Today's Posts Follow Us On Twitter! TFL Members on Twitter  
Forum search: Advanced Search  
Navigation
Marketplace
  Members Login:
Lost password?
  Forum Statistics:
Forum Members: 24,254
Total Threads: 80,792
Total Posts: 566,471
There are 1920 users currently browsing (tf).
 
  Our Partners:
 
  TalkFreelance     Business and Website Management     Contracts, Business and Legal Help :

Startup Essentials

Thread title: Startup Essentials
Closed Thread    
    Thread tools Search this thread Display Modes  
01-27-2005, 02:48 PM
#1
Anthony is offline Anthony
Status: Sin Binner
Join date: Jul 2004
Location: Yorkshire Coast - UK
Expertise:
Software:
 
Posts: 5,911
iTrader: 29 / 91%
 

Anthony is on a distinguished road

Send a message via MSN to Anthony

  Old  Startup Essentials

We all want to start a business, or most of us do. Most of us will end up doing if not owning one already.

Some people (if not most) just rush into it. Get a website, Paypal account, and start trying to make money. Not many people consider the consequences or plan out their actions. Planning everything out before hand (known as a business plan or a personal business contract) is all the help you need.

In this plan you outline the essentials. Meaning what you NEED in order to survive and eventually make a good profit.

I have listed 3 business types below, now you tell me what your essentials would be for each of them:

Web Hosting Company
Web Design Company
Web Traffic Company

01-27-2005, 03:39 PM
#2
derek lapp is offline derek lapp
Status: design rockstar
Join date: Jan 2005
Location: guelph, ontario
Expertise:
Software:
 
Posts: 2,246
iTrader: 0 / 0%
 

derek lapp is on a distinguished road

  Old

i have no interest in the other two, so i would come up with a ****ty business plan, but for webdesigns i'd make sure to have:
  • registered company name
  • strong branding strategy - effective slogan, catchy logo, print essentials (letterhead, business cards)
  • (at least one)skilled designer - capable of doing a range of things from web to print to digital graphic design at a high quality. if it's not applicaple, one for each specified area
  • (at least one) skilled developer - one capable of at least high end (x)html and CSS (not because it's cool, because it can actually increase performance)
  • back end dveloper - if it's not the same guy, someone to do backend work
  • sale manager - someone to handle all the business arangements, set up initial contract specifications, go looking for clients etc
  • someone to keep the books, or an accountant for short. eomployees need to get paid, and i need to keep trakc of where my money is going
  • if funding allows, i'd contact a lawyer for all my legal issues, such as initial contract drafts, copyright material, things like terms of service and privacy policies
  • specified target audience - online, realtime business, bands, education related etc
  • method of payment - i can only see using paypal for online transfers

there's more but that's all i got off the top of my head.

01-27-2005, 09:58 PM
#3
DateinaDash is offline DateinaDash
Status: The BidMaster
Join date: Nov 2004
Location: England
Expertise:
Software:
 
Posts: 10,821
iTrader: 0 / 0%
 

DateinaDash is on a distinguished road

  Old

I will take the web traffic business seeing as theory has covered the design one and the fact i don't know as much about hosting as i would like to!

Some of you might be aware i ran a fairly succesful targeted traffic business for about 4 months called visitors2go (www.visitors2go.com) we had profits of $1,000/month at our best, so i should be able to cover the essentials of what is needed to run a succesful traffic business.

> Decent domain name (visitors2go was unique and catchy and also went well with an existing brand i had established, banners2go.com) Especially in the traffic business a domain is everything.

> Killer design, so many traffic businesses have bad designs (it's almost like common nature in this industry) because of the vast amount of resellers etc. They all provide standard "templates" and the like. Stand out from the crowd and provide a professional look, i think visitors2go was fairly succesful due to it's great branding and design...even if our product wasn't the greatest.

> Traffic reseller. You will need a decent wholesaler/reseller account with a leading traffic provider (www.traffictaxi.net are quite good). Do your research and make sure you avoid the scams...there are quite alot! Banner exchanges, autosurf sites, proxy hit systems etc.

> Payment processor/method. You will need a way to accept payments, a custom order form or paypal integration doesn't go a miss, make it as easy as possible for the customer to order. You don't need an elaborate setup by any means but don't make it hard on them.

> Tos. One of the most crucial things to include, in this game you need to make sure your terms of service are upto date and cover you on every angle. Remember, you're providing a service of delivering visitors and thats where you draw the line! I have had many complaints from customers who want there money back...always cover your back! Traffic industry is cut throat!

> Google. The best way to advertise a traffic business is through google adwords, hands down. It's how some of the biggest players in the industry have been established and it's probably the most cost effective. Forget throwing your money at banner impressions.

I think that is about it....hope i have helped somewhat!

01-27-2005, 10:15 PM
#4
Hexation is offline Hexation
Status: Member
Join date: Jul 2004
Location: USA
Expertise:
Software:
 
Posts: 455
iTrader: 0 / 0%
 

Hexation is on a distinguished road

Send a message via AIM to Hexation Send a message via MSN to Hexation

  Old

Is that site still live and running Rob?

01-27-2005, 10:19 PM
#5
DateinaDash is offline DateinaDash
Status: The BidMaster
Join date: Nov 2004
Location: England
Expertise:
Software:
 
Posts: 10,821
iTrader: 0 / 0%
 

DateinaDash is on a distinguished road

  Old

It sure is Hex, under new ownership now.

01-28-2005, 11:58 AM
#6
juvanescence is offline juvanescence
Status: Junior Member
Join date: Jan 2005
Location: Wales, UK
Expertise:
Software:
 
Posts: 71
iTrader: 0 / 0%
 

juvanescence is on a distinguished road

  Old

To survive you really need money. You can plan all day but unless you have got the cash for equipment/emergencies then you are just going to struggle.

That is the single most important aspect of any start-up.

01-29-2005, 10:35 AM
#7
DateinaDash is offline DateinaDash
Status: The BidMaster
Join date: Nov 2004
Location: England
Expertise:
Software:
 
Posts: 10,821
iTrader: 0 / 0%
 

DateinaDash is on a distinguished road

  Old


To survive you really need money. You can plan all day but unless you have got the cash for equipment/emergencies then you are just going to struggle.
Good point, finance is essential to any business venture.

Closed Thread    


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

  Posting Rules  
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump:
 
  Contains New Posts Forum Contains New Posts   Contains No New Posts Forum Contains No New Posts   A Closed Forum Forum is Closed