90% Some e-commerce stores fail 4 months after their launch. Far from discouraging you, this statistic highlights the need to create a solid business plan before launching your online business.
As a reminder, the business plan allows you to:
- A Better Understanding of Your Business
- Identifying Resources Needed for Your Operations
- Defining a Roadmap for the Future
- Better Competitor Analysis
- Spotting Threats and Opportunities
So, how do you create the best business plan for your business? Here are 5 tips!
1. Use Google Trends to determine market demand
One of the first steps in a business plan is to find which products to sell on your online store. Even if you already have an idea on the subject, it's important to determine whether consumers are on the same page as you. To find out, use Google Trends ! This tool helps you identify trends in your niche.
In addition, it calculates the popularity of a keyword over a specific period. Its data can be filtered by geographic area. That way, you can determine whether your products are in demand by consumers. It can also help you find a value proposition to stand out from the competition.
Furthermore, Google Trends allows you to compare several search terms, which will let you define your SEO strategy for later.
2. Analyze the competition with Google Shopping
The simplest and quickest way to analyze the competition is to use Google Shopping. Search for the product you chose and you can discover all the e-commerce sites that sell it.
Visit their shops and map out the competition to know exactly where you want to position yourself. Check their social media and blogs to identify their marketing strategy. You can also look for their suppliers.
After this analysis, you can determine your window of opportunity to enter the market. You are ready to find a supplier or manufacturer for your products, and also set your pricing policy.
3. Define the tools to create and manage your store
The next step in your business plan is to define the tools that will help you convert visitors into customers, and buyers into loyal clients.
To do this, you must list the software to manage:
- The Online Store
- Accounting
- Payment Processing
- Shopping Carts
- Social Networks
- Customer Relations
Fortunately, there are tools CMS (Content Management System) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to help you. These tools sometimes offer several solutions in one.
The idea is therefore to survey the market to find the tools that match your needs and budget. Don’t hesitate to hire a freelancer to help you choose platforms suited to your technical requirements.
Your business plan must include the chosen solutions, as well as the associated costs.
4. Assign a cost to your traffic sources
SEO, SEA, social media, influencer marketing, blog, email marketing, marketplace, affiliate programs, forums... Traffic to your e-commerce site (and sales!) will come from various sources. Some are organic, others paid, but they all require investment!
You will therefore need to set your objectives, learn about your consumers, and determine a digital action plan. Your e-commerce business plan should include the detailed plan and the costs required to develop each traffic channel.
5. Estimate your e-commerce revenue
In addition to the cost of your marketing strategy, there are several recurring expenses involved in running an e-commerce business.
Among these costs are the acquisition cost of your products, your subscription to tools, the logistics service (such as Amazon FBA for storing and shipping your parcels, for example) and fixed charges. You should also plan for unforeseen events related to delivery delays or to product returns.
In addition, it is important to calculate the number of potential buyers (based on the size of your market and the campaigns you run), as well as the average shopping cart value.
This will allow you to estimate a projected revenue for your e-commerce business and determine the viability of your project.
Conclusion
Creating a business plan for your e-commerce is essential to plan the development of your activity.
Do not hesitate to ask an expert for help to best complete this roadmap and ensure the success of your online store! Post your project for free on Codeur.com to receive quotes.
