BuyDomains Newsletter
October 2006
Do you wonder how to build your brand? Are you unsure about the best way to promote your business online? Are you interested in hiring a web designer, but aren't sure how to negotiate a contract?
These topics and more are covered in BuyDomains' new Small Business Center. New articles and downloads are added weekly. The content is free and easily accessible.
Visit BuyDomains Small Business Center to Read More
Procurement: Buying the Basics for Your Business. Where Do You Start?
"You have to spend money to make money." This old advice is true for both small and large businesses. Investing in new equipment, upgrading your services, or even making life a little better for your employees can all provide returns far greater than the initial investment.
When making purchases like these, saving money is still important. However, smart business people know when to focus on saving every dime, and when to concentrate on getting the right product from the right supplier.
Trying to save a few bucks on important equipment or services can wind up costing you far more than you saved, in the long run. The simplest reason is that price often correlates to quality: a $69 office chair from a superstore just won't have the same durability as a $300 chair from a furniture dealer.
In other cases, thinking long-term means seeing the value in building an ongoing relationship. A vendor you do business with regularly is much more likely to give you price breaks or VIP treatment.
Here's a look at four popular purchases that can help improve your company's performance. We've provided links to BuyerZone.com, a leading source of information and free price quotes on 125+ different business purchases, to help you learn more.
Credit Card Processing
Accepting credit cards is a quick way to improve your cash flow. Whether the transaction is online, over the phone, or in-person, merchant accounts make your small business seem more professional and can boost your bottom line.
Read more in BuyerZone's Credit Card Processing Buyer's Guide or get free Credit Card Processing price quotes from vendors near you.
Web Site Design
Your web site is the first interaction many of your potential customers have with your business — does it measure up? The right web site design provider will work with you to create a polished site that helps turn site visitors into customers.
Read more in BuyerZone's Web Site Design Buyer's Guide or get free Web Site Design price quotes from vendors near you.
VoIP Phone Systems
VoIP phone systems use data networks instead of telephone wires, allowing calls between far-flung offices at no charge. If you have substantial intra-office phone bills, upgrading to a VoIP system can quickly pay for itself.
Read more in BuyerZone's VoIP Buyer's Guide or get free VoIP price quotes from vendors near you.
Collection Agencies
Take the unpaid accounts you thought you'd never get paid for and transfer them to a collection agency. If they collect, you get most of what was owed you, minus the agency's fees. If they don't collect — you don't pay.
Read more in BuyerZone's Collection Agencies Buyer's Guide or get free Collection Agency price quotes from vendors near you.
Starting an online business in e-commerce takes as little as a little space in your home for a digital camera setup and an e-Bay account. In fact, since so many small online businesses are starting out on e-Bay, many vendors are finding out that they have to compete with e-Bay prices.
The following list includes many items that you may not need if you're starting from home.  It's intended as a set of guidelines that you can use to do research on your actual needs. Check with a tax accountant in advance to find out which items are considered start-up costs and which are operating expenses, for tax purposes. A good tax specialist will help you determine depreciation costs and the best time to claim them.
Here are a few basics that most businesses include in their start-up budget, whether they're online or not:
- Office space: You probably don't have the capital to buy your own building. If you decide to lease, don't forget to budget for the damage deposit. Then again, you can always work out of your garage.
- Furniture and office equipment: You'll certainly need a computer. You should also price printers, a fax machine and a copier to complete your office equipment. Depending on your needs, you may also want to purchase a scanner.
- Utilities: Be aware that you will need electricity, telephones and internet access to get your business off to a running start. Many utilities require an up-front deposit to start.
- Insurance: Besides insurance on your assets, you might ask about health plans for your employees.
- Legal costs, licenses and permits
- Accounting costs
- Software: Having the proper software for office management, accounting and inventory control will ensure that your employees can effectively do their work
- Employee salaries, payroll taxes, benefits, and workmen's compensation insurance
- Office cleaning
- Delivery services and/or transportation.
In addition to this list, an e-commerce business should include budget lines for:
- web hosting (setup fees are startup costs)
- domain name registration (yearly or multi-year payments, although month-to-month is also available)
- web site design
- site maintenance or an in-house webmaster
- e-mail service
- network security
- a merchant bank account setup and/or a payment gateway
- a shopping cart system
- search engine optimization (SEO)
- marketing and market research, including an advertising budget, costs of e-mail lists, search engine placement by keyword and promotions
- web analytics
- installations costs such as shopping cart setup
- inventory
- hardware backup/redundancy
- travel to trade shows, conferences or professional meetings
- subscriptions for trade periodicals.
Cost Cutters: A Guide to Reducing Startup Costs
Almost all startup and operating expenses can be reduced if you take the time to do your homework. In particular, obtaining multiple services from a single vendor saves you a great deal of money, whether it's insurance or web hosting.
Here are some money-saving tips:
- Check with your web hosting service to see what they offer for their monthly membership or subscription fee. Many offer web site templates, free domain name renewals, shopping carts and a fixed number of e-mail accounts.
- You can package and ship your own inventory, but you should price the major express shipment companies, as well as the U.S. Post Office (they also pick up parcels at your door). You can save money by presorting and barcoding your parcels. Better yet, arrange for drop shipping from the suppliers you trust most.
- Check for used office furniture at auctions and online (try Craigslist.com).
- If you have to lease an entire building or floor, arrange to sublease some offices to generate income.
- Lock up your office supplies and make them last longer.
- Minimize the use of cell phones and pagers by employees who rarely leave the office.
- Shop for office supplies in discount warehouse stores. Avoid buying paper towels and paper clips at office supply stores when you can.
- Minimize travel by meeting online and using teleconferencing.
- Turn off lights in the evening and air conditioning on weekends (unless you have your servers in your building).
- When putting together your initial inventory, get several bids. Do this also when pricing product packaging supplies.
- Negotiate a discount for small businesses on your banking fees.
- Consider part-time help for accounting, payroll and other services. You can also start out with a four-day work week to keep costs down.
- Use your office software. You may not need inventory control software until you've built your business up a bit, so a simple spreadsheet may be adequate.
- Team up with other small businesses to share the cost of training, office space rental, bulk purchases and licenses.
- Barter some of your services. You may be able to exchange goods or services for the online services you need.
- Locate suppliers in your area. You can reduce shipping costs by picking up some supplies yourself.
- Prepare to buy at trade shows. Some of the best discounts are available from your suppliers' promotions.
Set some priorities and budget generously for the items you need most. While you don't have to be a skinflint to be successful, you do have to start early keeping your eye on the bottom line.
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Translating News Into Business Opportunity
Ron Tanner, vice president of communications and education at the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade Inc. pegs the specialty food industry at $24.7 billion with a 17.9% growth rate between 2002 and 2004.
The specialty food sector offers particularly good opportunities for small entrepreneurs to establish successful business generating revenues in the millions — witness ventures like Inko's White Tea, or 1-800-GOURMET. Both ventures are successful, selling specialty items and generating revenues in the millions.
Have a food-related idea? Want to build an online business around your concept? Click here to search for food-related domains now.
Food-Related Searches On the Web Number in the Millions: Highlights Business Opportunity
There is a huge volume of traffic to food-related sites each month, based on Web searches. This traffic base offers new online food sites strong business opportunities to capture consumer dollars.
From Yahoo!'s Search Tool: July 2006
| Food |
4,650,926 |
| Organic food |
23,215 |
| Food gift basket |
262,440 |
| Gourmet food |
29,637 |
| Health food store |
62,219 |
| Natural and organic food |
10,898 |
BuyDomains has food-related domains across all categories: whether you are seeking to start an online specialty or imported food store, promote your cafe or you want to run a food distribution business — we have domains which will drive customers to your site and put money in your pocket.
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