Outsourcing e-commerce

[Stevenj214]

I've been doing some work for a wholesaler with a turnover of £4million which currently has no online sales capability despite a customer survey showing 50% of customers would like such a feature.

If I put together a proposal to take over their online activities (currently an information website) and redevelop it to be able to take sales online, would i need much in the way of technical skills?

I think if I pay a good web developer to build the site, the ongoing admin/maintenance of the site should be relatively simple. Add in a percentage cut of any orders which go through the website and I could have a working business model.

Have I missed anything blatantly obvious?

[JamieBeeston]

Getting a good Web Dev (or team dep on timescales) would be a huge boost.

I know someone to put you in touch with.

J

[Alec]

I (amongst many others) might be able to help, I've dropped you a mail.

Edited by Alec on Tuesday 2nd December 15:07

[Stevenj214]

JamieBeeston said:

Getting a good Web Dev (or team dep on timescales) would be a huge boost.

I know someone to put you in touch with.

J

Hi Jamie,

Thanks for the offer, I'll keep it in mind if the idea develops. To give you an indication of my current situation, I'll copy my reply to Alec:

Stevenj214 said:

To give you an idea of my current situation I'm a 23 year old final year student studying International Business. I'll be graduating in May and would love to set up on my own. This idea is one I've had that I think could be developed further into something profitable.

As a soon-to-be graduate I have various skills which could be applied to running my own business, however the 2 main things I lack is experience and contacts.

To that end, I knew by posting on PH there would be offers of developing the e-commerce site which would be needed however the first thing I was looking for was general comments on the idea and also how to develop it (i.e as I have a specific company in mind to target, should I approach them first and then create the business plan or the other way round?). I suppose at the back of my mind there was also the hope that someone would also be interested enough to partner or a Business Angel would be willing to talk further about the idea.

[davidd]

Evening

We have done a lot e-commerce stuff, if you want a chat (call it free advice) or a quote please give me a shout.

D