Need to put together Web Business Plan -

  • Thread starter Thread starter nutty
  • Start date Start date
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nutty

Alright. Here's the skinny.

I've built websites before using FP but I've never run a business dependent
on one. At the moment I'm switching career tracks and I have a germ of an
idea for a website dealing with a particular area of the country. What I
need to do is put together a business plan to see if the idea could fly as
a true business or if it's something that will only remain a good idea.

Can anyone suggest reading material or links dealing with the business side
of web design and advertising?

I appreciate your help.
 
You need to produce an Income/Expense statement. You should have an idea
about how to do the expense part based on your earlier development efforts.

The hard part is the income part. To do a credible income projection you
need either valid market research data or a very comparable existing site.
You probably have neither. That's probably going to stop you cold since any
set of expenses you guesstimate without a sound foundation will have no
credibility.
 
I hope you're not planning on making a living with this endeavor. Web sites
are traditionally high risk business.

--
HTH,
Kevin Spencer
..Net Developer
Microsoft MVP
Big things are made up
of lots of little things.
 
One good thing about it is if you do it right, it can be a relatively low capital start-up.

However, writing a business plan for something without having done anything yet would be almost a waste of time for an "ether"-net based startup. Even a business plan for funding for a brick-and-mortar biz that's been in business for a while, can turn up nothing positive in the way of bucks. Been there done that :-)

My opinion..."build it and [hopefully] they will come"

| I hope you're not planning on making a living with this endeavor. Web sites
| are traditionally high risk business.
|
| --
| HTH,
| Kevin Spencer
| .Net Developer
| Microsoft MVP
| Big things are made up
| of lots of little things.
|
| | > Alright. Here's the skinny.
| >
| > I've built websites before using FP but I've never run a business
| dependent
| > on one. At the moment I'm switching career tracks and I have a germ of an
| > idea for a website dealing with a particular area of the country. What I
| > need to do is put together a business plan to see if the idea could fly as
| > a true business or if it's something that will only remain a good idea.
| >
| > Can anyone suggest reading material or links dealing with the business
| side
| > of web design and advertising?
| >
| > I appreciate your help.
|
|
 
nutty!
take a look at www.sitepoint.com and www.nolo.com there should be resources
for you there.
good luck. (non-sarcastic)

--
The email address on this posting is a "black hole". I got tired of all the
spam.
Please feel free to contact me here:
http://nedp.net/contact/
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. Yes, no business is a sure thing. At present it
would not have to sustain me financially but I don't want to waste more
than a month or two on something that would not at least sustain itself.

And a business plan is more than the financials. It's also a guidebook if
you will that looks at the market and businesses and it makes you think as
to what your niche should be.

Anymore advice out there, even personal anctedotes, would be appreciated.

And again, thanks.
 
A while back a buddy sent me: Internet Business Plan: Author= Robert Weinberg published by Streetwise.

Internet Business Plan's pretty good to give you some direction.


| On Wed, 5 May 2004 11:50:11 -0400, chris leeds wrote:
|
| > nutty!
| > take a look at www.sitepoint.com and www.nolo.com there should be resources
| > for you there.
| > good luck. (non-sarcastic)
| >
| > --
| > The email address on this posting is a "black hole". I got tired of all the
| > spam.
| > Please feel free to contact me here:
| > http://nedp.net/contact/
|
| Thanks for your input. Yes, no business is a sure thing. At present it
| would not have to sustain me financially but I don't want to waste more
| than a month or two on something that would not at least sustain itself.
|
| And a business plan is more than the financials. It's also a guidebook if
| you will that looks at the market and businesses and it makes you think as
| to what your niche should be.
|
| Anymore advice out there, even personal anctedotes, would be appreciated.
|
| And again, thanks.
 
Path: newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net.POSTED!be4e8e40!not-for-mail
From: nutty <[email protected]>
Subject: Need to put together Web Business Plan -
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.frontpage.client
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Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 01:13:10 GMT
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X-Complaints-To: (e-mail address removed)
X-Trace: newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net 1083719590 63.186.208.133 (Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT)
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Xref: news.earthlink.net microsoft.public.frontpage.client:671342
X-Received-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT (newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net)

Alright. Here's the skinny.

I've built websites before using FP but I've never run a business dependent
on one. At the moment I'm switching career tracks and I have a germ of an
idea for a website dealing with a particular area of the country. What I
need to do is put together a business plan to see if the idea could fly as
a true business or if it's something that will only remain a good idea.

Can anyone suggest reading material or links dealing with the business side
of web design and advertising?

I appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

Everyone's ideas and suggestions have been great thus far. I'll be
checking into some of those books soon.

For those of you running your own profit site I'm curious about how your
business is structured (DBA, S-Corp, LLC, etc.), whether your overly
concerned with copyright law, and what the insurance is like for the
business (or are you just hoping not to get sued)?
 
Everyone should be concerned about copyright issues.

As far as a business structure, you need to determine which is best for you, which may require that
you consulting with a attorney and accountant.

What type of insurance are asking about?
--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
 
A plain-language discussion of copyright law:
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

...and the official word: http://www.copyright.gov/

If you really want to make someone rich with your new business, violate
their copyright. It's a wonderful way for you to transfer to them whatever
assets you may own, along with whatever business insurance coverage you may
have purchased. (g)
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm aware of trade mark and copyright law. I've taken people to court
over it before, plus patent infringement.

The thing is that you can go broke protecting yourself and not getting a
dime in return.If it is an industry rife with people violating copyright
law I'd like to know before I enter it and adjust the business plan
accordingly. Or not get into it at all.

As far as insurance goes, I'm curious as to what the industry norm is? A
janitorial company would not be around without liability and worker's
compensation. A doctor has malpractice insurance. For a website company
is it standard to have insurance or not?

Thanks for any information.
 
What do you mean by website company, a web designer/developer type of business?

--
==============================================
Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
WEBMASTER Resources(tm)

FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
==============================================
 
Yah, but the infringed-upon, needs a big enough wallet to fund a lawsuit. Very sticky stuff. He who has the biggest wallet will end up the winner even if he's dead wrong.


| A plain-language discussion of copyright law:
| http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
|
| ...and the official word: http://www.copyright.gov/
|
| If you really want to make someone rich with your new business, violate
| their copyright. It's a wonderful way for you to transfer to them whatever
| assets you may own, along with whatever business insurance coverage you may
| have purchased. (g)
|
|
| | > Everyone should be concerned about copyright issues.
| >
| > As far as a business structure, you need to determine which is best for
| you, which may require that
| > you consulting with a attorney and accountant.
| >
| > What type of insurance are asking about?
| > --
| > ==============================================
| > Thomas A. Rowe (Microsoft MVP - FrontPage)
| > WEBMASTER Resources(tm)
| >
| > FrontPage Resources, WebCircle, MS KB Quick Links, etc.
| > ==============================================
| > To assist you in getting the best answers for FrontPage support see:
| > http://www.net-sites.com/sitebuilder/newsgroups.asp
| >
| | > > On Wed, 05 May 2004 01:13:10 GMT, nutty wrote:
| > >
| > > > Path:
| >
| newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!newsread2.n
| ews.pas.earthlink.net.PO
| > STED!be4e8e40!not-for-mail
| > > > From: nutty <[email protected]>
| > > > Subject: Need to put together Web Business Plan -
| > > > Newsgroups: microsoft.public.frontpage.client
| > > > User-Agent: 40tude_Dialog/2.0.11.1
| > > > MIME-Version: 1.0
| > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
| > > > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
| > > > Message-ID: <[email protected]>
| > > > Lines: 12
| > > > Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 01:13:10 GMT
| > > > NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.186.208.133
| > > > X-Complaints-To: (e-mail address removed)
| > > > X-Trace: newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net 1083719590 63.186.208.133
| (Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10
| > PDT)
| > > > NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT
| > > > Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
| > > > Xref: news.earthlink.net microsoft.public.frontpage.client:671342
| > > > X-Received-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT
| (newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net)
| > > >
| > > > Alright. Here's the skinny.
| > > >
| > > > I've built websites before using FP but I've never run a business
| dependent
| > > > on one. At the moment I'm switching career tracks and I have a germ
| of an
| > > > idea for a website dealing with a particular area of the country.
| What I
| > > > need to do is put together a business plan to see if the idea could
| fly as
| > > > a true business or if it's something that will only remain a good
| idea.
| > > >
| > > > Can anyone suggest reading material or links dealing with the business
| side
| > > > of web design and advertising?
| > > >
| > > > I appreciate your help.
| > >
| > > Everyone's ideas and suggestions have been great thus far. I'll be
| > > checking into some of those books soon.
| > >
| > > For those of you running your own profit site I'm curious about how your
| > > business is structured (DBA, S-Corp, LLC, etc.), whether your overly
| > > concerned with copyright law, and what the insurance is like for the
| > > business (or are you just hoping not to get sued)?
| >
| >
|
|
 
Insurance is gonna depend on what your exposure will be, only you can determine that.

Personally: LLC taxed as S-Corp (or possibly partnership) - again this will depend on you and your accountant. You can DBA under an LLC as any tradename(s) you want. LLC is a lot less paperwork than C-Corp and even S-corp.

Don't forget to register your tradename too, and if your gonna go national do it federally, not just in your state.

| On Wed, 05 May 2004 01:13:10 GMT, nutty wrote:
|
| > Path: newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net.POSTED!be4e8e40!not-for-mail
| > From: nutty <[email protected]>
| > Subject: Need to put together Web Business Plan -
| > Newsgroups: microsoft.public.frontpage.client
| > User-Agent: 40tude_Dialog/2.0.11.1
| > MIME-Version: 1.0
| > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
| > Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
| > Message-ID: <[email protected]>
| > Lines: 12
| > Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 01:13:10 GMT
| > NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.186.208.133
| > X-Complaints-To: (e-mail address removed)
| > X-Trace: newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net 1083719590 63.186.208.133 (Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT)
| > NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT
| > Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
| > Xref: news.earthlink.net microsoft.public.frontpage.client:671342
| > X-Received-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT (newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net)
| >
| > Alright. Here's the skinny.
| >
| > I've built websites before using FP but I've never run a business dependent
| > on one. At the moment I'm switching career tracks and I have a germ of an
| > idea for a website dealing with a particular area of the country. What I
| > need to do is put together a business plan to see if the idea could fly as
| > a true business or if it's something that will only remain a good idea.
| >
| > Can anyone suggest reading material or links dealing with the business side
| > of web design and advertising?
| >
| > I appreciate your help.
|
| Everyone's ideas and suggestions have been great thus far. I'll be
| checking into some of those books soon.
|
| For those of you running your own profit site I'm curious about how your
| business is structured (DBA, S-Corp, LLC, etc.), whether your overly
| concerned with copyright law, and what the insurance is like for the
| business (or are you just hoping not to get sued)?
 
Insurance is gonna depend on what your exposure will be, only you can determine that.

Personally: LLC taxed as S-Corp (or possibly partnership) - again this will depend on you and your accountant. You can DBA under an LLC as any tradename(s) you want. LLC is a lot less paperwork than C-Corp and even S-corp.

Don't forget to register your tradename too, and if your gonna go national do it federally, not just in your state.

| On Wed, 05 May 2004 01:13:10 GMT, nutty wrote:
|
|> Path: newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net.POSTED!be4e8e40!not-for-mail
|> From: nutty <[email protected]>
|> Subject: Need to put together Web Business Plan -
|> Newsgroups: microsoft.public.frontpage.client
|> User-Agent: 40tude_Dialog/2.0.11.1
|> MIME-Version: 1.0
|> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
|> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
|> Message-ID: <[email protected]>
|> Lines: 12
|> Date: Wed, 05 May 2004 01:13:10 GMT
|> NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.186.208.133
|> X-Complaints-To: (e-mail address removed)
|> X-Trace: newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net 1083719590 63.186.208.133 (Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT)
|> NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT
|> Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
|> Xref: news.earthlink.net microsoft.public.frontpage.client:671342
|> X-Received-Date: Tue, 04 May 2004 18:13:10 PDT (newsspool2.news.pas.earthlink.net)
|>
|> Alright. Here's the skinny.
|>
|> I've built websites before using FP but I've never run a business dependent
|> on one. At the moment I'm switching career tracks and I have a germ of an
|> idea for a website dealing with a particular area of the country. What I
|> need to do is put together a business plan to see if the idea could fly as
|> a true business or if it's something that will only remain a good idea.
|>
|> Can anyone suggest reading material or links dealing with the business side
|> of web design and advertising?
|>
|> I appreciate your help.
|
| Everyone's ideas and suggestions have been great thus far. I'll be
| checking into some of those books soon.
|
| For those of you running your own profit site I'm curious about how your
| business is structured (DBA, S-Corp, LLC, etc.), whether your overly
| concerned with copyright law, and what the insurance is like for the
| business (or are you just hoping not to get sued)?
Click to expand...

My question about the form of corporation was to see if there was a
prevelant type of company operating websites. Lawyers and tax guys love to
form under a LLP because of the tax advantages to all of the partners.
Usually if something is the norm in an industry there's good reason for it.

Once I'm not traveling I'll be doing research in ernest, but I knew that I
could get some great information off of this newsgroup.

Thank you all for your input.

Nutty
 
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