A web page editor: also known as web page creation or web page creation tools. These make it easy for you to design web pages without having to learn HTML.

Graphics Software – If you plan to create your own website and want to draw images, you will need this software. I use Adobe Photoshop but it’s up to you. Read some reviews and even try some for 30 days before you have to buy them.

Storefront software: You can purchase software that guides you through the process of building a complete online business and putting your pages on the web. osCommerce is free and quite easy to set up and use.

Accounting software: you have to count them. To keep track of expenses and income, there are programs that act like spreadsheets, help with billing, calculate taxes (if any), and calculate sales tax. Intuit is where I would look first.

Getting your business online will require a lot of setup. Do it right and you only have to do it once.