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You have decided develop an eCommerce site while still working your 'day job' in the hopes that you will one day be able to derive all of your income from your eCommerce site.
In 500 - 600 words how you would you go about doing this; what factors would you have to take into consideration, what kind of product or service would you market, how would you find customers, what would some of the obstacles be, etc.

Why is it important to create an e-business project plan?

Why is it that the managers ignore planning?

What are the most important elements in conducting a technology alternatives cost analysis?

Describe your experiences with cost estimation and scheduling.

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Solution Summary

2 MS Word documents - [1st attachment] - 8 Pages - 1962 Words - 8+ References - Includes why is it important to create an e-business project plan and why managers ignore planning. Also the most important elements in conducting a technology alternatives cost analysis and my opinions and thoughts with cost estimation and scheduling. - [2nd attachment] - 10 Pages - 4055 Words - 6+ References - Including details on how to market a new product; who to market to; Marketing Strategy and Research; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Research; Concept of attracting clients; The marketing Mix; The Customer; The Company; The Competition; Product; Place (Distribution) and finally ending with Things to Remember.

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See the 2 MS Word attachments below for further help and information.

My job as an Online Teaching Assistant is to help you to do your assignment and definitely not do them for you. In fact, if I did 'do' some or all of your assignment for you I could be in big trouble with BrainMass or even worse fired from BrainMass because it clearly states that we are NOT to do it. In fact BrainMass states "The student will quickly receive a detailed explanation from a qualified Online TA. Knowledge is valuable but only if it is untainted. The members of our community must have a common trait - they should all believe in fairness to the owners of original work and take the responsibility to do independent work. Online TAs help a great deal in limiting such morally-incorrect practices by informing students about plagiarism and how to cite and acknowledge others work correctly. The system is not intended to replace the many services already provided by professors and teaching assistants. It is intended to supplement the learning process by offering more timely and direct access to graduate-level assistance. The Online TA's have all been through undergraduate studies and understand better than anyone else where, when and how students get stumped. The job of the OTA is NOT to write an essay for the student, but to provide ideas, definitions, research help, and instructions on how the student should approach the problem. ***I put this message on ALL of my responses so if this does not apply to you please do not take offense for the reminder for those who have forgotten or may not realize. ***

This look's like an interesting assignment, though, so let's see where I can be helpful

Here are some ideas and thoughts that I would consider -

Organizational Structure and e-business strategy - http://www.internethostingdepot.com/host/organizational-structure-and-ebusiness-strategy.html

Online experts with knowledge in every faucet of business - www.createonlinebusiness.com

***Starting an online business is much the same as starting any business. You should go to your local town hall and find out what the requirements are to form a business in your area. Also ask what is required at the state and federal level. In most communities you must register a trade name. If you will operate as a Corporation or a Limited Liability Company other registration requirements are required. Also, if you operate from your home you should inquire about the local zoning laws. All these steps are needed for any business. ***

*** Your business will fall under the category of a mail order business. Learn about the Sales Tax requirements. If you do not have nexus in another state you can sell and ship merchandise to residents of another state without charging Sales Tax. However, sales to residents in your state will require collection of Sales Taxes and remittance to your state's Sales Tax Department. The Federal Trade Commission passed a rule in 1975 requiring you to ship merchandise within 30 days of receipt of payment. You must abide by the Truth in Advertising requirements which essentially require you not to be misleading in your ads. For example, when giving a guarantee, you must describe in detail how that will be carried out. It all boils down to the fact that you should operate your business honestly, which, by the way, is an essential key to your future success. ***

If you are going to be buying inventory for your online business from distributors you should:

? Make sure you are buying from a reputable source.
? Check references and call the Better Business Bureau and Consumer Affairs divisions in the distributor's state concerning complaints.
? Try to obtain merchandise on consignment, thus conserving your cash.
? Look into companies that will drop ship on your behalf.

As a reseller you can then offer a larger selection. These techniques can supplement special sales of high mark up items you keep in inventory.

*** Do a business plan. Visit www.bplans.com. Look at all the valuable resources of information available to you in not only preparing a plan but also to learn how to market your product and how to operate successfully on the web. As you develop company strategy, you should also develop a realistic Web plan for your website's look, feel and functionality. This is often called the Web "front end," or scale and technical reach of your site. There is an enormous range of possibilities for Web development, from the $10/month hobbyist site developed in simple HTML language, to the major business sites costing tens of thousands of dollars in Internet infrastructure and millions of dollars in development. The front end is the appearance of your site. It is the graphic design and HTML portion--routinely called the user interface (UI). This step in your planning is very important--defining a plan for the UI will give your site coherence and cement it into your strategy. List the objectives that you want the front end to accomplish. Do you want: millions of page views; a certain theme or branding goal you need to achieve; users to sign up for newsletters; users to register for your content and become members; or users to buy a service or product online? ***

*** Define a maximum kilobyte per page download size. This includes the size of your HTML pages and of your graphics. A very popular site that supports visitors worldwide at low bandwidth will max out at 20Kb per page. You may be able to cater to a more elite group--sometimes your site has to be fancy and heavy with animation and Flash graphic images. However, don't force plug-ins, programming scripts, and heavy graphics on your visitors if you know that these features do not match your market's demographic make-up. If what you want to do is communicate ideas and information quickly, to a lot of people, then design your website UI accordingly. ***

*** The UI of a website is ultimately how you will let your users know what you have to offer them. Design an easy navigation scheme or your users will get lost, and will never find all the valuable information you have on your site. The full potential of any website is unleashed through the UI. If you have money to spend on design, consider spending it on some professional UI help. ***

*** In order to facilitate your front-end design, include a Site Map. This is very important for larger sites and even a good idea for smaller ones. The site map will show the physical layout of all the pages, and how a user will navigate from page to page. Each page will also have a brief description of its purpose, and the ONE critical action a user must take on that page. If you do not create a site map yourself, work with your front-end designer to create one. Make sure that you both agree on where the pages will go, and what pages will link to where. Also keep in mind the problem of scale, making sure that you don't spend more on the plan than on the site. If you are taking this to an outside UI designer, include some color printed copies of websites that you have looked at and like. ***

*** Point out to the designer the parts of the example websites that you like: the color schemes, the navigation, the clean look, the fast loading pages, etc. All of these resources will help the designer build the front end exactly as you envision it. Make sure you provide your designer with a full copy of your website strategy. The more background he/she has, the better idea that designer has of the type of website you want. ***

*** The vast ...

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