Welcome back to Self Employed Mum. Thanks for visiting!

In the previous posts in this series we have looked at starting out with an initial idea, researching your idea and analyzing your competitors. Now it’s time to think about putting all that hard work together in the form of an action plan.

I read a lot of debate online about whether you should write a business plan when you set your new bizz up. After all, isn’t it a whole load of faff?! Isn’t it just something you do when you want to grovel for some money from the bank?

Well, the truth is, if you’ve followed some of the things I’ve written about in the earlier posts then you are already well on the way to having a plan good and ready. If it helps, call it an action plan rather than a business plan too.

Think of it this way, you wouldn’t set out on a long journey to somewhere you’ve never been before with out a map, would you? So don’t make your journey into your new online retail business any more difficult. Write an action plan so you know where you’re going and how to get there!

I’m not going to go through everything you need to write in your action plan – hell no, there are whole books out there you can grab from Amazon or your local library which show you in great detail what you can put in a business plan.

Instead, I recommend opening up a file on your computer and writing down everything you’ve done so far under these headings:

• Customers: your target customer, your marketplace,
• Sales/Marketing: How will you promote your business? Your pricing?
• Competitors: (the results from your competitor analysis)
• Suppliers: Who will you buy your stock from? Their terms and conditions
• Resources: What do you need to set up your business?
• Management: Who will be running your business?

After you’ve jotted notes down all your notes, put it away for a couple of days, as it can feel a bit overwhelming to get down every bit of detail you have in your head.

I’ll be coming back to this post shortly with some more details and some parts that you’ll need to add, but for the time being, pat yourself on the back. By writing down a plan, you’re already on your way to running a successful online retail business.

Doesn’t it feel better to have written down the results of your planning and research?

I’ve blogged previously about the usefulness of trade shows and how to get the best out of your visit.

It’s not easy to decide which you’ll opt for, but new start ups should take the time out to attend all they can and make a note of their usefulness  for the future when you may be more time-poor.

So here are some of my recommendations for six of the best UK trade fairs.

Don’t forget, even if you’re not sure you’ll make it, it’s still worth signing up for the mailing list, particularly Spring Fair which gives regular industry news updates throughout the year.

Always make sure you register in advance as sometimes you have to pay otherwise (and get stuck in a long queue when you’re itching to get started “walking the floor”).

1. Business Startups – general start up advice – worth attending more for the seminars and the training sessions. Some of the government exhibitors such as the IPO have useful 1-2-1 sessions.
2. Bubble - after the demise of Premier Kids this is now the best (only?) event to get the most leads for the children’s fashion industry. Originally a US import it’s now hosted at the cool setting of the Business Exhibition Centre, Islington. Not as quirky as before, but here in the UK, beggars can’t be choosers.
3. Spring Fair – hall after hall of types of gift related goods including toys, jewellery, household goods… Worth a two day visit if you are seriously seeking established brands. There’s also a smaller “Autumn Fair.”
4. Harrogate Nursery Fair – Great trade fair for picking up nursery suppliers and one of the very few to take place outside the the twin centres of the NEC (Birmingham) or the London Excel/Olympia circuit. Includes furniture and other nursery accessories as well as prams. Joining up with BPA Baby Show for a new event this October (2010).
5. Pulse – leading edge interior and living suppliers here with a contemporary twist. Pulse London offers the only Summer trade event focusing on the gift sector.
6. Top Drawer – Two fairs a year (January and September, London). Top Drawer covers the design-led gift, children’s, stationary and greeting, home and fashion sectors.

Have I missed any must-sees ?

photo credit: kevindooley

Launching this new bizz has been a different kettle of fish to my other businesses.

For a start, I’ve had to get to grips with a whole new type of website software to help me deliver the customer experience I wanted. One of the biggest changes though has been on the testing side.

When you launch a new site it’s best practice to test out various areas before you unleash it onto the interweb e.g. payment processing…

However, my new business, the SEO Training Club, is a membership site. Customers pay a subscription to receive training and information available exclusively through my website. And having members means more opportunities for kinks and creases and people not using the site quite in the way I expected them to…

So, to make the launch process as smooth as possible, I decided to take a two tier approach to testing:

1. I invited a small group of mixed ability internet users to join the site as “beta-testers.” The advance party were people I knew and trusted to give an honest opinion (although kindly spoken!) Their advice was key when I formed my branding – one beta-tester, for example, not only disliked the original color scheme, but gave me such compelling reasons to change it based on his professional expertise, that I did have a turn around – even though it set me back about 3 weeks. This kind of feedback is gold dust for a new business.

2. I decided to do a “soft-launch” with a charter membership. A soft-launch is a way to gently unleash your business to potential customers giving you time to evaluate what works and what doesn’t work before you roll out the red carpet and blow up the balloons. By now, the beta-testers have uncovered any major issues – charter members are more about learning how members interact with the site. In return for being early-adopters, the charter members pay a much lower membership subscription.

If you’re putting together a new website then pre-testing is a helpful way to make the launch process easier. Here are a few tips:

• Test out any branding, logos etc preferably with people unconnected with your business – business forums are a good place to recruit a helping hand.
• Recruit some testers to navigate your site – in particular ensure the payment processing side works correctly.
• Use analytics software such as “google analytics” to keep an eye on visitor browsing patterns. Are there any weak areas?

So now, the testing period is almost complete, and the next step is to think carefully about launching the new business to the rest of the interweb… Watch this space…

photo credit: ATKR

Have you got an idea for an online business but don’t know where to start? Then, join me as I write about my new bizz “journey” from start up idea to launch…

So far I’ve talked about why it’s important to do some market research and delivering your business. Now I’m moving on to building my business brand.

A brief shufty round different bizz websites tells me that this is often the subject that some peeps START with! Like “I want a logo for my new business” or “I need a name for my new service.” A quick probe and it appears that they haven’t really got much further than thinking about their branding.

Now, if you’re ready to embark on the “fun bit” then this post is for you, but if not, then do yourself a favour by doing some business research – as this will help you when you develop your branding and corporate identity.

These are the elements I included in my branding strategy:

Corporate Colors: This was my starting point. I needed to have colors ready for the website design. Believe it or not, colors can influence customers and it makes sense to consider not only the visual aspects of color coordination e.g. which colors to choose which don’t clash, but also which colors suggest particular emotions or feelings on a subconscious level. If this is an area you’re interested in then have a google to learn more.

I was lucky enough to have a friend who’d actually studied this as part of his design qualifications and he was a great help in making sensible suggestioins (and showing great tact over my first color choices!). If you’re stuck for ideas then check out Colour Lovers for inspiration. Make sure you choose “web safe” colors which look good on and off-line.

Choose 3-4 colors which complement each other and promise yourself you’ll stick to these for everything to do with your new bizz

Typography: Now this can seem a bit weird but the typeface you choose for your business is also part of your visual identity. What do you mean? You just use the nearest font?!

Like colors, fonts can be used creatively and it makes sense to restrict the fonts you use and have a primary font as the brand identity. Ensure it’s a common font, which is easy to read on and off-line and make sure that you have alternatives in your web site style sheet for online visitors who may not have your particular font on their ‘puter. No wingdings please.

Logo: Now, fonts and color choices may well be suggested to you by a designer (if you’re using one for your logo). I’m going to assume you are using a designer but are giving them a design brief based on your brand reserach above.

Here are some suggestions of what to include in the design brief:

• Tell the designer what the logo will be used for e.g. website, business cards
• Give examples of the kinds of logos you like (the designer will use these for inspiration – but not for copying!)
• Suggest phrases to describe the logo e.g. “authoratitive” “friendly”
• Suggest the color palette and fonts if you have made a choice. If not, ask them to suggest some ideas to you
• Give a full explanation of both your business and your target customer

If you’re working with a designer, it’s really helpful to give them as much information as you can so they’re not left to guess and get it wrong. Be clear about what you want.

photo credit: gfpeck

Have you got an idea for an online business but don’t know where to start? Then, join me as I write about my new bizz “journey” from start up idea to launch…

In my last post I talked about why it’s important to do some market research. Having got my “big idea” and researched my target market, I was ready to start planning how I was going to deliver my business.

As my new business was to exist solely online, I needed to have a website (durrrr). But if you’re planning an online presence too then remember there are many different options for a website and it helps to narrow them down by thinking really carefully about what you need…

For me, my website took two attempts. The first was a lower budget option – although it was a good price, the time I needed to spend tweaking the site, making it run smoothly and integrating bits and pieces – a blog, a forum, auto-responders, payment processors etc. – seriously ate into the time I needed to prioritise for developing and writing content.

So with a heavy heart, and a much lighter piggy bank, I ditched my first site and researched another solution.

If you’re struggling to make a decision about the type of internet presence which your new business needs, then here are some things to consider:

How much of a techie are you? Can you put together your own site or will you need to hire someone to do it for you?

Have you looked at “out of the box” sites (where all you need to do is tweak a template and upload your products) to get up and running fast?

Do you really need a “traditional” ecommerce site? If you’re not selling a heap of products then would a self hosted wordpress blog with a couple of plug-ins do the job?

Remember, you don’t have to have the perfect online presence straightaway. Make a decision that matches your budget and the time you have available.

photo credit: ottonassar

I am almost blushing as I blog this, but I must confess to you my guilty organisational pleasure – mindmaps.

Yes, I know that mindmaps have a kind of hippyish connotation, but planning is never as much fun as with a mindmap.

If you’re like me, surrounded by a mountain of bits of paper, plans stuck on the back or envelopes and tea-ringed post-it notes, then a mindmap will be right up your street.

I use mindmaps not just to plan but to organise my thoughts. They’re a godsend for bloggers – you can use them to map out your content. They’re also great for generating creative ideas – you find your mind starts to link thoughts together and inspiration strikes. You’ll also find it more natural to make connections and think laterally. You can add files to a mind map, including documents and images. They’re great for both random research and more structured project planning.

(Oh, and they make pretty nifty to-do lists too )

One of my favourite programmes (yes, I have more than one mindmap software on my ‘puter!) is Freemind - which is freeware – so ideal for experimenting with

photo credit: jonny goldstein