Whether you’re a veteran business owner for years, just starting out with your own small business, or if you’re still working on the overall plan for your startup, a good, solid online business plan can help ensure success. Up to 70% of business owners find that creating a business plan before anything else is key to success. However, figuring out how to create an online business plan can be as intimidating as launching your own business. But never fear! In this article, we’ll help you do just that.

Some business owners don’t see the need for a business plan; therefore, they skip the planning step. It’s fine for a while, but as the old adage goes: Failing to plan is planning to fail. It’s also important to remember that this isn’t exclusive to brick-and-mortar businesses. You will also need a business plan for online shopping websites. If you want to take your company to incredible heights and achieve amazing results, put it all together and create an online store business plan.

Preparing Your Online Store Business Plan

Creating a business plan for your online shopping website is definitely something you can do yourself as the owner. Since your business venture is a result of your passion and interest, the majority of the planning should come from you. Hiring a professional to proofread and edit the document is also an option, but you should do the basic work yourself.

Before you start sweating, read and pay attention - we are here to help. Here are 10 steps you can take to create an online sales business plan.

1. Write an Executive Summary of Your Online Business Plan

Usually one page or less, the executive summary is often the most important part of an online business plan. Because it condenses the essential parts of your business plan for an online shopping site, it encourages readers and potential investors to keep reading and pay attention.

An executive summary typically includes some, if not all, of the following:

What your business does, or what it is for

Your mission and vision, as well as the goals of your business venture

Your products and/or services - what do you sell or offer, and what makes your service different?

Your target market, or who do you want to sell to and serve?

How do you plan to reach your customers?

How much revenue is your online business currently generating?

How much money do you need from investors?

Who is involved in your online store? Introduce your team

2. Define your company's mission, vision, goals, and values

This section of your business plan for an online shopping site should simply answer two questions: Who are you? and What do you intend to do? Doing this describes why you are in business, what sets you apart from your competitors, and why investing in your online store is a good idea. A good example of this is something called a CEO Letter.

The core of why you are in business and what you hope to achieve should be outlined here. For this section of your online sales business plan, you need to address your customers, suppliers, employees, etc., so that you can clearly see who you are as a company.

Some of the items below should also be included in your corporate identity:

Your business structure (sole proprietorship or partnership, etc.)

Your business model

Your mission and vision for your company (remember to review this from time to time for updates)

Your online business goals and objectives

Your company history

Your goals for your business, both long-term and short-term

Your team and their salaries

3. Characterize your target audience in your online store business plan

The next step in your online store business plan is to list what makes up your target audience. By now, you should have an idea of ​​the type of people you want to sell to or serve. If you don't already know who your target audience is, now is a good time to find out.

This is also where your potential investors or partners will have some questions for you, so be prepared to answer the following:

Will your customers be consumers or other businesses?

Will they be loyal customers or one-time customers?

Have you spoken to anyone in your target audience?

If by chance you have conducted focus group or feasibility studies for your business, be sure to add specific details to this section of your business plan for your online store.