10 Hottest Homebased Businesses For 2000
E-Commerce
It's official: E-commerce is here to stay. Slowly but
surely, consumers are accepting the idea of point-and-click
shopping and ordering everything from umbrellas to underwear
online. In 1999, business-to-consumer e-commerce drew in $33.1
billion in sales. That number is estimated to reach $61 billion
this year-an 85 percent jump, according to Shop.org. And though media outlets love throwing the names eToys and
Amazon around, small players are still entering the industry. How
are they competing with those multibillion dollar sites? Niche
offerings and beyond-excellent customer service. "Our philosophy is different from the larger, more
established e-commerce players in that our goal is not to offer as
many brands as possible, but to only offer high-quality lines and
back it with extensive product knowledge," says Carolanne
DiSalvo-Ghee, who, with partner Darryl O'Donnell, runs 3Graces.com, a retail beauty site,
from their separate homes in Fairfield, Connecticut. "We
credit our high volume of repeat customers to our personalized
customer service. Although we're an e-commerce business,
we've come to know many of our customers personally." Content Continues Below
If you want to start an e-commerce business, focus on the
business side as well as the technical aspects, advises Greg
Holden, author of Starting an Online Business for Dummies
(IDG Books Worldwide, $24.99). "A course on business
management or marketing would be useful," says Holden.
"So many people simply plan to jump online with a Web site,
and they don't have any background in traditional customer
service or promotion. If they would take such a course, they'd
have an enormous advantage over the competition." Holden also advises e-commerce entrepreneurs to advertise in
newsgroups and mailing lists. "Generally speaking, this is
more effective than banner advertising. Be a presence: Answer lots
of questions; write articles for free and submit them to online
magazines." 3Graces.com has had luck using search engines and press
releases. "We were surprised to see how quickly the orders
started coming in," says DiSalvo-Ghee, whose sales figures
reached $24,000 last quarter. The partners began the company with
just $2,500 in 1998, having already owned their computers. Holden
suggests starting with a well-equipped office (including accounting
software), a dedicated Internet connection, lots of memory and
storage space on your PC, and a logo created by a professional
graphic designer. Holden warns that not all e-commerce companies will be
successful so soon. "If you're trying to go it on your own
with a quirky niche product," he says, "be prepared to
try for many months or even more than a year before you see
success."-Laura Tiffany For More Information - Whatis.com An enyclopedic
site with more than 2,000 computer- and Internet-related
definitions and several quick-reference pages
- BigNoseBird.com
Offers tons of tools for Web authors, including tutorials, free
tools and a section for beginners
![]()
|
|