Basics of Building an Online Business

To start an online business and to successfully maintain it, you will need some basic hardware, software and internet services. Below are my suggestions that I've had to learn the hard way. Hopefully, you won't have to make the same mistakes that I've made over the years.

1) It is highly recommended that you purchase a computer (laptop or desktop) that will be dedicated to your business. Dedicating a computer to your online business means that the computer is not used by your family for any other purpose. You would be amazed at how much damage kids and spouses can do to your computer and timing will be such that your online business transactions will be interrupted when you least expect it.

2) Don't try to run an online business using a dial-up connection. Invest in high-speed DSL or Cable. It just isn't possible to function when you are wasting time waiting for web pages to download or email to arrive in your inbox. Consider your time valuable and don't let something like a slow connection (which you have control over) to slow you down or distract you from taking care of your business.

3) Invest in software that will help you efficiently handle repetitive tasks and spend the time necessary to learn how to use it. Some basic programs that are absolutely essential are:

• Simple text editor that can be used to clean up text copied or exported. Embedded control characters in Word documents can wreck havoc with text created for displaying in a web page. Also, get a text editor that will allow you to cut columns of text such as Textpad.
• Learn how to handle spreadsheets. A lot of information that you receive is in Excel format and you must be able to manipulate the spreadsheet, delete columns, and save spreadsheets as comma delimited files so that you can import them into other programs. If you can't afford Microsoft Excel, check into EasyOffice (available from Toucows) or OpenOffice.
• WinZip (for Windows users) is one of the most popular extraction utilities. WinZip compresses and decompresses files using the zip format. This is the most common format used on the Internet for compressing Windows files. Files compressed in this way are identified with the extension .zip. WinZip can be downloaded FREE from Tucows.

4) Make sure to protect your computer by installing good virus protection. If you download email and programs that must be installed on your computer, it is absolutely essential that you don't leave yourself (and your business) vulnerable. Norton Anti-Virus or McAfee are good choices to start with.

5) Backup your computer on a regular basis. I've had to rebuild my business computers so many times over the years that I would suggest that it is one of the most important things you can do to protect your business. Today I always run two business computers side by side.