E-Business: E-commerce in enterprises – Starting your own business Part 16

Business and e-commerce, two of the last big topics in your business plan. E-business deals with all processes that can be automated. This includes, for example, digital financial accounting and invoicing, as well as the machine that carries out a certain work process automatically. Which core elements do you use to make your business even more attractive through automation? This is exactly what e-business is all about.

Electronic trade in companies: Target Automation

One of the main goals of e-business is to automate the processes in retail to a large extent.

As in my small mentioned software example the automation can be advanced so far that one hardly had to carry out manual actions (mouse click instead of Excel tables and manual entry, calculation). From control software to instagram management, there is a solution for almost everything when it comes to process automation. What does your business model look like and how can you integrate the modern, digital distribution channels as well as the modern and digital production channels into your company? You will answer this question in your business plan if you fall back on such digital automation.

Electronic trade and software

One of the main goals of e-business is to automate the processes in retail to a large extent. In particular as far as the possibilities in online trading are concerned, the possibilities today are as varied as never before and they are becoming more and more. Besides, with a little talent and ambition, it doesn’t take long to run your own online shop. Without an expensive advertising agency. Until recently, this was unthinkable, a sales platform without outside help. Since this point is very important for many business start-ups and startups, we will go into detail about the different models that you can use, especially at the beginning, to advance your business model digitally.

1. DIY – Shopify, Jimdo, Wix – Chargeable, easy to use
2. WordPress / WooCommerce – Requires expertise or motivation
3. Amazon FBA – Shipping by Amazon, Logistics
4. Call Center Provider

WordPress and WooCommerce: Open Source instead of expensive

With the free Woocommerce Online Shop Plugin for WordPress you can create your own online shop in no time with the help (or much diligence) of an appropriate agency. The plugin is the decisive part for the online shop functions in the content management system WordPress. WooCommerce is just like WordPress itself, available as a free download, in several languages. With the powerful combination of WooCommerce and WordPress, you can easily create your own professional online shop with your own merchandise management systems. A Woocommerce online shop allows you to easily create invoices, optimize inventory, create coupons and vouchers or even give discounts on individual products, for all or only certain groups of products. WooCommerce can also be extended with practical features such as subscriber systems, so that payments are made regularly and automatically.

Website and online shop in one

With WordPress and WooCommerce, your company website and your online shop are supported with one system and one tool. The system also guarantees simple product management. With WooCommerce you can manage your entire product management as well as control inventory. You have flexible possibilities to show and hide products, you can define different categorizations for your individual goods and products and you even have another tool: You can offer digital products for download – with just a few clicks. In combination with a subscriber system and payment providers such as Paypal and voila settled.

Free Extensions

Extensions and free plugins such as the Subscriber System are possible at any time. With numerous expansion options and plugins, you can constantly expand, optimize and improve your shop as described. Most of these features are free and can be easily installed by yourself, the first media manager or an agency you trust. In addition there are further, very powerful plugins, which can increase the ranges and conversion additionally enormously. With an online shop based on WordPress you can’t do anything wrong – my recommendation.

Use of Content Management Systems

Important: As easy as it sounds to use content management systems like WordPress, you are working (without own know how) in a complicated system consisting of different links, HTML, CSS, PHP and SQL. If your shop does not “only” contain 10 products, but 500 or 1,000, then always think about professional support by an employee, freelancer or an online agency. If you don’t have the know-how or a lot of time and diligence to learn, you should use an agency for larger shops, which uses an intelligent and smart WordPress Online Shop System, which brings fast results and sales through many automations. Without complex extensions, the system can also be set up itself, with a little diligence and Youtube explanation videos.

Digital Call Center Provider

Digital call centers are ideal for you if you want to make statements about the conversations and especially the first contacts. On the one hand, there are call center providers who accept all calls and assign them according to a specific guideline. As the managing director of the new start-up, you or your employees will immediately receive a summary of the call content after each call. This will save you a lot of time, especially if you have a lot of calls that should be categorized first. You will then know exactly which calls are of high quality and which you can ignore. The service is then paid in a basic fee plus the respective minute rate per call. Of course, such digital call centres can not only be used for answering calls and classifying quality, but also for active telephone acquisition of new customers. There are specially trained call centres here that specialise in making contact with new customers. This service has the great advantage that you can completely outsource your own telephone sales. Also here you pay a monthly basic fee, as well as a certain minute price, depending upon quality of the caller and/or selling coworker of the Sup enterprise.

Prices and possible solutions as well as providers can of course be found via search engines. Meanwhile an entire industry has developed around this area and accordingly you can find many offers online that you can fall back on. What strategies will you use for your business?

E-Business implementation costs

Shortly before the end of your business plan, you’ve really started all the considerations to establish your business model in the market. Now, for the last time, the question of realisation is being addressed comprehensively. How much effort is really behind the overall concept? Are really all the prerequisites and have been considered? Your central questions in the topic of realization effort:

1. Do you know the legal and commercial basics of your planned company?
2. Are you able to cope with the preparation and start-up costs?
3. Can you do this alone?
4. Is there help, partner etc.?
5. Do you know the necessary resources of time, money and know-how?

Guideline: Setting up your own business & business plan

You want to start your own business as a real estate agent or with another business idea? We support you with tips on your business plan and concept. Whether self-employed full-time or part-time self-employed: If you want to set up your own company, you have to think about a lot, in advance and in the operative business. From the right idea to health insurance – what needs to be considered if you want to become self-employed?

There is no training or further education for entrepreneurs. Managing director is you or not. Your own ambition is always important, because this is the only way to improve, every day.

The topics at a glance: