Developing Your Business Online

Developing Your Business Online

Steven Northam

The University of Winchester Enterprise Conference 2008

What are we going to do?

• Provide a rough guide to online business and how to get your own business online…(not too technical I hope!)

• 55mins session – I will ramble on for 35-40mins

• Feel free to shout out and ask questions as we go!

• 15mins at the end for a chat/questions etc

• Feedback forms

Online Business

• So much could be said on this…

• Still big business! .com boom and bust is long gone – “Web 2.0” driving new ideas and business forward

• Currently a good time for new and unique start-ups – still room for new business models

Advantages & Disadvantages

• Low start-up cost• Relatively simple• Run business from

anywhere

• Low entry barriers – competition

• Business models easily copied (YouTube, Facebook)

Does my business fit online?

• Irrespective of your business and its market, a Web presence is almost always a good thing!

• Some businesses fit easier than others

• Your examples? Ideas?

How do I get my business online?

4 main steps to getting your business online..

1. Domain Names2. Web Hosting

3. Website Development4. Running a Website

Finally how to make it a success ?

Domain Names

• www.I Am A Domain Name.co.uk

• Check domain name before even considering registering with Companies House

• Ensure you register the Domain Name you want (if its available!)

• Consider registering .com, .co.uk, .net and alike too!

How? Where? Costs?

• Check to see if you Domain Name is free

• Multitude of providers for Domain Name registration and management, a couple..

• http://www.123-reg.co.uk/• http://www.oneandone.co.uk

Roughly £3 per year for .co.ukDomain Names, others can vary,.com is expensive.

Web Design and Development

• Building your website – massive topic!

• Make sure its done correctly and its done well

• Crap looking sites reflect on your business

• Many different styles and approaches possible

• http://www.sjnstudios.co.uk• http://

www.thestudentscene.co.uk

How? Where? Costs?

• Can be costly – but worth the money if the site is impressive, don’t cut corners

• “I can make a webpage for you with Dreamweaver” – watch out!

• Hugely variable costing, large number of “Web Design Companies” available to pick from

• Research and consult honest experts

Web Hosting• The place your website

“lives” so it is available online for the world to see and use

• Type of host you require depends on size of site, visitor numbers and the services you want to run

• Shared hosting is very common for small sites

SN Technologies Limited Web Servers

How? Where? Costs?

• Very wide range of providers available

• Wide range of costs, packages, deals etc

• If inexperienced opt for a package including consultation and support (more expensive)

• Talk to an expert to get an idea of your needs

Services• Huge range of options

for services you can run on your website

• E-commerce systems• Content Management

Systems (CMS)• Community Systems• Multimedia, Video,

Photo sharing/uploads

Other considerations

• Legal – Data Protection, Trading Laws

• Global Market• Time management• Growth• Diversification Scope• Exit Strategy

Running the website

• Its quite simple really• Being up to date is a

priority • Links to other systems

– e-commerce• Larger the site gets the

more people required to “run” it

Security, Backup & Reliability

• Important considerations often overlooked

• Security – online money transactions

• Disasters often happen – problems can be minimised

• Backups & Mirrors • Reliability – Slow website?

Not available? Down time?

SN Technologies Limited Live Server Mirrors & Development Systems

• Costs get very high – both hardware and running costs

• Expert management required

• Lots of “techy” things which I cant cover today!

When you out grow your host..

Making it a success

• That’s really up to you..• Many classical business

aspects apply• Use of new technologies

– Social Networking, Blogs, Streaming Media, Viral Marketing

• Keep your site up to date• Make it dynamic rather

than static

Questions

Was this useful ?

• Please complete the feedback forms and leave them with me as you go

• This presentation will be posted on the Learning Network

• Contact me: me@stevennortham.me.uk• Video of this session (and this mornings talk)

will be available via my blog site: http://www.stevennortham.me.uk