Archives 2021

Your business plan will not just help you find investors and hence the funding for your business, but also a lot more.

With this in mind, let’s learn how to write a good business plan with some business plan examples and business plan templates.

Why do you need a Business Plan?

You might ask “Why do I need a business plan?”

This is a valid question, and the answers are many.

Writing a Business Plan, essentially, is putting your thoughts on paper. You may have an excellent business idea, but turning that idea into a successful and viable business takes a lot of planning.

It is important to realize that your mind is an idea-mine. That is to say that you get new ideas every second, every minute of the day. Sometimes even midnight.

At the same time, you need to stay organized and focused. Unless you have your plan on paper, it is difficult to take off from idea to reality.

By all means, you should improvise. And improvise on a continuous basis. But, have it (your first plan) written down somewhere; on paper or in electronic form, in the form of notes, or spreadsheets, or a text document.

Start off by writing the basic idea with a heading; and then below it, add every new idea or development as a sub heading or bullet points.

Writing a business plan is nothing but breaking down your idea into small tasks. The better you document, the better shall be the outcome.  So, basically, the smaller the tasks, the better results you get.

As a result, here are 4 main reasons why you should invest in a business plan.

1. You can use a business plan as a roadmap on how to build, run and grow your new business. As a matter of fact, a business plan is the foundation of your business.
2. A business plan is your tool to get funding for your business.
3. With a business plan, you can bring in new investors or partners. It will convince people that investing in your company will give good returns on their investment.
4. In the event that you are planning to recruit personnel at senior levels, your Business Plan shall be a reference tool for them.

The basic elements of a Business Plan.

Every business plan should include the following sections:

1. Executive Summary (2 pages)
2. Company Description (1-2 pages)
3. Service or Product (1 page)
4. Market Analysis (2-3 pages)
5. Organization and Management (1 page)
6. Marketing and Sales Strategy ( 2-3 pages)
7. Financial Projections (10-15 pages)
8. Funding Request (1-2 pages)

Although there is no standardized template for a business plan, including all the above information helps.

In the light of these 8 headings, let us proceed to discuss what information to include in each of them.

1. Executive Summary

As a matter of fact, you should write the Executive Summary in the end, taking inputs from all other sections, as it summarizes your Business Plan. 

However, it is placed first in the docket, so that anyone whom the business plan is presented, can read a 2 page summary and decide if he wants to pursue it further or not.

With this in mind, the executive summary ought to be impressive.

Here is a checklist of the key elements you should include in the Executive Summary.

Business Idea: A brief on why you intend to launch the product or service. Describe where, to whom and how you will sell it.

1. Current Market Scenario: Why do you think your product or service will sell. Are there similar products already available in the market. If yes, then what advantages does your product have over them.
2. Financials: A simple and straight forward summary of the volumes you intend to sell, the selling price and profitability.
3. Funding requirements: Write here about the total project cost, sources of funds  and expected return on investment (ROI).
4. Achievements: This section should highlight the reasons that make you the most suitable person  who can make this project successful.

2. Company Description

In this section, give an overview of the structure of the company and the current business that it is engaged in.

By all means, include the following information:

• Name of the Company
• Type of legal entity (Proprietorship / Partnership / Company / Trust etc.)
• Ownership
• List of Products / Services offered
• Goals, Objectives and Mission Statement of the Business
• Your company’s assets, strengths and core competencies.

In the light of the topic, which is Company Description, do not write in too much detail about the prospective business. In contrast, write about the products or services your company is offering.

You can write about the Company’s assets in terms of the machinery or equipment you have. Equally important assets are your staff and key officials. Mention their experience and highlight the skill sets which are relevant to your Business plan.

Additionally you can write about the markets you are currently operating in: Wholesale, retail or through a dealer network.

Similarly,  mention the areas in terms of geography – within the country, or regional, say Asia-Pacific or Americas, or internationally. 

3. The Service, Product or ….

This section of the business plan  is a narrative of your business idea. In other words it is about your product, service or the business model. 

Though usually, the service or product you choose to sell will be a strong deciding factor of the success or failure of the entire effort. However, there are enough examples in history to disprove this axiom.

Did Steve Jobs invent the iPod?

No! An iPod is simply a dignified (and expensive) version of an MP3 player. Steve Jobs only developed it.

So, the iPod was not an original idea. At the same time, no MP3 player in the history of mankind has sold so many  units as the iPod.

On the same note, the person who invented the MP3 player did not make so much money out of its sales as did Apple with the iPod.

The point I am trying to emphasize here is that you don’t have to come up with an original and brand new product. You always have the option to develop, or improvise upon an existing product or service.

It is indeed good if you have come up with an innovative product or service. On the contrary, I have observed that any new product I think of is already available somewhere. Its true potential may not have been recognized or exploited, but it has been made.

Be that as it may, write in brief about your business model or the product / service you intend to launch. Include references to similar products and how your offering is different from the mainstream.

4. Market Analysis

The objective of Market Analysis is to prove that

1. There exists a market for your product, and it is big enough to be built into a profitable and sustainable business.
2. And, you know the market well.

Hence, it requires extensive research. We will discuss the latter first.

You either are already operating in the market, which is like a feather in your cap. And, your new product is just an extension of your existing product line. You have experienced a gap in the need and availability (or non-availability), and your product or service is going to fulfill it.  In such a case, you will be perceived as a market expert.

Alternatively, you are entering a new territory with a new product. Under these circumstances, you have to prove a point with the investors and potential partners.

To prove that there exists a substantial market, break down this section into 4 sub-sections that we shall discuss now. Include relevant data from reliable sources wherever possible. This will make your presentation more convincing.

1. Demographics and Segmentation
2. Opportunity
3. Competition
4. Entry Barriers

4.1. Demographics and Segmentation

In this section, you write about the size of the market. Size has two aspects, the Volume and the Value of the market.

If your business plan is about a local business, say a paint shop or a restaurant, your assessment of the volume and value will have to be localized. On the contrary, if you are writing a business plan about a chain of paint shops or a chain of restaurants you will have to be more extensive in your approach. https://www.thebusinessplanshop.com/blog/en/entry/market_analysis_for_business_plan#demographics

Let us discuss this with an example.

On the face of it, Market B seems more lucrative with a higher market value and with just 2 competitors. However, notice carefully that Market A has 500 potential customers. Does it not give you a higher opportunity to sell. Trying to grow 2 customers to 500 might take ages. But increasing the market value from $100,000 to $200,000 will be a cinch with the right marketing team.

Even though the above table looks easy to understand, when you sit down to make such a table for your own business, you will be floundering for values to fit in.

• What is my Market Size?
• How many potential customers do I have?
• How many competitors does my business have?

Though there are no specific formulas to calculate the market size, you can arrive at fairly reliable figures using some basic rules of estimation. Let’s discuss them

Market Size

For the purpose of estimating the market size, conduct a small exercise consisting of 4 steps:

Identify your target customer

The target customer is any person or company who is going to benefit from your product, service or technology.

Example: As an illustration, let’s say you are planning to sell online, a shaving cream. Your target customer in this case would be a Male, 16 years plus. Further, depending upon how you are positioning your product,  low cost or premium, you can further narrow down your target customers based on their job profiles or  income categories. 

Estimate the number of target customers

In this case, an estimate of the number of target customers shall be the total number of target customers in the world, or country or the region where you are planning to sell.

Example: As a matter of fact, if you are planning to label your shaving cream in English only, you will have to find the number of males, of ages 16+, in English speaking areas of North America.

Further if you intend to offer free shipping, and you have calculated that you can afford to pay from your own pocket, the shipping cost up to a distance of 1500 miles. Your estimate of the number of target customers will be males, age 16+, around 1500 miles of your production facility, and in English speaking areas.

You will need to have absolute clarity in your mind. On the positive side, data in many forms is available from U. S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics Canada and some private companies. You should know how to dig for it.

Assume a realistic market penetration rate

This number, the market penetration rate, actually means the percentage of the total target customers who will buy from you.

Everyone is NOT going to buy from you.

Example: People have brand loyalties, which they rarely give up. For this reason, account for this market penetration rate.

I just checked a website specializing in men’s grooming, and they indicated they had 130 options in shaving creams. Which of these products or brands are you hoping to replace on your target customer’s shelves?

Source: https://www.grandviewresearch.com

Don’t lose heart over these numbers. Just be realistic in your estimates of market penetration rates. In our example of selling online, you will realize after looking at the pie-chart above, that the ratio of online to offline sales is 1:8.

Source: www.statista.com

Based on the above histogram, let us assume a comfortable market penetration rate of 0.5%

Calculate the potential market size

Based on the above figures, we can now calculate the potential size o

How your site appeared in Search results and how many visitors you got from Search

f the market, both in terms of volume and value.

Market Volume

Market Volume = Number of target customers x Market Penetration Rate

Market Value

In order to calculate the Potential Market Value, multiply the Market Volume obtained above with the price of your product.

Market Value = Market Volume x Price of Product

Following the above steps to estimate your market size

4.2 Opportunity

Market Analysis isn’t complete unless you have discussed about the opportunity available for your product or service.

To some extent, you have explained the “opportunity” in the Market Size  section above.

Equally important here is explaining the GAP that exists in the market. Therefore, you will elucidate

• That there exists a gap in the market?
• What are the reasons for this gap?
• How did you identify the gap?
• How will your product or service fill the gap?

While you are here, explain who are the customers for your products. Do they have enough choices available? Or are the available products overly priced or sub-standard in terms of quality.

In the same token, illustrate about the suppliers of similar products or services as yours. Why are these suppliers not able to meet the market demand.

4.3 Competition

You should give some details about the competitors for your product or service.

20% startups cited being wiped out by Competition, as the reason for their failure.

In the first place, write about the products or companies that will compete with you. Then you should tabulate how your offering will compare with those of your competitors.

In order to prove that your product or service offering is justified, do not highlight only the positive aspects of the comparison. Keep it balanced. After all, the person reading your Business Plans receives hundreds of such plans every month, and is much more aware of the market scenario as a generalist.

4.4 Entry Barriers

For the purpose of evaluating and writing about the entry barriers, review the following reasons

1. High capital costs, production costs or marketing costs
2. Consumer acceptance
3. Tariff barriers or quotas
4. Legislation or regulatory barriers
5. Technology availability or Patent issues
6. Extensive training or skill sets

Any one or more of the above reasons could pose an entry barrier to your Business Plan. These could also be the reason why no one else is into this business.

At the same time, you should have a written plan to counter these entry barriers.

5. Organization and Management

In the Organization and Management section of the Business Plan, you are required to provide the information about your team.

1. Names of the Founders with their qualifications and Business experience
2. A list of the people who will manage the business on a day to day basis. Include their qualifications for the job, along with the skill sets which make them suited for the job assigned.
3. If you intend to have more than 10 employees, create an organization chart. This organization chart should exhibit the hierarchy and responsibility for all levels.

Also include an approximate count of the support staff you will need as a part of your team.

6. Marketing and Sales Strategy

While you are here, focus on the 4 P’s of marketing while writing this section of your Business Plan.

The primary 4 P’s in the foundation model of marketing mix are:

1. Product
2. Price
3. Promotion, &
4. Place

If you carefully integrate these key factors in your Business Plan, no one can stop you from being successful. In the overall business environment, these P’s are constrained by several internal and external factors.

You may have heard of three more P’s taking credit in marketing plans, but they are essentially sub sections, or variations of the 4 P’s mentioned above. These are:

1. People
2. Process
3. Physical evidence.

Do bear in mind that any marketing strategy you propose is not meant to remain static. Keep fine-tuning your strategy from time to time, as your potential buyers change or your product mix changes.

Product

You have read about Product strategies above. According to a CB Insights publication, The Top Reasons Startups Fail, cites

• 35% of startups failed as there was no market need (demand) for the product, and
• 8% failed due to a bad product.

Confidence in your product is good, but you ought to take a practical view of its acceptance in the market before investing money into it.

Price

The same CB Insights report suggests 15% of startups fail due to Pricing issues. In some markets, like India, price is the most crucial factor that can make or break the marketing strategy of your product.

As a matter of fact, you should be clear about the market niche you are going to cater to. Is your product in the luxury segment, or is it a necessity, or are you positioning your product purely on price.

You must always link the price to the real and perceived value of the product. At the same time you should consider the manufacturing / supply costs, coupled with discounting strategy and competitor prices.

Promotion

The purpose of Promotion, (read advertising and public relations), is to explain to your target consumers why they should buy your product. Some promotion is subtle, some is funny, and some are direct.

In the age of Internet, you need to align your promotion strategies  on offline as well online media. A social media strategy deserves most attention and care.

Spend some time to create a winning, pocket friendly, social media strategy in your Business Plan. If you are not clear about which of the Social Media you will be active on, spend some time browsing similar websites, or take advice from a consultant.

Place

When you are writing about Marketing Strategies in your Business Plan, give details about where you intend to sell. That been said, ensure how your product or service gets in front of the consumers in those places.

Are you planning to place your product in certain stores’ only to create exclusivity, or are you going to flood the market with your product.

Another key point here is that Place need not necessarily refer to a geographical location.

In some cases, placement also refers to launch a product in films or television shows only to garner attention and create hype about the product even before it is launched.

An interesting case here is the James Bond movie “Golden Eye” which was released in 1995. It is a well known fact that James Bond is portrayed driving Aston Martin cars in all his films. Now, this one was different. Pierce Brosnan got into the driving seat of  a Z3 BMW. This car had not been launched till then. And, BMW already had bagged about 9,000 orders from the movie release.

6. Financial Projections

A seasoned investor will spend the maximum time studying this section of your Business Plan. The Financial Projections.

Financial projections, as the name suggests are reasonable estimates of the financial health of your business over the next few years. Hence, it is rational to have a Financial Analyst or Accountant prepare this section, but with your full involvement.

Since you are the one responsible, double check to ensure the following are included.

1. Initial investment in plant & machinery, office space, land & building, cost of prototype building, patent and trademark registration fees, website and mobile app. These are termed as startup or capitalization expenses.
2. Profit and Loss statement for the current year and projections for the next 3 years.
3. Cash Flow Statement for the current year and projections for the next 3 years.
4. Balance Sheet for the current year and projections for the next 3 years.
5. A break-even analysis.

Include colorful pie-charts, graphs and other visuals to make your proposal easy to read and attractive. In addition to these, here are some basic rules you should adhere to.

In your Business Plan, the cash flow statement should be shown MONTHLY for the first year,

QUARTERLY for the second year, and

ANNUALLY for the following years.

At the end of each statement write a brief note about your analysis and key highlights.

Some investors may ask for your (Founder’s) personal balance sheet in addition to the above documents.

7. Funding Request

If you need investors to fund your business, this section of your Business Plan is the place to outline your requirements. You should be able to explicitly spell out how much funding you require and where are you going to use it.

Funding does sound very exciting and elating. Coupled with this feeling comes the feeling of losing equity. So, take time to decide whether you need equity or debt funding.

Together with this stance, specify whether you need funds to buy equipment, pay salaries, marketing or something else.

The steps revealed above should help you generate a successful Business Plan. Be honest and realistic while you prepare and submit the Business Plan.

Don’t be scared of mistakes, as they are an important part of the learning process, and we all keep learning throughout our lives.

Please share your views below and they will inspire me to gain further insight and write better and more informative posts.

At the same time, if you disagree with something, do let me know.

Embrace change! Move on! and Stay happy!

A beginner’s guide to choose the best Bank for an Online Business.

How do you select the best bank for your online business account?

Simple; you should be able to do all your Banking activities from your Computer, or Mobile, from any part of the world. That is it!

With this in mind, let us proceed with our discussions.

It is important to realize that all banks today have their online portals and mobile apps. Nevertheless, they are still NOT equal.

How cool is their mobile app? Is it easy to navigate and directly get to the service you want, or is it just a maze of links and you have to find your way through it.

The best online business banks offer hundreds of features with your bank account. Digital bill payments, Mobile deposits, Transaction alerts through text messages, Zero monthly fees etc. But which of these really work?

Above all, your chosen Bank should be able to fulfill your banking needs in the early days of your business start up, and scale up to your needs when you become a multi-million dollar enterprise.

The top 5 best online banks for your business.

The market is replete with banks, and it is tough to choose one. But, all things considered, here are 5 banks that I recommend (in alphabetic order).

1. Aeldra – The online bank for Indians living outside of the U.S.
2. Chase – A bank offering personalized banking services for businesses of all sizes.
3. Mercury – Banking built for eCommerce & small businesses.
4. Novo – Powerfully simple banking for freelancers and solo-preneurs
5. Radius – Best online business checking account.

Let us discuss what each bank has to offer and which one is good for you.

#1 Aeldra – Best online bank for Indians living outside of the U.S.

Aeldra offers a U.S. Bank account with a Mastercard Global Debit Card for Indians. To be eligible, you either need a SSN or an Indian passport.

Aeldra is everything you can expect from an Online Bank Account. In addition, it offers:

• Zero Monthly Fee or Account Maintenance Fee.
• No Minimum Balance Requirement or Penalty.
• Free Bank-to-Bank Transfers.
• Real-time Peer-to-Peer Transfers using AeldraPay,  are free.
• The interest rate on deposits is highest in the industry.

Freelancers or Single Owner Businesses too can open an Aeldra Bank Account.

Aeldra is absolutely legal and compliant with Government of India regulations. Specifically, all transfers from India to Aeldra are subject to the guidelines of the RBI’s Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS).

In addition, Aeldra’s Know-your-customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies and procedures are consistent with U.S. Government regulations.

#2 Chase – The best bank for personalized banking needs.

Chase offers a wide variety of business accounts for small, mid-size and large businesses.

You can apply online for a Chase Business Complete Checking Account if you are a privately held business. This means that if your business is one of the following:

1. Sole Proprietorship
2. Corporation
3. Limited Liability Company, or a
4. Partnership

AND is managed by a single member, or manager, you are eligible to apply online for a Chase Business Complete Checking Account.

Opening an account in Chase is significantly simple and user friendly. Their online application process surely keeps guiding you at every step.

Here then is a quick overview of the benefits with a Chase Business Complete Bank Account:

• No monthly fee if you maintain a minimum daily balance of $2,000. Else, a fee of $15 is levied per month. There are more ways to waive off this fee here.
• You are automatically authorized to accept card payments through the Chase Mobile App  & Quick Accept. There are no hidden fees or monthly contracts. You only pay a fee per transaction.
• Same day deposits at no extra cost. As a result, you get to use your money the very same day.
• Use the Chase Mobile App to accept payments, issue refunds and track disputes.
• Multiple ways to send and receive funds – Wire Transfers, Chase Quick Deposit and Chase Online Bill Pay
• Chase even offers credit to make major purchases for your business.

#3 Mercury – The best bank for eCommerce and tech companies.

Mercury offers bank accounts that help tech companies scale. Thus, in technical parlance, their bank accounts are full-stack.

Here are some features of a Standard Mercury Bank Account:

• $0 minimum balance and free account opening
• No transaction charges
• API access. This eventually means that you can set up your own codes (computer programs) to automate payments, admin dashboards and reconciliations.
• Virtual Cards
• Automated cash management: Mercury puts your extra cash in US government securities and market funds, so that your idle money earns for you.

The best part about a Mercury Bank Account is that it is purely online. And non-US residents can apply too. Which means that you can open your Mercury Bank account from your laptop without needing to visit the U.S.

Since Mercury provides banking that is built for eCommerce, they understand their specific needs.

• A Mercury account can be seamlessly linked to most U.S. payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, Amazon and many more
• Your eCommerce business is not bound by borders. With Mercury, you can send payments globally.
• To enhance security, you can create virtual debit cards instantly. Your true debit card details remain completely hidden.

So, if you have a company formed and registered in U.S., apply now to open a Mercury Bank Account for your online business.

#4 Novo – Best online bank for freelancers and solo-preneurs.

Novo Bank supports U.S. based businesses, whether you are a U.S. citizen or an international founder. Isn’t this wonderful!

Here is a screenshot of the features that a Novo Bank Checking Account offers.

And here is another screenshot of the fee charged by Novo Bank vis-a-vis other banks.

Some of their customers have offered rave reviews like:

• “(Novo Bank) Support have always answered me within a matter of hours, sometimes even minutes”
• “Being able to handle my small business finances from the comfort of home through my phone has been great! Their app is also user friendly to the point where they make banking fun!”
• “Best bank for entrepreneurs and startups”

Seamless integration with business tools

Novo Bank account integrates seamlessly with your other business tools and applications like

• Shopify
• Slack
• Xero
• Stripe
• Zapier

Apply online for your Novo Bank Account here.

Resources for entrepreneurs

Novo Bank offers insights from other business founders that are extremely useful to new business owners. It is just another way of saying that Novo wants your business to grow.

#5 Radius – Best online business checking account.

Radius Bank offers 4 types of Checking Accounts:

• Tailored Checking,
• Relationship Checking,
• Account Analysis Checking, and
• Interest Checking

The Tailored Business Checking Bank account is ideal for growing businesses. Since the other three are built for large to massive organizations, we shall focus on the Tailored Checking Account here.

Radius Mobile

Their mobile app is a full service bank at your fingertips. It offers some unique features that are useful for an entrepreneur on the move:

• Create and send professional digital invoices
• Real-time transaction history
• Pay bills, transfer funds, and send wires
• Mobile check deposits
• Accept card, ACH, and lockbox payments
• Generate reports and reconcile transactions for accounting

Besides, there are some benefits offered by Radius Bank for which we just love banking with them.

Unlimited Transactions

While other banks impose a limit on the number of free transactions you can make on your bank account, Radius offers UNLIMITED free transactions.

There are no charges, no fees and absolutely no penalties.

Online Account Opening

What’s more is that the account opening process is completely online. Radius claims that you could open a Tailored Checking Account online within 10 minutes. Isn’t that amazing!

You will be asked a few basic questions and if you are not involved in any of these businesses:

• Marijuana-related business,
• Internet gambling,
• A “Money Services Business”,
• Owner of a private ATM;

then you are set to start off your application for account opening.

Cash Backs

Radius comes with 1+% cash back on online and signature based credit transactions made on the Radius Debit Card.

In addition, Radius has one more benefit that is just out of the blue!

Free ATMs Worldwide

The key words here are Free and Worldwide. You may have never come across a Bank that offers worldwide ATM transactions at a zero fee.

By and large, most Banks come with free transactions within the home country. However, international transactions on ATMs are usually charged a service fee, but surprisingly, Radius offers both for free.

The denouement

Finally, everyone is entitled to an opinion. However, I personally feel that THE best online bank for startups and new businesses is  Novo!

In either case, whether you agree or disagree, please do leave your feedback below so that other readers can benefit from your experience.

The complete guide for creating an eCommerce website.

You have been wanting to add “Available Online at www….” to your business advertisements.

In 2020, when the Corona pandemic set in, sitting at home, you promised yourself “to start my online store NOW”. At that time, you probably bought a domain name, spoke to a few web design agencies, got their quotes for building your online store. But the project never took off.

Now in 2021, you hear about the second wave of Corona Virus hitting some countries, and fear another lock-down.  But the online store isn’t ready yet. If only the eCommerce website aka Online Store was up and running, it would be wonderful for your business.

Why should you build an Online Store?

The share of Online Sales as a percentage of Total retail sales (for U.S. merchants) has been steadily increasing over the years. (Source: Digital Commerce 360)

• 2018: 14.3%
• 2019: 15.8% (increased  15.1% over 2018)
• 2020: 21.3% (increased 44.1% over 2019)

Sales from online stores has been recording the highest growth in the last two decades. And the growth in 2020 (44.1%)  is nearly triple the 15.1% jump in 2019.

You are well aware that the Corona Virus pandemic has had a negative impact on in-store sales worldwide. But sales from online stores increased by 44.1%.

Who will buy from my online store, when Amazon is there.

You might say that most people buy from Amazon, so how will my online store generate business. Well, here are the statistics.

Amazon accounts for nearly one-third, about 31.4% of all online sales in the U.S. And this figure was 43.8% in 2019. So, essentially, Amazon’s share of online sales has reduced. Or, in other words, while other online stores had just 56.2% share in total online sales in 2019; increased their share to 68.6%

Walmart, Target, Best Buy, all have made significant shifts in their rankings.

Coming to small businesses in the U.S., just over half of all small business owners are doing business online. This percentage is much lower in other countries. Considering these facts, now is the right time to set up your online store.  

In this post, you will learn how to build your Online Store yourself, that too without spending any money. That is, other than the cost of your domain name and web space.

Here are the steps involved in building an Online Store.

I assume you have already decided on a domain name for your Online Store and already registered it. If not, you may want to read my post on how to register a domain name.

You will also need web space to host your Online Store. If you have not bought your web space, do it here, now.

These are the only two things you have to pay for. Now let’s move forward.

1. Decide the platform to build your online store.
2. Install the eCommerce platform on your web space.
3. Alter the design of your online store.
4. Organize your product catalog.
5. Set up shipping methods.
6. Set up payment methods.
7. Activate your online store and start selling.

Decide the platform to build your online store

This is the biggest decision you will be making related to your online store.

Most platforms will give you all the basic features that you need to manage your online store. It is only when you need some features, specific to your need that you might be forced to look at other platforms.

The options are multifarious. If you start comparing the features, you will still be searching for the ideal platform even after one year. Here is a list of desired features and the advantages they have over others.

Install the eCommerce platform on your web space.

You have two ways to install the eCommerce platform software.

Download it from the Prestashop site.

You can browse to the Prestashop website and download the software for free. It is a zip file which you then need to unzip (uncompress) and then upload the unzipped files to your web space using a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client. If you do not have a separate FTP login and password, you may login to the cPanel and look for File Manager. Do not upload the zip file directly to your web server.

1. Create a database for PrestaShop shop on your web server if it is possible. In case there is no MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying this database, create it as well.
2. Upload the three PrestaShop files to the chosen location on your web server, including the .zip file (it will unzip itself afterwards).
3. Run the PrestaShop installation script by accessing the public URL for the chosen location in a web browser. This should be the URL where you uploaded the PrestaShop files.
4. Follow the instructions on each screen of the installer.
5. Once the installation is done, delete the /install folder and write down the name of the /admin folder, which has been generated in order to be unique to you, for security reasons.

Many web hosts offer a quick installation of Prestashop.

Login to your cPanel and scroll down to Software –> Quickinstall as in the screenshot below.

Once you click on the Quickinstall, you can either select Prestashop from the horizontal menu

or search for it by typing in the search bar.

The installation process is fairly simple with the installer taking care of everything.

Follow the on screen instructions. However, it would be good if you read the online instructions and then click as required by the installer.

Alter the design of your online store.

Your online store is now ready with a Classic theme. Though this classic theme is fully functional on its own, you may want to make your eCommerce website more aesthetically pleasing using one of the many themes available at the Prestashop site.

Based on my personal experience I must share that your eCommerce website will load fastest with the inbuilt Classic theme. So, if you want a Google friendly site, stick with the Classic theme.

However, if you find the Classic theme too simple or bland, and want your eCommerce website to have some sliders and floating text and special effects, select a template or theme here. Most of these special effects use Java script and CSS, which tend to make your website heavy on resources, and loading slow.

It is worthwhile to give a thought that if you are offering a good product at a competitive price, your customers will not really bother about the special effects on your website. They will come to the right landing page, see the image, read the instructions and click “BUY”. On the other hand, if your website is slow to load and respond to the customer clicks, he is bound to abandon your online store and make the purchase elsewhere.

Organize your product catalog.

You now need to organize your products in the online store. Products are best organized category wise. So, divide your products into categories.

Let’s say you want to sell gifts in your online store. You could devise categories like Anniversary gifts, Birthday gifts, Teacher’s day gifts, Mother’s day gifts etc.

Once you have made categories, you can add products to your online store using the menu option Catalog–> Products

The process to add a new product is fairly simple, and it offers you a lot of data fields. You may not have data for all the fields, but try to populate as many fields as you can. This will help the customers in their search.

Prestashop also offers a filter which your customers can use to narrow down their choices. Which means your customers will be able to filter the products by price, or type – flowers, cakes, dress, brand, size etc.

So, effectively, this would mean, if a customer browsed to category Birthday gifts; he could use the filter to select a Red Velvet cake which weighs 1 pound and costs between $25-50. This way you can actually help them save time and make a purchase.

Set up shipping methods.

A product is not fully sold until you have offered arrangements to ship the product to the customer’s location.

Use the menu on the left to go to Improve –> Shipping –> Carriers to add more carriers of your choice. There are ready to use modules for Postal services of most countries and also for the major shipping carriers like DHL, FedEx, UPS etc.

Use the Shipping –> Preferences menu to configure  the cost of shipping and taxes if applicable.

If you require any special configuration of shipping costs, you can always add more modules from Prestashop add-ons site.

Set up payment methods.

The sale isn’t complete unless you have received the price for the goods (or service) sold. Add payment modules to your online store now. Here again, lots of modules are available, ready to use in your Prestashop eCommerce website.

Try to add as many payment options that you can handle. Include the options like PayPal, Stripe etc that are popular worldwide. You never know where your customer is coming from.

That reminds me, you can also display prices in different currencies in your online store. You simply need to add one price in your preferred or default currency. And then add the currency exchange rate. Prestashop will handle the rest.

Your customer will be able to choose the display currency of his choice from a drop down menu in the top menu.

It is also a good idea to have your online store in more than one language.

Prestashop has packs for many international languages. So, you just need to translate your product information to the language you want; and the eCommerce platform will handle the rest.

Activate your online store and start selling

You can now do a test transaction, and if everything is working well, you are now ready to launch your online store.

Happy Selling!

The complete guide to choosing a business name in 2021

Your Business Name

One of the most important decisions that you, as an Entrepreneur, will make, is about choosing the name for your business. And this decision needs to be taken at the early stages of incubation of your business.

Why is choosing the perfect name of your new business so important?

When you meet someone for the first time, you tell them your name. And you expect to know of the other person’s name too. When you go out to buy cuff-links, you look for the pair with your name initials on it.

Here are 7 tips that will help you decide upon the perfect name for your business.

1. Your business name should be short and brand-able
2. The business name should be relevant to the product or service you are offering.
3. The business name should not be offensive.
4. An exact match of the website domain name should be available.
5. Consider Social Media handles.
6. Research Trademark rights of your exact business name.
7. The final check of your business name.

Your business name should be short and brand-able

Business names should be

• short,
• easy to pronounce (by others, you sure know the correct pronunciation)
• easy to spell
• memorable

I will quote an interesting story about the launch of a new Cellular or Mobile Service provider in India. This happened around the year 2002. Most people already had a mobile number from one of the other Service Providers Hutch, Airtel or Reliance. And this new company launches its service with the name Idea. What an idea!

The company logo looked like this . The design is in the shape of a mobile sim card, (rectangular with a corner cut-off). And since idea is usually associated with an exclamation, they put an exclamation mark (!) in the name itself. Very smart and innovative. Highly creative.

You have heard of the dish-wash named Vim, manufactured by Unilever Group. Vim was introduced in 1904, and the word means “force / vigour”. Ideally suited to a scouring powder, which removes stains and greases off dishes easily.

The name Apple with its bitten apple logo is another unique and creative innovation.

The top companies of today, which are usually addressed with the acronym FAMGA (Facebook – Apple – Microsoft – Google – Amazon), all have names that are easy to pronounce, spell  and easily memorable.

How to find more names?

Though most common words have already been taken. You can

1. Create new words: You can add, replace or delete a few letters from existing words. There are names like Fressh and Zomato. Similarly Google, Yahoo, Bing are new words that are short, easy to spell, but never existed in the dictionary. Tumblr has done away with the vowel e to arrive at its name.
2. Use rare existing words: Pick up a thesaurus, and find new words that fit your business model. You are bound to find some wonderful words you would like to use.
3. Find a word from another language: Do you remember the Presario range of computers from Compaq? Presario was derived from Impresario,  an Italian  word meaning Manager or Director. Compaq used a shorter form of the word for its new brand, and the name sold very well.  Similarly, Alta Vista was a very popular search engine. In Spanish and Portugese, it means “A view from above”. The word syncs well with the concept of a Search Engine.  

The business name should be relevant to the product or service you are offering.

There is a very popular joke about Bill Gates on this topic. He once met a simpleton who asked him. Sir, your name is Gates, but you manufacture  “Windows“.

If your business name is New York Landscaping Services, you should not be selling Ice Creams. Similarly, Mother Dairy cannot be selling soaps and laundry products.

The business name should not be offensive.

Look at these goof ups that occurred when business names were translated into a different language.

When Coca-Cola was first introduced in China, its name, translated in Chinese meant “Bite the wax tadpole”.

Colgate Palmolive introduced a toothpaste by the name “Cue” in France. They later realized that Cue was also the name for a French pornographic magazine.

Ford Pinto was a very popular car, but when it was launched in Brazil; it proved to be a marketing blunder. Pinto in Brazilian Portuguese means “tiny male genitals”.

Mist is the German slang for manure. Imagine the goof when Clairol, the US cosmetics company launched its curling iron by the name Mist Stick in Germany.

You have seen the KFC tagline “Finger Licking Good”. This tagline when translated in Chinese, meant “Eat your fingers”

These concerns about business names are meaningful if you are planning to take your business international. However, if your product or service is localized, you can skip this point.

An exact match of the website domain name should be available.

When you commence your business, you should get yourself a website too. And the name of the website, the domain name, should be an exact match of your business name. Preferably, with a .com extension.

A .com domain name is the default choice for any business website. There are many choices for domain name extensions – .parts, .beauty, .law, .biz, .dev, .app, .inc; but you tell someone about your new business, and he will immediately search for your business name with a .com.

You can check for the domain name here.

If you know how to make a website yourself, that is cool. Else, you can read my post on how to create your own website.

So, if you have shortlisted a business name, and the best match of  its domain name is available. Move ahead.

Consider Social Media handles.

In addition to securing a matching domain name, you should also plan the strategy for digital marketing of your business.

Social Media Marketing isn’t going anywhere so soon. Build up a strong foundation for your business by creating accounts on the popular Social Media Platforms relevant for your business.

Your customers should be able to find you on any Social Media platform by typing the same name, your business name. I found a very useful utility which will help you search on most of the Social Media. Try namecheckr.com.

Here are a few tips while you decide on your business name.

Facebook

For Facebook, there are two names associated with your account. One is the Name, and other is the Username.The Name need not be unique, but the Username needs to be. So, this username appears after @ in your Facebook profile, and also for the URL of your Facebook page. Check if you can get the same Facebook username as your business name.

Facebook usernames must be at least 5 characters, and a maximum of 50. The username can contain only alphabets, numbers and periods. But the periods are not really differentiators. So, @maninder.punn is same as @maninderpunn.

Twitter

Twitter also needs a Name as well as a Username. As with Facebook, the Username needs to be unique. 

Twitter usernames can be a maximum of 15 characters,  and can contain alphabets, numbers and underscore. With Twitter, underscore does differentiate names. So, @maninder_punn is different from @maninderpunn.

If you want your business name to be the same as your Twitter handle, you now have to limit yourself to 15 characters.

Instagram

Once you go to set up your Instagram account, you have to enter your Name and a Username. The Username appears with a @ pre-fixed to it, and in your Instagram URL. So, this has to be unique.

Instagram usernames contain alphabets, numbers, periods and underscores. Here again, periods and underscores do differentiate names. The maximum allowable username length is 30 characters.

If usernames matching your business name are available for these 3 Social media platforms. Kudos! You are now close to finalizing your business name.

Research Trademark rights of your exact business name.

One more check, and you are ready to finalize your perfect business name. This one has to do with trademark rights.

Wikipedia explains trademark as ” a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source  from those of others.

Though the exact process of searching trademarks varies from one country to another, the basic guidelines remain the same. Most countries also offer an electronic Search for trademarks already registered.

Classification of Goods and Services

All products and services are categorized into 45 Classes as shown in the image below.Classes 1-34 are for goods, and classes 35-45 are for services.

So, two different manufacturers could have the same trademark if their products fit into different categories. One makes Metal Goods, which belongs to Class 007 and another business makes Wines and Spirits, which is class 033. If required, they could both register the trademark “Sharp”.

The Patents and Trademark Office will refuse requests for trademark if  it is likely to conflict with a trademark that is already registered or in the process of getting registered. 

But, as of now, check the class to which your product or service belongs and follow these steps:

The final check of your business name.

Finally, you need to make The phone test of your business name.

You’ve heard some names like Porsche, Nike, Hermes, Hublot, Givenchy, Volkswagen to name a few, and these have been pronounced wrong all the time, or most of the time.

1. How does your business name sound when you say it on the phone?
2. Do you always have to spell out your business name?
3. Do people pronounce your business name wrong?
4. Does it sound a bit weird, and not in a good way?

 It’s always good to get creative, but you still need a name that people can easily share.

Please share your views in the comments section below. I am sure you have many more ideas to finding the perfect business name. Please share your views in the comments section below.

Step-By-Step Guide to Starting Your Own Blog

You sure must be tempted when you see those posts on social media about people blogging and making money. It’s not so difficult to start a blog. And, all the more in 2021, it has become easier than ever to start your own Blog.

Using the instructions in this guide, you can have your own Blog up and running within an hour. That too, a professional looking Blog with all the essential features that a Blog needs.

With a knowledge about the right set of tools to use, you can avoid mistakes that new bloggers usually make. This way you will save time in setting up the blog, which can be better utilized in creating content for your Blog.

1. Choose a topic for your Blog
2. Choose the right platform for Blogging
3. Set up your Blog on your website
4. Make basic changes to your WordPress installation (Configure)
5. Select the right theme for your Blog
6. Design your logo and change the colors of your Blog theme
7. Write content for your Blog.

Choose a topic for your Blog

What do you want to write about in your Blog? Do you want to establish a community? What do you want to be noticed for? What are you passionate about?

Do some introspection and choose a topic that you can write about. Or, if you are learning something new, you can choose to share your wisdom  about it; so that other people learning the same trait could take some tips from you.

We suggest that you select a topic that you are passionate about. Something that you are very much interested in. Though most successful blogs are about one topic, be it food, or travel or SEO, or designing, or carpentry, or politics. But there are equally successful blogs that focus on more than one topic.

Don’t worry about how many people will be interested in your Blog. The world is huge, and there are all sorts of people, all with varied tastes and interests. You cannot have everybody liking your blog. And not everyone will dislike your Blog posts either. You will build an audience on the go.

So, start blogging. Every Blog post you write will teach you something, if you are willing to learn. As a result, each of your new Blog posts will be better than the previous ones.

Even if you feel you chose a wrong topic. You can start off with a new one. No one will stop you from changing your Blog topic. The Internet is a free world.

Choose the right platform for Blogging

The main decision in choosing the platform for your Blog is to go for a Self Hosted Blog or a Free Blog.

Each one has its own benefits.

Free Blogging Platforms

The free Blog platforms include Blogger.com, Tumblr.com, Ghost.org and WordPress.com. Yes, WordPress.com is offered by the same company that offers the WordPress platform for building independent websites. 

With most free blog platforms, you will have limited options in terms of storage, design and functionality.You also have to provision for ads being thrown in by the free blog provider. And these ads definitely are annoying sometimes, especially to your readers.

In addition, you will use their domain name, Something like xxxx.blogpost.com or. If you want to use your own domain name, you have to pay for the domain name. But if your motive simply is to share your written thoughts with the world, you can get along with any of these free platforms.

To start your blog on Blogger.com, you need a Google account. And if you have one, use it to login into Blogger.com and get going.

Self Hosted Blogging Platforms

Self hosted Blogs require a very nominal investment. You pay for your domain name and you need  hosting web space (more on this follows). That is it. WordPress  is free to download and use. Here are a few more benefits of using WordPress that you should consider:

• WordPress is Open Source. This means that it is not owned by a single person. Thousands of Developers contribute in making it and developing it on a regular basis.
• In terms of design, you have plenty of free templates to choose from.
• In addition, there are plenty of free WordPress plugins too, which you might need to enhance the functionality of your website.
• You have complete control over your Blog.

You should know that WordPress is not the only Blogging platform. There are plenty of others.

Image Source: https://trends.builtwith.com/cms/blog/traffic/Entire-Internet

Every time  I look at this data, the market share of WordPress has increased by a substantial number. It stands at a whopping 97.07% today. What more proof do you need?

Unless you have something else in mind, WordPress is the platform / technology to build your Blog.

So, how much do you need to pay for your self hosted Blog?

Not much. You can get your own .com Domain name for as low as US$12.95. Some domain extensions are cheaper still, but the default domain names end with .com. You can also get it for free when you buy web hosting space.  Choose your domain names here.

Web Hosting Space starts at US$2.75 per month which gives you more features than you will need. Hostgator is a very reliable Web Host, and I strongly recommend buying the web hosting space for your Blog from this company. They offer one click WordPress installs, unmetered Web Space, unmetered Bandwidth and free domain name registration.

All this amounts to about US$33 per annum.

Set up your Blog on your web space

So, how much do you need to pay for your self hosted Blog?

Not much. You can get your own .com Domain name for as low as US$12.95. Some domain extensions are cheaper still, but the default domain names end with .com. You can also get it for free when you buy web hosting space.  Choose your domain names here.

Web Hosting Space starts at US$2.75 per month which gives you more features than you will need. Hostgator is a very reliable Web Host, and I strongly recommend buying the web hosting space for your Blog from this company. They offer one click WordPress installs, unmetered Web Space, unmetered Bandwidth and free domain name registration.

All this amounts to about US$33 per annum.

As you know that Hostgator offers a One Click WordPress install, you can set up WordPress on your web space the very moment your account is active.

Click on WordPress and follow the on screen instructions to install. Set your backend administrative panel username and password and note it down for safe keeping.

Make basic changes to your WordPress installation

Once you have installed WordPress, it’s time to configure it to suit your Blog.

Go to the backend administrative panel of your newly installed Blog. It is at your-domain-name /wp-admin by default. Login using the username and password you setup and stored.

Once you are logged in, you will see this:

General Settings 

In the left sidebar menu, look for “Settings”; then go to “General”

There are two main settings you need to check, one is the Site Title and the other one is Tagline.

Site Title is the name of your site. Search engines use the title  to determine your website rankings. And it is the first thing that a visitor sees in search results.

Tagline is one short sentence to describe what your Blog is about. It summarizes the gist of your Blog.

Allow Google to index your Blog

People at large can reach your Blog only through Search Engines like Google. To enable that, go to Settings → Reading from the left sidebar menu.

Scroll down to find “Search engine visibility” and Uncheck the parameter “Discourage search engines from indexing this site”. There should not be a tick in this box. I wonder who in the world would keep this box checked.

Creating a structure for the URLs of your Blog

Let’s say you visit a website and come across an interesting page which tells you the difference between a pie and a cake. You want to save / bookmark the page address for reference sometime later on, and you notice that the URL is https://raunharman.net/?p=123

If the page address had been https://raunharman.net/difference-between-pie-and-cake, you would identify the content of the web page from the URL itself. That is the power of custom URLs. These URLs are user friendly, as well as Search Engine friendly. These are called SEO URLs.

The best part is that you too can create custom URLs for all the posts, pages and archives in your Blog! This will improve the usability of your pages and make them look relevant. Just define the structure, and WordPress will create such fascinating URLs for all your Blog posts.

Go to Settings → Permalinks. Select the option which says Post name.

Select the right theme for your Blog

You may not be very good at graphic design or you might not know anything about HTML or coding. But you will be happy to know that you can have a brilliantly designed Blog using “themes”. Themes take care of the design aspects of your Blog.

You have access to thousands of designs (themes) to choose a design for your Blog. And most of them are FREE.

Look for the Appearance menu in the left sidebar, and go to Themes. Appearance –>Themes.

Clicking on “Add New” will take you to the WordPress website where you will be shown themes listed under different Tabs: Featured, Popular, Latest, Favorites, Catch Themes. Click on Popular, and browse through the themes available. Keep your blog topic in mind and choose one. When you bring the mouse / cursor over the theme thumbnail, you will be shown options to Install or Preview them.

Do not install unnecessary themes in your blog installation. Though only one theme will be active at any given time. Having unused themes will slow down your website, which you cannot afford to do.

Once you have installed your favorite theme, click on “Activate”, and when you browse to the frontend of your blog, the looks have changed. The best part here is that the content (articles) on your blog will not change. You can keep changing the theme as frequently as you want without losing content.

Design your logo and change the colors of your Blog theme

You will be surprised to know that you can also change the color scheme, of your theme, to your liking. In addition, you can and you should add a logo to your blog.

To begin, go to Appearance→ Customize.

The menu options to customize vary from theme to theme. However, all themes do provide you with these choices:

Global: You can choose the fonts, font colors, font sizes, header fonts, button colors etc.

Header: This option lets you choose the logo, site icon (usually called favicon), header size and its placement, menu position etc.

Footer: Here you can decide which widgets to place in the footer of your blog, items on the footer menu and the copyright text.

Additional CSS: CSS stands for cascading style sheets and is used for designing various elements of your blog. This is meant for expert users. At this moment, you should know that you have this option available.

I will leave it for you to explore. If you need any help during the set-up process, get in touch with me here and I’ll help as best I can and answer any questions you might have.

Write content for your Blog

Now, we come to the most essential part of your blog. A blog is insignificant without content. The content you create for your blog will be used to sell a product, or a service, or send your message out.

You will learn how to add a “post” to your blog, and also how to write content which is “engaging”. When you write engaging content, you keep your readers, or your viewers engaged. They want to read more of what you have written. I am sure, that is what you want.

To add a “Post”, select Posts from the left sidebar menu, and then “Add new”. Once you are here, give your post a “title”, and then add a “Block”. The simplest way to create a good post is to add a block of “Heading” , followed by a block of  “Classic Paragraph”. Repeat this technique throughout your post. The content in a Classic Paragraph can be, and must be, further split into small paragraphs, which makes reading easier. Use headings (h1, h2, h3, h4) as much as possible in a structured way.

The best way to start your blog post is with a killer headline. The headline determines if the reader wants to continue reading, or bounce off the page. Research has proved that headlines that feature how,  why, you, because, free and new help drive more conversions.

The next important thing is the sub heading or introduction. You should try to match the text here with the intention of users. This is called user intent, and it is the purpose why the reader is interested in reading your blog post.

Further, adding images, pictures or visuals helps to improve performance of your blog post. But be careful about using copyrighted images. Try to use original images.

That is it for now. Let me know in the comments below, if I have missed out on something, and has worked well for you.