You Should Have a Business Plan Before You Buy a Website :: Sell Websites Buy Web Sites

You Should Have a Business Plan Before You Buy a Website Reprinted with permission of VotanWeb.com OK, you have formed your limited-liability company and you have your tax-identification number. You are ready to buy a website, right? Wrong! If you intend to spend more than a trivial amount of money purchasing a website then you should have a business plan. A business plan is your personal vision for your website, your roadmap to success. At the very least, a good business plan will include an executive summary, a description of the website, the competition, marketing plans, background of the management and financial information including a balance sheet, income and cash-flow projections. You also may want to include tax returns and contracts if you intend to use this information to obtain financing. The business plan does not need to be a book. A straightforward business plan for a small website might be only ten pages in length. The executive summary should be straightforward and clear, or else your reader may not have enough interest to get into the details. The financial section is extremely important and the most complex. Projecting cash flow may require some professional help, but you can start with some educated guesses. You should certainly discuss how you plan to direct traffic to your site. All business plans include research on the targeted market. You can find most the information you need for free online. Online business publications have a lot of useful information, but you may have to pay a fee to access their archives. You should also visit the websites of all industry trade groups that are relevant to your target market.