developing your business online

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Developing Your Business Online Steven Northam The University of Winchester Enterprise Conference 2008

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Part of the Enterprise Conference 2008 - The University of Winchester

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Page 1: Developing Your Business Online

Developing Your Business Online

Steven Northam

The University of Winchester Enterprise Conference 2008

Page 2: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 3: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 4: Developing Your Business Online

Advantages & Disadvantages

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

anywhere

• Low entry barriers – competition

• Business models easily copied (YouTube, Facebook)

Page 5: Developing Your Business Online

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?

Page 6: Developing Your Business Online

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 ?

Page 7: Developing Your Business Online

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!

Page 8: Developing Your Business Online

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.

Page 9: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 10: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 11: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 12: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 13: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 14: Developing Your Business Online

Other considerations

• Legal – Data Protection, Trading Laws

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

Page 15: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 16: Developing Your Business Online

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?

Page 17: Developing Your Business Online

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..

Page 18: Developing Your Business Online

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

Page 19: Developing Your Business Online

Questions

Page 20: Developing Your Business Online

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: [email protected]• Video of this session (and this mornings talk)

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