How to . . . start an online business . . .

[Monazwx]

Hi everyone,

I haven't been around for a while, because I've been trying to get this business off the ground, but I'm interested in opinions on this matter, as I need to know whether I'm freaking out for so reason. I want to start an online travel business. I have a niche market and a supplier willing to allow me to hook up to their wholesale site (inventory) so that I can sell (retailing) via the internet to online clients. They recommended the webmaster that they used to build the site, and since their price was good, I agreed.

I purchased my Domain name (on GoDaddy), and they suggested that I use another one and mirror it to my original domain name. Without my knowledge, they went ahead and purchased it. Is that ok, since they're acting as my agents? Also, I wanted to purchase web hosting from GoDaddy, but they offered another company that they use, as they could get a deeper discount, as they deal with them based on volume. As far as I know, they haven't made any moves to secure the web hosting, but I'm wondering what my next move should be.

Finally, during the proposal, they told me that they use a demo site to make/update the changes, before creating the actual site. I asked them if that was just making double work, but they explained that that's just how they work. I didn't mind, because they charged me a flat rate. My biggest concern is that they're trying to keep too much control my site. Am I being paranoid? Any thoughts? (thanks in advance)

 

[joehmpsd]

Ah, starting an online business. How much fun is that, well not much.

But to your questions Mona, First of all everything this company is doing for you that they expect payment for and the extent of control over the site needs to be spelled out in a contract that needs to be agreed upon by both parties prior to any work being done. I am not saying this needs to be some long complicated contract that needs lawyers and such, just an agreement for services provided.

Things to think about, initial set up and testing, tech support and who will update the site.

For our e-commrece site our web guy did the set up, testing, secured the hosting(we pay the hosting company directly not him) and provides us with tech support. Changes that require code writing are done by him at an hourly rate.

Our e-commrece software allows us to do allows us to make changes, add or remove to individual products/items ourselves and process orders anywhere we have a internet connection.

If you live in the US be real careful about the "adding" on to the wholesale account. The IRS are not very easy people to deal with an getting a wholesale license is pretty easy.

I hope this helps a little Mona, If you have any other questions there is a contact us tab on the site in my signature. Good luck and stay focused it is a lot of work to get started and keep going.

 

[bobinks2]

I purchased my Domain name (on GoDaddy), and they suggested that I use another one and mirror it to my original domain name. Without my knowledge, they went ahead and purchased it. Is that ok, since they're acting as my agents? Also, I wanted to purchase web hosting from GoDaddy, but they offered another company that they use, as they could get a deeper discount, as they deal with them based on volume. As far as I know, they haven't made any moves to secure the web hosting, but I'm wondering what my next move should be.

Finally, during the proposal, they told me that they use a demo site to make/update the changes, before creating the actual site. size]

The fact that they purchased a domain name that they suggest you use is at least a red flag. Since they own the domain, I don't know what you would gain by mirroring to that site. It sounds like they want you to build up the mirrored site. Then, if you go out of business, they own a website that you built for them. (When I say 'built', I'm not referring to the computer coding, that's the easy part. I'm referring to building traffic and customers.)

If it's your website, you should be able to use whatever hosting company you want. My guess is that they get a cut of your hosting fees via what's known as an affiliate program. As long as you're getting a better deal through their ISP than you would get through godaddy, I don't see a problem. There could also be some benefit if their hosting company is familiar with their website. In any event, you should have your own exclusive admin account to access your files.

I'm not sure what you mean by demo site. Are you saying that they will just mock up what it will look like before they do the actual coding?

Is the webmaster part of the supplier, or are they two separate companies?

 

[joehmpsd]

Excellent point about the domain name, I also do not see the advantage to a mirrored site. I would do a little more research with other hosting and webmasters in your area . Remember the site is not going to come up and running overnight. So it is better to get everything in order from the start, it will save you potentially major headaches in the future.

 

[viper2000]

The one thing that really grabs me is the buying of the domain without getting your ok. My web ppl started to just make decisions as well without asking me so I made it very clear who makes the decisions it`s your money and your ass on the line if they do something wrong it could affect your business. Long story short make your own decisions they can only make suggestions don't let them pressure you. I know this from experience. When you get up and running maybe we could link exchange.

 

[Monazwx]

But to your questions Mona, First of all everything this company is doing for you that they expect payment for and the extent of control over the site needs to be spelled out in a contract that needs to be agreed upon by both parties prior to any work being done. I am not saying this needs to be some long complicated contract that needs lawyers and such, just an agreement for services provided.

Actually, we accepted his written proposal as an agreement of services, however the domain stuff wasn't covered. I didn't feel that that (or the hosting) would be an issue. Lesson learnt - Cover all bases.

Things to think about, initial set up and testing, tech support and who will update the site.

Those were the main aspects that I made sure to cover. I'm also thinking about taking some web classes so that I can assist in the web maintenance.

If you live in the US be real careful about the "adding" on to the wholesale account. The IRS are not very easy people to deal with an getting a wholesale license is pretty easy.

I'm not in the US, but I'll still keep this is mind.

I hope this helps a little Mona, If you have any other questions there is a contact us tab on the site in my signature. Good luck and stay focused it is a lot of work to get started and keep going.

Thanks I appreciate it.

 

[Monazwx]

The fact that they purchased a domain name that they suggest you use is at least a red flag. Since they own the domain, I don't know what you would gain by mirroring to that site. It sounds like they want you to build up the mirrored site. Then, if you go out of business, they own a website that you built for them. (When I say 'built', I'm not referring to the computer coding, that's the easy part. I'm referring to building traffic and customers.)

This is what I'm afraid of.

If it's your website, you should be able to use whatever hosting company you want. My guess is that they get a cut of your hosting fees via what's known as an affiliate program. As long as you're getting a better deal through their ISP than you would get through godaddy, I don't see a problem. There could also be some benefit if their hosting company is familiar with their website. In any event, you should have your own exclusive admin account to access your files.

I have my own admin account that I logged into already and took a look around with. I'm wondering whether I should ask them to change the registered name of the domain though? I don't want to step on anyone's toes, as the business relationship is still fragile.

I'm not sure what you mean by demo site. Are you saying that they will just mock up what it will look like before they do the actual coding?

Yes.

Is the webmaster part of the supplier, or are they two separate companies?

They're two separate companies.

 

[Monazwx]

Excellent point about the domain name, I also do not see the advantage to a mirrored site. I would do a little more research with other hosting and webmasters in your area . Remember the site is not going to come up and running overnight. So it is better to get everything in order from the start, it will save you potentially major headaches in the future.

That is true. Much thanks!

The one thing that really grabs me is the buying of the domain without getting your ok. My web ppl started to just make decisions as well without asking me so I made it very clear who makes the decisions it`s your money and your ass on the line if they do something wrong it could affect your business. Long story short make your own decisions they can only make suggestions don't let them pressure you. I know this from experience.

Thanks for your input, because I was wondering if I was the only person who had gone through this. I'm going to have a meeting with them tomorrow, and let them know how I feel.

When you get up and running maybe we could link exchange.

Cool.

 

[WLF]

Finally a topic at the how to forum I can actually reply to.

So did you meet this supplier in real life or through their website online? and did you approach them or did they approach you?

Many people are under the illusion that an online business is somehow easier or less work than a traditional business and that is not true at all. The web hosting and domain issues you've run into so far, will likely occur with website development too. Not all sites are created equal.

Make sure you check what sort of on-going or support/maintenance fees or subscriptions the developer will charge if you need changes in the future.

Another big big issue is data back ups. Make sure you have automated daily backups of EVERYTHING. I cannot stress that enough, many small ecommerce websites popup break or get hacked and then vanish because the owners didn't have backups.

 

[Vakk]

Dump Godady

While I can not offer you a ton of advice, I can tell you flat out, you do not want to use godaddy.
My fiance (A) is the IT supervisor at her workplace and the owner's wife (L) has her own business with it's own web site.
Until just recently L had been using godaddy. She recently realized alot of her incoming email was not reaching her and was being returned as undeliverable to the sender. This was costing her a huge amount of revenue and she only found out accidently when a long time customer experienced the issue, one wonders how many times it had happened and how much revenue it had cost her without her knowing. She brought this problem to my fiance asking her to figure out what was happening and if she could fix it.
After about a week and a half of research A found that this issue was not caused by L's site nor her email suite. A found that godaddy uses a very odd spam filter which utilizes predefined ip addresses, therefore, if a perspective customer sends you email from an IP address on that list it will be bounced back and you will never even know about it.
Before all the other tech folks out there read this and go "that's got to be wrong", do a google search for godaddy email issues. I assure you, the info is accurate. Moreover, godaddy is fully aware of the issue and is thus far unwilling to change their spam filtering methods.
This issue alone would be enough for me to "go with some one else daddy". Given your own experiences already with godaddy, I'd say that you should clearly lookk for a differnent hosting service. I will talk to A and see if she can make any recomendations and check back here. Good luck and I hope this helps.