How have web startups projected sales?

[nutan1970]

Business plan botherings....

Basically should you be cautious about being a new entrant and be conservative with conversion rates (0.02%!) or should you always feel that a healthy 5-15% of visitors will become a sale?

I'm on the case the with surveymonkey.com, for a more accurate picture with market research for my sector, but I was just wondering if your expectations were realised?

I'm going down a dark road aren't I.....:redface:

 

[AndyBlack]

I think it is just a case of getting on with it and testing the water. Then after a month or so, analyse your stats and then step into your customers shoes to see what could be improved. What features or info could be added to help clinch that sale. Getting traffic through your site is one thing, but if no-one buys then it has to be down to presentation, product and price... along with things such as ease of transaction etc and site navigation. Tweak, change, alter, play around, all at the same time as building on your offpage SEO and then re-evalute the situation another month or two later and see what has.. and hasn't worked. Also, get other peoples opinions with regards to your site and get some good positive critisism, and then act on it.

Went off the rails a little there as far as answering your question... but that was my two pence worth.

Andy

 

[sysops]

Business plan botherings....

Basically should you be cautious about being a new entrant and be conservative with conversion rates (0.02%!) or should you always feel that a healthy 5-15% of visitors will become a sale?

It depends who the business plan is for

But seriously, 15% is unheard of, in any sector. 5% is extremely good in most sectors, and totally unachievable in many.

What are you selling, and to whom?

 

[Shoptistic.com]

Syspos is correct... there are many factors that will directly influence ranging from the credibility of the website, payment methods, range, price, sector, etc...

If you could give us more information, including any USP's, we could guess a little better

 

[quikshop]

With our first retail business we planned for a conversion rate of 3% and the bank seemed happy with that on our business plan. Apart from during peak months I don't think we ever achieved 3%, but no harm in setting your goals high.

Regards,
Dave

www.internetretailer.biz

 

[awebapart.com]

How have web startups projected sales?

In a vastly over-ambitious way, in my experience.

Plan for the best case through to the worst case scenario (and pay more attention to the worst case scenario). These things take time, so manage your cashflow so that you are still around when things eventually come together, and you still have money to invest in changes if you realise changes are required further down the line. The worst thing you can do is assume your online shop is going to be a rip-roaring success from day 1, and the money is going to flood in - making these assumptions will give you a false sense of security and will probably lead you to overspending greatly during startup (spending so much up front that you have little cashflow left for the long run). That's one of the reasons we introduced a low cost of entry ecommerce service for businesses wanting to start their online shops, allowing them to test the water without breaking the bank.

It is human nature to big things up if you are talking to the bank, investors, potential business partners etc but don't big things up to yourself, be realistic to yourself. The world is full of over-estimates of success and simplicity, and under-estimates of time, money, difficulty - whether it is for your web business, for non-web businesses, for that new building/diy project for the home, for the expected weight loss from the latest diet, or for planning the 2012 olympics.

1% is not an uncommon conversion rate but this shouldn't be considered in isolation, a lot is down to your product and its demand, your competition, your niche, your pricing and how you market yourself (on and off the website).

 

[nutan1970]

Thanks for the great replies all - this forum has been great for me. As to my business plan, dare I say it but I'm venturing into the directory world but I'm planning on entering niches and if I could be as so bold to say "do a better job" on the search front. ( I can hear you all sigh!)

My clients and potential advertisers will be therapists - who I'm told by first hand advice are inundated with advertising requests, so it looks like the market has been saturated - which poses another hurdle.

Now my USP - what USP! It's basically an amalgamation of what's on offer.

I'm testing the waters at the moment - so nothing is set in stone. But I'm enjoying every moment. I love it!

I guess if you believe in it enough and have the passion - a 1% conversion rate should see me through my first year.

Thanks once again for your replies - much appreciated.