Online store business plan

Everyone knows the statement that the engine of progress is trade. Therefore, the most popular type of business among start-up entrepreneurs can safely be called the opening of your own store — both conventional and electronic.

Internet trading is quite an interesting activity even during a crisis, as it is the least susceptible to various factors (the political situation in the state, etc.).
In addition, if an entrepreneur already has his own stationary store, then the creation of an online store will significantly expand the circle of customers, increase sales.

Preparation before creating your online store

Before opening an online store, you need to understand that this is just a tool for providing customers with data about a product or service. And you will have to sell real products for which real real money is paid.

And for this you need to deal with legal issues, open a bank account, find food suppliers, get an office, a warehouse, a telephone and, of course, money and time. You also need to draw up a business plan for an online store.

Organizing an online store in a metropolis, where renting commercial real estate is very expensive, will cost much less than opening a regular store.

Buyers today often go to ordinary stores only to feel the goods, and then go home and order it online, but much cheaper, with discounts and delivery. And this is reasonable. After all, it makes no sense to overpay for someone’s rent and advertising.

Online store business plan: the main costs of creating your own online store

Let us consider in more detail how a business plan for an online store with a range of about 300 items of goods and services is formed.

The components of the cost of creating an online store are:

• costs for online activities;
• costs for offline activities;
• monthly expenses.

In this case, we will consider a “quick start” of such a business project, and we will not include warehouses, office space and dedicated Internet servers in the online store business plan. We will manage with a separate room in your apartment, renting a virtual hosting, the goods will be taken from the supplier’s warehouse.

Online store business plan: costs for online activities

1. The purchase of hosting and domain registration in the ru zone will be about 600 rubles, hosting for a year — about 3000 rubles.
2. The «engine» of the online store — from 30 to 150 thousand dollars, depending on the number of pages, mechanisms for accepting payment, the complexity of design development. This includes design, programming, engineering, merchandising, and web hosting.

In total, the total cost of organizing an online business can range from 40 to 150 thousand dollars.
Business plan for an online store: costs for offline activities

1. Organizational costs will be about 5-15 thousand dollars. This includes registering an LLC, opening an account with a banking institution, contributing authorized capital. But at first you can do without all this and work a little “blindly”.
2. Purchase of computer equipment and peripherals for workplaces (cash register, laser printer, a couple of workstations) — 50-70 thousand dollars.
3. Setting up equipment and installing a local network — 3-6 thousand dollars.
4. Adjustment of the software — about 3 thousand dollars.

In total, the cost of offline business organization will be about 50-100 thousand dollars.
Online Store Business Plan: Monthly Costs

1. Accounting support — 5000 rubles.
2. Office rent — 10,000 -15,000 rubles.
3. Advertising in Yandex market — 5000 rubles.
4. Advertising in Yandex direct — 5000 rubles.
5. Advertising in rambler purchases — 3000 rubles.
6. Other advertising online and offline — 3000 rubles.
7. Development and support of the site — 5000 rubles.
8. Office expenses — 3000 rubles.

Total monthly costs are about 40-45 thousand rubles. per month.
Our online store business plan shows that the average cost to open an online store is about 100-200 thousand dollars, and monthly — 40-45 thousand dollars.

But these are average figures. When calculating the indicators of a particular project, they can either increase or decrease.

Online store business plan: project payback

Thus, in order to ensure payback, our online store must generate a profit of about 60 — 100 thousand dollars per month.

This amount will cover monthly expenses and part of the initial costs of opening a store.

In many areas of e-commerce, the market still has room to grow. And there are more and more paying customers on the Internet. You just need to carefully analyze supply and demand using the Yandex and Yandex Direct search tools.

You can find areas of trade where there is no supply at all.
By choosing a good direction, you can get rich. And, accordingly, an unsuccessful choice will entail a lack of orders and a complete collapse.

Procedure for opening an online store

So, what do we need in order to open an online store?

1. first we choose the theme of the store, draw up all legal issues,
2. we solve the issue with the place of storage of goods, office space,
3. we buy furniture and office equipment,
4. we purchase goods or negotiate with a supplier to work from a warehouse,
5. we are engaged directly in the creation of the site and software development,
6. we promote the site on the network — we work.

This is the reality of what seems to be the simplest and easiest business.
It is worth noting that well-promoted and advanced online stores bring millions in profits.
Therefore, you need to understand that for this you first need to invest a lot.

Online store business plan